RED product overview

[Remo Fritzsche]

I have to admit, I've lost it. I thought it was quite simple. There were 4 sensors, the MYSTERIUM, MYSTERIUM-X, DRAGON and HELIUM. There were 4 cameras: ONE, EPIC, SCARLET, WEAPON, SCARLET-W. In my eyes, this did make sense. There now are 3 generations of cameras, the ONE generation, the DSMC1 generation called EPIC and SCARLET, and now the DSMC2 generation called WEAPON. But where is the consistency of announcing an EPIC-W now? I've lost track of the different axes (I thought there were "time" and "size of your model").

As far as I know, the cycle was to announce a new camera line, then a new sensor upgrade, a new camera line with the old sensor and then the same thing over and over again.

Long story short: I recall that there were some beautiful graphics somewhere in this forum a while back that showed an overview of all of the RED cameras and how they relate. Is there a new overview graphic that shed some light on the overall product palette of RED?

Don't get me wrong, I don't try to offend RED's product namings or, god forbid, their products. But I'm just not sure anymore what the overall concept is.

Apologies if this is a double or triple post, but I couldn't find anything related at the moment.

 

[Louis Maddalena]

Well you have ONE, DSMC1 and DSMC2.

ONE and DSMC1 you already understand

When it comes to DMSC2 that is a new body style, they are all the same size, shape and use the same modules. Within that eco system there are 2 sensors. The Dragon and the Helium

In the DSMC2 Dragon you have:
Raven
Scarlet-W
Weapon-Mg (Discontinued)
Weapon-CF
Weapon-CF 8k VV

For the Helium you have:
Weapon Helium (Weapon CF)
Epic-W

It is unclear at this point what RED's plans are for the other brains with Helium. We don't know if they are planning a smaller cut of the sensor for the Scarlet-W or Raven, or if they are planning a larger cut for a VV version of the sensor. But either way, we won't hear about those plans for a while I presume.

The CF Weapon in DSMC2 has two varieties, Forged and Woven. The Forged comes as a premium and is in front when ever a queue is formed for upgrades, but otherwise there is no difference besides the look and strength of the CF.

 

[Bob Gundu]

http://phfx.com/tools/REDDSMC2CameraLineup/phfx_REDDSMC2OneSheet2016_big.png

Www.phfx.com/tools

 

[PatrickFaith]

I think the current naming is totally confusing.

 

[Doug Laurent]

Yes, indeed it became very confusing and the naming doesn't really make sense anymore. While it's still possible to know the camera and sensor types, it's nearly impossible to remember all the accessoire consequences and prices as well as crop factors and redcode ratios, not to speak of the fact that there are several types of SSD speeds which influence the maximum compression quality. Maybe I have missed it, but I also don't know any sources who give exact image comparisons between all the most relevant options. Combined with the long waiting times and unreliable/not understandable upgrade options, these are the main reasons why I didn't upgrade my Red Epic MX and Red Epic Dragon yet. I might simply keep these two, wait and add a clear new camera model with 8K full frame AND good lowlight AND a reasonable price and buy that sometimes 2018-2020. Regarding resale value and prices for renting out, still the brand "Red Epic" and the image quality known since 2011 is what's valuable. Most clients don't get all the new names and options and will not pay extra for these expensive upgrades. Imagewise I also didn't see extreme differences so far. I wouldn't expect Red updates to be huge steps like a jump from a 5D3 to a A7S2 shot at nighttime and displayed on a huge 4K screen. But especially regarding lowlight I would love to see more examples of the new differences.

 

[Sergio Perez]

I find it quite simple:

DSMC2 is the Present and future of Red Cinema cameras until 2019- or was it 2020?

DSMC1 is the past and Present of Red Cinema Cameras.

DSMC 2 have 2 lines, like it was said before.

The easiest way to describe them is like this:

The Dragon and Helium lines use the same body, modules and media.

What differentiates them is sensor design.

Dragon Sensor has bigger pixels and less resolution, excluding the top of the line 8K Vista Vision (full frame) Dragon

The Helium Sensor has smaller pixels but Higher Resolution, and maxes out at S35.

After knowing these differences, the rest is easy:

Both the DSMC2 Dragon and Helium camera range can be defined then by price vs features: More expensive equals more frame rates at higher resolutions and lower compressions. The cheaper it gets, the less resolution and frame-rates. However, they all use the same same sensor of each specific line, and use the same DSMC2 modules.

 

[Remo Fritzsche]

Thank you guys for your help. That leads me to conclude that the naming indeed is a bit confusing and not entirely consistent. But your answers shed light into the dark.