Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED EPIC DRAGON VS RED RAVEN?

Sam Allam

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 3, 2012
Messages
183
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Website
www.samallam.com
Hey guys, just wanted thoughts on the Red Epic Dragon Vs Red Raven,

I have a used Raven or Red Epic Dragon on the table for around the same cost when you breakdown the package.

I shoot mainly Zeiss ZF and Sigma Art personally, so the EF mount is a a slight draw back on the Raven but doesn't kill me. I also like that the Raven is dsmc2 and future'ish proof. The epic dragon seems so much more powerful but with older tech. what are you thinking? Im coming from a RED ONE MX and Scarlet.

Thank!
 
Last edited:
I sold my Epic Dragon and solely use the Raven. I wouldn't say that the Epic is exponentially better than the Dragon. I can definitely push the Raven higher into ISO's and the scratch mics are handier than you'd think. And the DSMC2 enhancements aren't fabulous. It really depends on where your final delivery is ... mine is to online outlets, so the Raven is fabulous for that. If you're shooting for movies and stuff that requires VFX, then yeah Epic Dragon all the way. It honestly just depends on what your needs are and that determines what the best camera is ... for you.
 
yes. i own a raven, i used to own a dragon and i upgraded to helium. in many cases the raven is ideal, run and gun, shoot 4k, prores 2k, lighter body, auto calibration... downsides.... you can't change the mount, you can't change the OLPF. But for a lot of projects, it really works, its also, a bit better on battery usage... and did i mention auto calibration? saves you some mental headspace, and time. but for bigger projects, PL glass, etc, it can't work.
 
You're comparing a previous generation formula 1 vs a new generation formula 3, if you get my analogy. F1 would be my pick.


This is a great analogy. I might need to steal this! Well, borrow at least.
 
It really comes down to your delivery specs.

If you are delivering 4K files, you should get an Epic Dragon to take advantage of the overscan, if you are delivering 1080p, than the raven will be more than enough camera for the job!
 
Very hard to compare.

The 6K Dragon has a sensor twice the size as 4K Raven. Optically, that means a lot more real estate, a lot more shallow depth of field on long lenses, and much wider FOV on wider lenses.

Reframes from 6K to 3K deliver fantastic extra "angles" from the same shot, the same camera. One cam, can effectively become two (we've done this trick several times this month already).

Yes, the noise floor isn't as good...at 4K...and it's a bit heavier.

But in every other way, I'd say Epic Dragon is superior, for the reason's listed above.
 
If you got your hands on some fine pl glass choice should not be to difficult.

I would wote for dragon, as sensor size and mount options is not something you can make up for in post.

Sure weapon body comes with a little bit better processing and some nice features like in camera prores etc but all that stuff you can work around in post.
 
Thanks Nathan, Same kinda set up, Doc camera with some commercial work, all 1080p delivery, nice reframe work with 4K and stabilization. EF is the only draw back, even though im shooting zeiss ZF mounted to EF 90% of the time.
 
If you are able, grab yourself an Epic Dragon with MiniMags. Then when you potentially switch systems in the future, a large migration cost is taken out of the equation.

A buddy of mine was contemplating choices and was able to pick up an Epic Dragon recently for pretty darn cheap. He uses it all the time for his personal and low budget shoots and is in heaven with it. Figure out what'll work for you financially, as well as what will get you stoked to be shooting.
 
Back
Top