Pro Stills Photography

[michaelclements]

I have been doing a little digging around on the Red Scarlet s35, It looks great and I'm sure will perform equally so. But I do remain hesitant about if this is a serious stills camera replacement, both for price and function.
Sure it'll cost me 7k for a brain, then lens, then handle, then a viewfinder or monitor, then memory.... so all up, how much will this puppy be for a decent but affordable stills setup? and can it outperform a purpose built dslr for the same pricepoint???
Don't get me wrong, I want one, really, but a few things concern me, megapixel performance, total costs, etc.
Is the performance emphasis on motion over stills capabilities? (and yes I shoot motion too but would prefer them to be separate beasts as I wouldn't want one to suffer at the cost of another in the same unit)

Yet to be completely convinced....

 

[michaelclements]

Okay just to follow up my own post...
My current camera a rather aging Canon 40d has a roundabout equivalent of the Red One Mysterium Chip
40D - Sensor size: 22.2 x 14.8 millimeters; Pixel size: 5.7 microns
R1 - Sensor size: 24.4 x 13.7 millimeters; Pixel size: 5.4 microns
hmmm.... not so exciting really

so I wonder will there be a significant leap in image quality jumping up to the s35 MysteriumX at 30 x 15 millimeters...??

or would it take going to the FF35 36 x 24 at 6 microns to really blow me away?
And would the cost really be worth it?

$9,750 + all the stuff to make it into a fully fledged stills camera = a serious hole in my pocket that really could do with being justified.

 

[Stephen Gentle]

...can it outperform a purpose built dslr for the same pricepoint???

I'm sure that the still shooting mode on Scarlet will be great, and it should rival most DSLRs (even the RED ONE has been used for magazine covers, and Scarlet's sensor is supposed to be better), but you can't really compare it on price, as unlike the s35 Scarlet, they won't have a video mode that rivals 35mm film and cameras like Sony's that go for upwards of $150, 000...

Of course, we won't know until we start seeing more footage and stills from the camera, which could be a few months off still...

 

[michaelclements]

Thanks Stephen. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what it can do, by all counts so far, this is certainly a compelling camera for motion, but for stills, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Thomas Koch]

IF you need a camera that does both the Scarlet is the answer due the awesomeness of the video. But if you need a top of the line still camera, you are better off getting the s35 for video and a Canon 5D Mk II for stills.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

The price point is irrelevant to me when considering what the Scarlet/Epic will offer on the Video part, they will be purchased as a Cinema Tool, with the great benefit of Still imagery, hopefully will be blown away, as we have been in the past, and discover that this new cameras will be equivalent to any DSLR in the MP range, and I'm convinced that they will be far superior in all points, but pricing!

Currently shooting with a 1Ds III and truly awaiting the release of the Scarlet/Epic to see if I can ditch DSLR for good, and don't upgrade to Medium format with a Hassy 60MP body, my camera of choice will be the Epic 645, but will seriously consider the " Epic 617", according to the release dates, will be more likely to start with Scarlet.

One of the features which I definitely do hope that both Scarlet/Epic will have when in still mode is an HDR mode that will allow at list 7 auto-Bracketed Frames to be capture in one single burst in AEB mode, with non less then 3 EV step range.

I'm heavily getting in to HDR commercially such a feature is imperative, as well as the sync and wireless capacity to work with PW will be also a strong factor, as I use the Profoto line of Flash heads and Moonlights such as the D1 Air, and I surely like to continue to be able to use them with Scarlet/Epic, if this two are taken in consideration, then ditching the DSLR for good will not be a problem at all, price or not price.

To consider that most Pro Photographers do not work with cameras below the range of the 5D, such camera is in fact the low end of what Pros will use, (mostly for a second body camera, when they can't afford an other 8K body on their camera bag) in the Canon line up all the Pros I know, including my self, we only use D series bodies for more then one reason, and my 1Ds III was paid 8K, body only, so not far at all form the offerings of RED's Scarlet FF35 still at less then 10k, when then considering Pros which use Medium format such as Hassy, Phase, Leaf etc. then you are talking near 30k + and this will be the realm of the Epic 645, priced not too far up.

ciao

 

[Michael Totten]

I have been doing a little digging around on the Red Scarlet s35, It looks great and I'm sure will perform equally so. But I do remain hesitant about if this is a serious stills camera replacement, both for price and function.
Sure it'll cost me 7k for a brain, then lens, then handle, then a viewfinder or monitor, then memory.... so all up, how much will this puppy be for a decent but affordable stills setup? and can it outperform a purpose built dslr for the same pricepoint???
Don't get me wrong, I want one, really, but a few things concern me, megapixel performance, total costs, etc.
Is the performance emphasis on motion over stills capabilities? (and yes I shoot motion too but would prefer them to be separate beasts as I wouldn't want one to suffer at the cost of another in the same unit)

Yet to be completely convinced....

What kind of still photography are you into?
There are a lot of pro's who are quite happy with 12 MP... I would guess that the FF scarlet / FF Epic will be on par IQ wise with the first Canon 5D (which to this day in the hands of a decent photographer still produces stunning results). In fact I wouldn't be surprised if FF Epic/Scarlet surpassed the original 5D in IQ.

 

[Mark K.]

Will the still image quality from Scarlet be up to scratch? I'm sure it will. But from a professional stills photography perspective, the lack of an optical viewfinder is far more of a concern (from an operational perspective) than any of the camera's technical capabilities.

A 40D makes excellent images, and will continue to do so for many years to come, so I wouldn't be too worried on that front unless you particularly need a more professional feature set (better AF system or faster framerates primarily).

 

[Scott C.]

You have a point. The 645 is more comparable to its competitors on the stills side than the Scarlet FF35. Will that impact the market share of the FF35? I tend to doubt it. It seems to me that the thing most likely to effect the Scarlet FF35 market share is the Scarlet s35 just because there is just nothing else like it yet. Red is essentially creating a new market with the products.

For me, the biggest negative on the DSMC front is the lack of an optical viewfinder. As it stands now, I don't think that shooting events outdoors is practical with an LCD. Now if there is an EVF available that you can occlude with your eye, then that could change things.

 

[michaelclements]

Thank you all for your input, it is interesting viewing the opinions of those who are looking to this camera as a solution for both video and stills, Mark, the 40D is a good robust camera, but truthfully I feel like I've out grown the technical capacity of the camera, yes it can produce great images, but when I compare those images against the 5d mk2 or above, I let out a deep sigh of disappointment. It was good whilst it lasted, but my eyes are firmly set on something else now and whilst I may get the s35 for documentary film projects, funding permitting, the stills camera will probably end up being another solution.