Future Scarlet user questions.

[Marc Dunham]

I'm sure, these threads pop up at times, so I guess I apologize before hand, although I haven't seen any since I'm come on over here. New to the forums although I use to snoop a lot haha. Anyways, I'm coming into a small inheritance (approx. $25k) from an aunt passing, and I've decided to make a jump from my AF-100 to the Scarlet. Ya there may be better ways to spend it but I'm pretty confident I can make it pay itself off pretty quickly.

I guess I'm just looking for suggestions on how to properly spend the 25k around the Scarlet, maybe some tips current owners have. Looked into a lot of non-red built items like accessories from woodencamera and such. I'm more interested in it being lightweight and "run-gun" then studio like as I do a lot of that stuff already.

I figured as much as I'd love an Awesome PL lens, it's smarter for me to just go with the Canon AL mount and nice SLR lenses instead. I also was leaning towards V-Mount batteries instead of redvolt, but thats just to avoid such short battery life.

I have like a million questions haha, but figured I'd just try to stay as brief as possible. Also I can be more specific about needs or whatever if necessary. Thanks

 

[Sergio Perez]

Marc, going with the Scarlet is a good choice, it produces stunning pictures and you are "future proof" with the Dragon upgrade. However, and seeing your situation-coming from the AF100, I would suggest you also take into your budgeting the post side of things:

Are you a Mac or a PC user? I would suggest in your budgeting getting the fastest system you can get with at least 24gb of Ram and a nvidia Cuda enable card for adobe CS6, which is what currently handles better R3d files. I would suggest adding a Red Rocket if you intend to edit prores or convert r3ds to other codecs. It also helps on the real time CS6 side.

Having post covered, you should look into lighting. The Scarlet, like the Epic, likes light. It's not the horror people paint in other forums, but expect to push it maximum to 1250 ISO ( and that is with noise already). Look for led lights, portable, battery powered. They are getting better every day. I'm close to China so I have to say I have access to incredible lighting at very affordable prices. I would suggest every red user who is looking to purchase lights to go to Guanghzou and take a look for themselves. light is what paints your picture. Do not neglect this. The scarlet reacts beautifully to different light sources.

Now, to the Scarlet package:

Scarlet with Canon Al mount
Side handle
5"touch LCD
Wooden camera A box
wooden camera easy stick
Wooden camera shoe mount
6x revolt batteries
3x red travel charger OR the new quad charger
5x64gb Red SSD,s, or 3x 128gb SSD,s
Dual battery module for doc shooting (you need to purchase the module adaptor)
Red SSD reader

Canon L lenses:

24 1.4
501.2L
801.2L
135 1.2L

Zooms

Tokina 11-16 2.8
Canon 24-105L
Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II
Tamron 24-70 2.8IS

Extenders 1.4 and 2x

I don't know how this all adds up in budget but should give you a pretty complete, ready to shoot package for the Scarlet with quality pictures. Now make your aunt proud!

 

[Marc Dunham]

Thanks, awesome something like this is exactly what I'm looking for, although ya I'm unsure how much that all fits into the budget but I'll check it all out. I do have lighting relatively covered already and we currently have a 12 core 24gb Mac Pro...I was thinking of adding a Red Rocket to it though.

 

[Jaakko Rinne]

If you're looking for a budget-sensitive run and gun package, I'd go with V-locks first (you can get a battery plate, two batteries and chargers for the price of the dual battery module and use p-tap to power external devices) or with the quad module if you don't want V-locks (you can score a quad module with the adaptor plate for as low as $850). Redvolts will keep you running for about 30 minutes each and V-locks will be about a minute per watt-hour.

How many SSDs and what sizes depends on what you need to be prepared for. There are some footage calculators available (like KataData for the iPhone) that you can use to see how much space you need when shooting at the fps/resolution/compression combo you intend to use most.

Wooden Camera's accessories are also excellent and you can always email Ryan if you have questions on how they might fit together for your specific use.

And if you're running around with 8 lenses it's not really run and gun anymore. I'd get a good, fast prime around 35mm and an all-around zoom for starters. People have different preferences but Canon's 17-55mm f/2.8 IS has served me well as an all-arounder, but depending on your needs there are other options.

I'd also calculate a bit on what equipment you'll need regularly and what's smarter to just rent when you need it.

 

[Sergio Perez]

I'm a big, big fan of the Redvolts and think that they keep the Epic/Scarlet in a completely different ballpark vs the competition due to the small form factor. In most run and gun I like to keep myself light, portable and not calling for too much attention with the form factor. I much prefer the dual module approach then the Vmount brick one. Lets not forget also that the only "approved" red power comes from the Red Bricks and the revolts. If you are using third party accessories, while you can get away with it, might void your warranty.

The set of lenses I wrote down is an overall kit of lenses that can be used in different situations. Using two or 3 of the zooms I wrote down are more than enough for good run and gun coverage. But the primes set are for when one has time and wants to get those "money shots". Having that set of primes gives you the versatility of shooting in low light and also to get shallow depth of field for artistic expression. Its up to the shooter to choose which lens suits for each situation.

The 5 64gb ssd's are my current setup for a 5 hour day shoot with varying recodes and frames per second. The 6 revolts are for a full day of shooting, but with used batteries being able to charge while the others are in use. That is my current workflow and I'm happy with it. Of course this might vary from user to user

 

[Jaakko Rinne]

Everything obviously depends on how and what you shoot, and everyone should build their kits to their needs.

Two 230WH V-lock batteries will keep you running for almost 8 hours straight with no need to recharge. And just the possibility of going that long is a pretty big positive even if there were some negatives in going with V-locks. And since you can't use Redvolt XLs with the dual battery module, you'd need to carry 16 Redvolts for the same runtime.

One should also keep in mind that 5x64GB will only give you about 2.5 hours (or less) of recording time at a reasonable compression, depending on your framerate.

 

[Mark Kern]

Been working on this...might help:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?79976-Scarlet-Buying-Guide

 

[Marc Dunham]

Ya read the guide Mark, great guide. Unfortunately It didn't really progress me in any way, haha. Knew about most of that as I've researched quite a bit, more so just unsure of what to get not due to lack of knowledge of the options and more so because I have a few in mind and just not confident in any. The personal suggestions and small tips are awesome though and have helped a bit

 

[David W. Jones]

Marc, going with the Scarlet is a good choice, it produces stunning pictures and you are "future proof" with the Dragon upgrade.

While I agree that the Scarlet is a fine tool in the right hands, I'll have to say that no camera is future proof!

Good Luck!

Dave