IF you were me… what would you do?I

[Minu Park]

Since I got the Scarlet, I have been struggling using the camera for very long time.

I used to use F3 and Sony FS700.

Scarlet is a great camera, I love this one a lot.

But somehow, I really miss internal ND filter. (I don't bring matte box, and I think Fade ND is really piece of shit, so I have been using ND .6 .8, which really annoys me all the time that I forgot to bring.)

I am a one man band documentary film maker, who some times work on music video or small commercial.

Now, I want to invest about $10,000 on red equipment for upgrade it.

There are two choices that I have now...

1. GO FOR EPIC

2. Get Canon motion adaptor + Ronin + extra memory card + wireless follow focus

(Honestly, my rig condition of scarlet is really minimize that I don't have side handle Either, shoulder rig isn't comfortable at all, so I am considering getting easy rig too…)

Good thing about going epic is that I will get a new condition camera, and daily rate will be increase unto $150 also, I estimated to pay back with in four month… and since fifth month I will get back the money little by little.

But, if I get second option, my cinematography reel will be more stylized in general. Also, I question, when do we use that much… slow motion? - When I used Fs700 I didn't use slow-motion that much, also slow-motion needs bunch of light, which Red won't beat Sony's Slog (High sensitivity) forever.

My friends says I need to get back to FS7 kit (The newer sony camera) but I want to stick with RED only instead.

What would you do if you ware me?

 

[Tim Bradley]

I would say buy the gear you have work for.

If you have work coming up that you can't do on your Scarlet but could on an Epic go that way. But if you have work for a Ronin and WFF go that way

 

[Owen Rennie]

I'm usually a one man team and I shot on the scarlet for a solid year also doing doco style work...

My advice/ tips. .
* prepare better. If you forget to bring Nds along more than once you should probably slap yourself. ..

* a side handle is a must have for solo doc work..

*if your not sure on how much slow motion you want to shoot than you don't need it..Scarlets 48fps is still pretty handy

* wireless FF would be my last choice... hire if need it

If I was you I'd buy a side handle and more media. The scarlet is an amazing camera and still will be for a long time . If you have some spare coin than the ronin is worth it. You can get away without owning a wireless FF either by shooting wide and closing down aperture or just hire someone when the job needs it. ..

 

[Phil Holland]

Erm.... Pretty much agree with Owen here.

However, I'll add this. Since it's sounds like you're shooting Canon glass. I picked up set a 77mm screw on ND filters ages ago and those have been very useful when rolling without a matte box.

Though personally I feel a matte box is sort of fundamental. Even for run and gun docs.

The Motion Mount is very useful, but if you are in a real dark situation you'll want a regular mount for sure.

I'm big on the Side Handle myself. It speeds up one man band shooting and just literally everything for me. I'm constantly checking focus and exposure and I've custom keyed for all of that on the Side Handle.

 

[Björn Benckert]

I say get the Ronin and then foolcontrol when it comes out. As that's is something that will makes the most difference, per buck, to what you actually can shoot. I really love our epic dragon but we use scarlets almost just as much and if you mostly shoot your own stuff it's difficult to charge for the upgrade. So get a ronin, go creative, attract more work and then buy a dragon carbon

 

[BRANDON JAMESON]

I would go to a place like Abel Cine or BH Pro Dept. and "test drive" a few more cameras to make sure that your final choice is the best one for your needs and style of shooting.

 

[Sergio Perez]

I would strongly go against getting the Ronin. Its not good for Run and gun at all. 2 person operation is almost a must for setup and overall management of camera movement. You would also need an easy rig or other support equipment to manage long form Ronin shooting. That thing is heavy even with a bare bones epic with side handle.

If you go Dragon, according to Phil and others reports, Infrared contamination is much less on the sensor so ND's should be fine and often not needed if you don't mind higher shutter speeds, specially with the added DR.

I hardly use ND's on my MX Epic on Doc work, and has been working wonderfully, excluding obviously the usual LCD's and led flickers and "harder" frame by frame motion. Not much perceivable by regular audiences.

I would, instead of the Ronin, suggest an Easyrig or a steadicam. They are much cheaper nowadays, and produce great results with a little bit of practice. Only get the Ronin if you want to do something very specific in terms of motion shots!

 

[Owen Rennie]

I would strongly go against getting the Ronin. Its not good for Run and gun at all. 2 person operation is almost a must for setup and overall management of camera movement. You would also need an easy rig or other support equipment to manage long form Ronin shooting. That thing is heavy even with a bare bones epic with side handle.

I'll agree the thing is very heavy and i nearly couldn't get out of bed the next day after a solid 2 hour shoot with it .. but with my Dragon and the zeiss 15mm 2.8, shooting f/11 at 50-100fps the footage is breathtaking.... Yes its cheating shooting that wide and slow but dam it looks good...

Yes it's not ideal shooting solo but its definitely doable... and owning the ronin will make you many friends in know time... you'll have someone to man that remote control and pull focus for you soon enough.... for $3000 its the best decision i've made. If i only had 3k to play with i'd buy one for sure!

