Red Scarlet MX for $5K a "good investment"?

[Kenneth C Merrill]

Hi Guys,

My brother in law is a really successful cinematographer who owns an Alexa and a couple C100's. He and I have discussed going in together on a $10K Scarlet purchase ($5K each) since he needs a 4K-capable camera and I want to step it up from my 8-bit Sony A7s.

My first instinct was to jump on the deal. $5K for a Scarlet?? That's a great deal, and he probably won't use it a ton since he will be pushing his clients to shoot with the Alexa. So I'll practically get the camera all to myself most of the time--FOR $5000!

But after thinking on it for a couple days, I'm starting to hesitate. I don't have a dire need for 4K raw right now. Most of my clients are totally fine shooting on a Sony A7s. In a big way I'm hoping that my clientele will grow to fit my gear... which is really a risky hope.

Lots of people say that purchasing cameras is silly. Just rent! And I thought that way for a long time. But my brother in law has made his career as an owner-operator, and he and I both agree that he wouldn't be where he is now if he hadn't purchased the gear he has along the way.
For me the biggest benefit to owning a Scarlet will be the "clout" that comes with it. If anyone asks, I shoot Red. So do tons of other people, but it still says I'm more serious than an A7s. I'm hoping that the clients I'm starting to come in contact with will be a little more interested and it will give them another reason to go with me.

I would love your thoughts. I figured this was the best place to ask since everyone here is playing the market with this camera. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Brandon Kelly]

Ive had my scarlet for 3 years and I still don't think there is a better camera in the price range. Once you start using RED raw, your hooked.

 

[Saumene Mehrdady]

10k is a barely shootable kit, you're looking at 13-15 for something comprehensive

 

[Kenneth C Merrill]

I should have clarified. We have a friend offering a shoot-ready kit for 10K. The few peripherals not included we already have. The full kit brand new would actually be almost $20K. So it's a pretty killer deal.

 

[Gunleik Groven]

If you have the customerbase. You're good.

On the shelf, not so much.

 

[Craig Lees]

Hi Kenneth,

I've recently seen scarlet brains with SSD Modules & canon mounts going for a song on reduser - sometimes under 6K used.

It's a great time to get a used scarlet MX.

You still have your accessories on top but you can find some great deals here on reduser marketplace (which you can buy as you go along - that's what I did). I used a friend's Sidehandle and an sdi monitor with one single 64GB Redmag for quite a while!

I've also seen C500's going for a song too. These cams can be 3 years old- of course they're going to become cheaper.

RED cams are really well made, solid and built to last.

Though as Mr Groven said, it depends on how much work you can find / how long your camera stays on the shelf for more than anything else. Tech is tech. Finding the work and continuing to find the work is the hardest thing!

Craig Lees
ED & SX UK
3dstories.co.uk

 

[Elsie N]

Don't know if you are familiar with the RED system yet. If not, owning a camera will give you the experience you need should you eventually move up through the camera chain.

There is no better teacher than a year spent with your own camera.

 

[Naim Sutherland]

Depends on the market. Where I am, Scarlet is not a rentable item because Epic Dragons and Alexas grow on trees here. Poor investment.

Ask yourself: In 5 years will I be using this gear? In 10? The answer for any Scarlet is very clear: Definitely not.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Depends on the market. Where I am, Scarlet is not a rentable item because Epic Dragons and Alexas grow on trees here. Poor investment.

Ask yourself: In 5 years will I be using this gear? In 10? The answer for any Scarlet is very clear: Definitely not.

Can you answer "yes" to that question regarding virtually any camera (or other piece of tech, for that matter)? Not even sure you can see that about lenses anymore. Makes asking the question sort of irrelevant.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Depends on the market. Where I am, Scarlet is not a rentable item because Epic Dragons and Alexas grow on trees here. Poor investment.

Ask yourself: In 5 years will I be using this gear? In 10? The answer for any Scarlet is very clear: Definitely not.

Really? I can see Scarlet MX's being used in 4K workflows quite a lot over next 5 years. RED ONES are being used around the world all the time.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

I am inclined to agree with Nick: even the RED ONE is such a great camera. And it's almost ten years old! The Scarlet MX is better in some ways, of course, especially if you're using it as a still camera.

It's tempting to go for the Sony A7 cameras. I love them and I have one (I'm not much of a video guy but I have used it for video) but there is no way you're going to get the depth of a RED RAW exposure in the output of a Sony A7. High ISO? Yes, that's technological progress, but film crews were doing fine with ASA 125 for a long time. Don't worry about it. ;-)

 

[Gunleik Groven]

Thing is: If you can make good use of it, it is a good investment.

 

[Eric Santiago]

Ive had my scarlet for 3 years and I still don't think there is a better camera in the price range. Once you start using RED raw, your hooked.

Purchased a BT 2012 Fall.
It has been an amazing experience for me

Don't know if you are familiar with the RED system yet. If not, owning a camera will give you the experience you need should you eventually move up through the camera chain.

There is no better teacher than a year spent with your own camera.

Since then I got in the back door of features/shorts/music/etc projects and learned from very experienced DOPs and ACs as well as the rest of the Fun Bunch

Its fun being the Camera Dept and still be learning as you go along