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Red One MX still a good Camera ?

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Dragoslav Lazic

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I am trying to find the perfect camera for my needs. I am not a professional and would love to begin with making of movies. I would love to let my dreams come true and thats film making.

Red One MX or another one ? Budget maximal 7000 $
 
The RED One is a fantastic camera. For me, the best comment ever made about it came straight from Jim Jannard at NAB 2008 when I was chatting with him and he offered up, "The best advice ever given to me was, 'Make sure your first product is your worst.'" So much wisdom in that simple comment, yet true. The company poured their collective hearts into that camera and it changed an industry.

The thing is built like a tank. Shoots 4K, wait, make that 4.5K. Nothing has degraded about the camera and it still takes exceptional images. A great bargain.
 
The RED ONE MX may still be a good camera, but it has a different shape than the SCARLET/EPIC cameras. Which means that as you rig it, you will be buying your way into its particular branch of the evolutionary morphology. If you buy a used SCARLET, then everything you buy can be directly translated to SCARLET DRAGON or EPIC DRAGON, if/when the bug gets you really bad. You should also look very carefully at media options of the older branch vs. the newer branch. Obsoleting obsolescence only goes so far.

Finally, you should consider that RED was (and is!) a rapidly growing company, which means that the total number of RED ONE cameras is likely much, much smaller than the number of SCARLET & EPIC MX and DRAGON cameras out there. Which means a smaller market from which to purchase (or rent) this or that bit that you find you cannot live without.

If you can find a really complete shooters package for $7000, I'm sure that the camera won't be the rate-limiting step ;-)

I have more than $7000 in my Sachtler CineHD, so what the heck do I know about building a complete system for less than that?
 
Last edited:
Michael Tiemann said:
The RED ONE MX may still be a good camera, but it has a different shape than the SCARLET/EPIC cameras. Which means that as you rig it, you will be buying your way into its particular branch of the evolutionary morphology. If you buy a used SCARLET, then everything you buy can be directly translated to SCARLET DRAGON or EPIC DRAGON, if/when the bug gets you really bad. You should also look very carefully at media options of the older branch vs. the newer branch. Obsoleting obsolescence only goes so far.

Finally, you should consider that RED was (and is!) a rapidly growing company, which means that the total number of RED ONE cameras is likely much, much smaller than the number of SCARLET & EPIC MX and DRAGON cameras out there. Which means a smaller market from which to purchase (or rent) this or that bit that you find you cannot live without.

If you can find a really complete shooters package for $7000, I'm sure that the camera won't be the rate-limiting step ;-)

I have more than $7000 in my Sachtler CineHD, so what the heck do I know about building a complete system for less than that.
Click to expand...

A good point and worth considering. The R1 is EOL (end of life) and as such, you'll be limiting yourself to its accoutrements. Still a great camera, but not as compact nor current as a used Scarlet.
 
Dragoslav Lazic said:
I am trying to find the perfect camera for my needs. I am not a professional and would love to begin with making of movies. I would love to let my dreams come true and thats film making.

Red One MX or another one ? Budget maximal 7000 $
Click to expand...

The Red One MX is still a great camera and since it's the same sensor as the Epic and Scarlet you get basically the same quality.

That said, it's not the camera that makes movies and these days there are many options on the market that all do a great job, like the Panasonic GH4, the Sony A7S, the various Blackmagic cameras and so on. It all depends on what you want to do but if you say you are just starting to make movies then there's better ways to spend your money. People (including me) tend to think a piece of equipment will solve all their problems but in reality what you do with the camera and what happens in front of the camera is much more important and much more difficult to control. Art direction, location scouting, styling, make-up and light will all do much more for an image than choosing one camera or another.
 
The RED One is awesome! before you spend money on a consumer camera decide if you are serious about making films or you just want to play around. If you are serious go professional and get the Red One. Your bad films and mistakes will still look great, Practice with professional gear and learn from your mistakes and you will be fine. Its like buying a car to me why buy a v6 mustang when you can afford the V8, you may not like the fast lane until you drive in it =)
 
Hi Guys,
thank you all for great comments. I really appreciate that...

I would ask you now to help me away. Should I buy used Red ONe MX or Scarlet ? I know scarlet is more expensive, but if I would have a much better camera as Red One, than I would upgrade my budget.

What is worth a very good Scarlet Kit and what do I need as accessories to could shot movies ?

Thanks again Guys

Best regards
Laki
 
I'd say the main advantages for Scarlet over RED ONE are these:

1) If you get an upgradeable body (check this before you buy) you can upgrade to Epic, Epic-Dragon or Scarlet Dragon down the road.
2) It's lighter (which means you'll easier get away with lighter support solutions, and not break your back as easily)
 
Hi Suresh,
which one do I like better is very important, I know it. But, more important to me is which one is better for film making. Is there anything what Scarlet makes better ?
 
It sounds like you are just starting out so I would recommend not starting with a camera that is big, heavy and needs a lot of power. It's not that it's not a good camera but it is end of life and is still an expensive way to learn the art of filmmaking. I would say make your mistakes on a camera that is not going to frustrate you and require a lot of extra accessories to operate. Get a 7dII or a 5d or even a sony F7 and learn your craft - lighting, staging etc and then decide if you need to spend a lot more money to get a better image.
The camera is a small part of everything that goes into filmmaking, concentrate on everything else first.
 
I can see many reasons to get a 7D, but if I was going to film, a BM mini that shoots log to prores... As a filmcamera it's a gem compared to the 7D. (IMHO. I understand that people will disagree)
A RED ONE is also good. (just randomly taking the heaviest and lightest alternative to an DSLR I can remember)

This is just a matter of opinion, of course.
 
What lenses you will use?
The Red One comes with PL mount and while there are other options, Red offers PL and Nikon.
While for Scarlet you have EF mount, PL, Nikon.
The Red One advantage is that you do not need to do blacksheding so often. And in slow motion the Red One offers 60fps at 3k and 120 to 2k.
If you plan to rent them, I'm sure people would rather pay a little more and rent an Red Epic instead an R1 or Scarlet.
 
I was considering buying a Scarlet MX, but I've decided to go with the Red One MX because it has superior specs to the Scarlet: Ana mode, 4.5k widescreen, more affordable.

The only downside is the weight factor. So yes, Red One is an awesome camera.
 
Dragoslav,

If you are buying a complete package from somebody you admire and respect, who you have watched work, and whose kit you are 100% confident will do everything you want, then by all means, buy the complete package as such and make your dreams come true. If, however, you need to buy bits here and there to put together a kit without a mentor, you might want to start your research here: http://nofilmschool.com/2012/12/red-one-scarlet-epic-accessories-what-you-need

It is very, very difficult to piece together a coherent system for $7000 unless you already have a tremendous amount of kit already lying around. The Blackmagic cameras are certainly less expensive than the REDs, but their low price is also a small part of a much larger number. If you are new to filmmaking, you should spend some time hanging around film crews to get an idea of just how much larger that number is than the cost of a camera body + lens + media. It will blow your mind how insignificant is the cost of just the camera itself.
 
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