Owen

 

[Sam Goldwater]

I've been shooting with a Ronin/Easyrig/Scarlet configuration the last couple of days and I have to say I can't imagine how anyone manages without an Easyrig. Unless you're a genuine creatine beefcake it's a major strain to run even 30 second well framed takes when there's slates, director's notes and false starts to consider, let alone keeping space in your head for the next setup. Without an Easyrig the footage would've suffered considerably. I'd also never go without at least an AC to spot me, then you'll need a focus puller too. That's if you, like me, aren't interested in the hip height t16 18mm gimbal stuff).

I'd rent and test a Ronin before considering it a silver bullet high production value, low cost stabilisation tool. It's solid, and once you're familiar with balancing it can serve you well, but it is virtually a non-starter for a one person crew. For genuinely good results you're looking at a budget starter kit of easy rig, flowcine arm, stack of red volts, Cinegears FF... There's been a few Ronin or M10 sales on RU recently - I suspect some of these are down to people expecting gimbals to be easier than they are. In my case I found the Ronin to be a robust and a reliable tool and I'd certainly consider buying one, but gimbals aren't battery powered baseplates that make your footage smooth - they're delicate, specialist tools that demand consideration and planning for meaningful utilisation.

 

[Brian Merlen]

i like over cranking and use a tripod... thats my go to thing, but man do the shots look great..to think to get 120 i used to have to do 1k ws! its like not ur not even shooting bro LOL until you try high res over cranks! nah lol but seriously i consider over cranking on dragon or epic to be much much much better then using my very limited scarlet...i could not go back, EVER

 

[George Butterfield]

Shoot 4K HD at 23.98fps 800iso and stop down to f22 if you have to reduce light. Don't upgrade a Scarlet to an Epic.
(that's what I'd do if I was you)

 

[Paramon Ivanovich]

i chose Epic,
Absolutely No Regrets

 

[Saumene Mehrdady]

and stop down to f22 if you have to reduce light.

thats a one way ticket to Diffraction city

 

[Shane Kelly]

Shoot 4K HD at 23.98fps 800iso and stop down to f22 if you have to reduce light. Don't upgrade a Scarlet to an Epic.
(that's what I'd do if I was you)

Thats a good way to see how much dust is on your lens and sensor.

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

I'm milldly surprised that I'm not hearing more votes for the motion mount, which has become my new favorite bit of kit for any mobile, lightweight shooting situation. I love mine and bought both PL and Canon versions. They are ideal for gimbals, handheld, shoots requiring long hikes, use with telescoping lenses like the Canon 100-400mm where that action makes a mattebox a pain -- pretty much any circumstances where removing weight from the camera and balancing the camera are desirable.

And they let you perfect your exposure and histogram in 1/10 increments in ways that external filters cannot. No fussing with stacking, etc.

I bought my Canon mount used, after falling in love with the PL version, and saved some $$, and it works perfectly.

It's true that its extra stops of ND are sometimes not quite enough, if you are shooting timelapse into bright glare, but for most situations, it's plenty.

 

[Shane Kelly]

Since you described this $10k as an investment, its important to look at the return on this investment. Is it a rental item? or something that will make your cinematography that much better and forward your career? or just a shiny new toy to play with (not an investment).
What is really bugging you about you current camera at the moment? It seems that it's the lack of nd's and for you as a one man band that it's hard to hand hold for any length of time.
Upgrading to an epic is not going to solve either of these. An easyrig and some screw-on nd's will. It sounds like you may need some more cards and maybe batteries as well.
The easyrig is a great rental item - you'll probably make as much money renting it as you would have with the difference in the epic upgrade.

On the other hand, your friend may be right.

 

[sam karr]

The decision i have to make is close to yours. Hesitating to upgrade to epic, to scarlet dragon or invest in some gimbal and stuffs.
I think I will not go for epic upgrade, it seems we're approaching the end of this camera cycle, for how long will they still sell it? What if they suddenly stop it? What about the epic to dragon upgrade then? And there will be some price change soon, I would not be happy to invest in an epic and have the price cut soon after. I would have better redcode (but I never had any compression problem with my scarlet), high frame rates (too many times it's used because there is nothing else to defend in the footage, and it's everywhere, I don't have an urgent need for that). I like the 1.3x cropping though. But well, if Fincher had a scarlet instead of an epic and a red one mx to shoot the girl with the dragon tattoo, there would be almost no difference, as it's windowed to 3600px and redcode is almost the same.
Gimbals are nice, but 10kg/20lbs to hold all day long is heavy. Then there is the battery to charge. I have the feeling it can easily become a limitation instead of some extra freedom. Plus again the fact that a ronin is cheap, any youtube footage will have these smooth moves all over at the end of the year. Shoulder rig and tripods are good enough. Maybe a glidecam 4000 with the forearm accessory, it's cheap and easy to carry, and can make some nice looking short shots if there is some need sometimes. Or just renting gimbals.
Scarlet dragon upgrade will probably be my choice. Using regular screw NDs on it without colors issues. Less concerned about highlights, really nice colors, 5k, some usable slowmotion possibilities, less cropping. I think it will be the best option for me, at least the one that will be visible in my work. And the one that will bring me pleasure.