Red Scarlet MX vs FS7

[Ed Camara]

So I'm an FS7 owner, I will definitely keep the camera for my corporate work.

But I've also always wanted a Red for the cinematic image. I would use the Red Scarlet MX for short films, indie feature films, music videos and documentaries.

The Red Scarlet MX is something I could afford, I can get a kitted out one for around £4000. Obviously it's quite an old camera now though. Is it a bit of a redundant purchase if I already have my FS7? Can I get equal or better images with my FS7 in cine-ei mode with some nice lenses and grading?(shooting internally to XAVC I)

I would love a Red Raven, or Scarlet Dragon or Red Epic MX instead, but they are all out of my budget, I probably wouldn't be able to afford one of those for at least another year or even two of saving.

 

[Misha Engel]

How about a brand new Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro for £4,845.
It has blackmagic RAW, these days 15 stops of DR(because of the new RAW), built in ND, cheap storage media(standard SSD's, CFast and SD), lots of mounts to choose from, cDNG blackmagic RAW all flavours of ProRes, upto 60 fps at 4.6k and upto 120fps at 2k.

Scarlet MX specs are kind of not so good these days.

 

[Ed Camara]

I would consider the Ursa mini pro too, I do like the image. The only thing I don't like is the size and weight. I used to own the Ursa Mini 4K, it was good, but the size and weight was pain, it made it a bit tough when it came to getting it on a gimbal.

I also want to be able to edit natively in Premiere without needing Davinchi, this may change in future with blackmagic raw, but as of right now not yet.

And it still works out a bit more expensive considering Cfast 2.0 cards and v lock plate, where as a Red Scarlet MX I can get a full kit including Red Mags already.

But I certainly won't rule it out! The image is lovely as well. The 48fps 3k of the Scarlet MX is ok as I use 50fps a lot anyway on my Fs7 and a7III. As long as it's not significantly softer than the 4k?

 

[Ed Camara]

These are my favourite clips from the Scarlet MX:
https://vimeo.com/133313855
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCZ11bWiaXg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12oecclGL20
https://vimeo.com/277485117

 

[Misha Engel]

I would consider the Ursa mini pro too, I do like the image. The only thing I don't like is the size and weight. I used to own the Ursa Mini 4K, it was good, but the size and weight was pain, it made it a bit tough when it came to getting it on a gimbal.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for $1.300, Shooting Resolutions: 4096 x 2160 (4K DCI), 3840 x 2160 (Ultra HD), 1920 x 1080 (HD) all upto 60 fps.
cDNG and ProRes (.braw is on its way) dual iso 400 and 3200. Storage on CFast, SD or externel usb drive. 1.59 lb. lots of native light lenses, optional speedbooster for shooting in the dark, etc....

I also want to be able to edit natively in Premiere without needing Davinchi, this may change in future with blackmagic raw, but as of right now not yet.

cDNG and ProRes is supported by Premiere at the moment and you get a free full version of Davinci Resolve, BMD released a free SDK to implement .braw in to their NLE's

And it still works out a bit more expensive considering Cfast 2.0 cards and v lock plate, where as a Red Scarlet MX I can get a full kit including Red Mags already.

Standard SSD's are cheap so are SD cards

But I certainly won't rule it out! The image is lovely as well. The 48fps 3k of the Scarlet MX is ok as I use 50fps a lot anyway on my Fs7 and a7III. As long as it's not significantly softer than the 4k?

Softness can come from many things (lens, de-bayer algorithem, etc..).

Scarlet MX is an old camera with all the drawbacks that come with it.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[Joe Cage]

I would go for the ursa mini pro as well

 

[Jason Sinclair]

Well the Scarlet MX was released back in 2011 and the FS7 was released two years after. So the MX is an older camera and IMO I think the FS7 is better than the MX when it comes to performance.