RED vs ARRI

[Michael Pyon]

Ever since I received my RED Scarlet, I have been bombarded by ARRI enthusiasts telling me I wasted my money on RED and that I should've invested my resources into an Alexa. I looked at the specs of the Alexa and I found it to be similar if not worse than the RED Epic. It's true that some ARRI Alexa shot films look great, Drive in particular, but I think RED has done a fantastic job in making its mark in the film industry with spectacular products.

It looks like I've been sucked unwillingly into a war between RED and ARRI and right now I stand with RED.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Whether it's a war is in the eye of the beholder. I see them as two companies pushing each other, sometimes with different approaches both technologically and strategically. Enthusiasts exist for both companies. Some people take it to the extreme. Personally, I don't. I like RED, I like the cameras they make. I've enjoyed images made by Alexa as well. A decision whether to use one over the other is not as easy as saying I like this company or that company. It's often project based, and there can be a lot of factors that go into deciding which camera to use, sometimes opting to use both if necessary. Fortunately for RED, they have a lot going for them. Epic is a phenomenal camera. There are a lot of projects it is suitable for. Scarlet is great too. You shouldn't worry about your Scarlet unless it impacts your business model, at which point you need to assess YOUR situation. Try not to let others drag you down. I've had many interesting comments made to me over the years. I just try to stay true to what I'm doing and not let that stuff get to me.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

ive known people to rent the scarlet much more than the alexa being more affordable, so already you can make money quicker with it. Second, Resolution and functionality is key, but a good story should always come first on the list of importance. You can shoot great things with a far lesser camera, its just a tool, and A DAMN GOOD ONE at that. I love my scarlet, Its already made a huge difference in my shooting style, capability and job queue. An epic, scarlet, alexa, f65, phantom, All amazing cameras, but they can all be shitty cameras if in the wrong hands and on a terrible script.

 

[Patrick OMara]

Either way, even when based on random peoples opinion's, you have 1 of the top 3 cinema cameras on the planet EARTH.

Focus on creating awesome mind blowing material. That's all that really matters now.

 

[ericyoung]

If you can't afford to buy an Alexa the argument is pointless.

 

[Peter Majtan]

The point is that even Scarlet has better specs then Alexa...

I have said this before - the main reason why the average project shot on Alexa looks "better" then the average project shot on RED is very simple. When compared to the numbers of REDs out in the wild there are only few Alexas and 99% of the time they are in the hands of experienced cinematographers shooting well-funded productions. You don't see young enthusiasts (like those who bought many of the Scarlets) buying Alexas and going about shooting their mates (whatever)boarding, etc...

This is the ONLY reason...

In the hands of equally skilled seasoned cinematographer with the identical budget RED will provide superior RAW material and equally professional final results, surpassing the image quality of Alexa...

Throw 5000 Alexas to indie filmakers and enthusiasts and you will see the average video posted online telling the story... ;o)

 

[sergio arguello]

I hesr this debate all to often, and prefer to answer simply put, If they were Identical on the spec sheet, which is to say if they both shoot 1080p as this is their resolution lowest common denominator and 2k as thier resoulution highest common denominator it would still be hands down RED as the intelligent choice from the perspective of economics, as well as, form factor. The RED epic ,all in to outfit a kit as does say Keslow Camera which is the studio standard id roughly say 58, maybe 60k,whereas the Alexa is approximately 119k at the lower comon resolution denominator, and 170k when adding a codex recorder to get to the higher resolution denominator...and Formfactor is not ever much of a debateable subject...with all that said i end with the fact that they are not even close to being resolution equals and HDRx and free upgrades and generous upgrade paths...fact is if it werent for RED i probably wouldnt own any digital cinema solution , and I trully believe Arri would have prefered it that way so they could have continued to have a monopoly (stranglehold) on the cinema industry.

I guess this is as good a time as any to say thank you Mr Jannard, Jared, Kelly, Brent, Dan...and all the people at RED who make this all possible. Cheers!

 

[Eugene Martin]

Season 2 of Downton Abbey was shot on Alexa and it looks terrific. Alexa is really hitting the sweet for episodic tv it seems. However, the trailer for Promethius looks like nothing I have ever seen. I am so happy to be a Scarlet owner, and have a true 4K cinema camera for my independent work. What Red has delivered in Scarlet is still for me a total game changer. I can't even look at 2K video capture any more let alone some kind of cooked "4K" mumbo jumbo. I can see the Raw data in Red Cine and its awesome how many looks I can create, ahem...for free!

 

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

On the one hand, I couldn't afford an Alexa at this time.

On the other hand, I like RED's management, attitude, and approach to business.

On the gripping hand, bottom line is I'm a stills guy dipping my toes (OK, both legs and up to the waist now!) in the moving pictures business. Stills are important to me and as a stills camera the Alexa is about as much use as a chocolate condom.

Mike

 

[Michael Ou]

It's an old argument, "my camera is better than your camera", "my child is smarter than your child", "my daddy is stronger than your daddy" the list is endless but it all boils down to this: "I'm better than you"! It's part of the human condition that, in it's finest form, allows us to push the limits and achieve remarkable things by not settling for mediocrity, in its worst form, causes us to kill one another.
I gather you did your research and made an informed purchase, now you are letting the darker side of the above conceit and other folks' twisted need to impose superiority get to you. These are all professional tools we are using, so where would you prefer to concentrate your attention now, the tools or the work?
You now have your shiny new racecar, do you go out and race? Or do you stay in the pits listening to folks verbally chip away at your confidence: "Your car is not as fast as ours". You know what? Your car is fast enough! Now go and work on what's important, learning how to race! Impress us, I dare you!

 

[Michael Pyon]

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Malvin Ng]

It's an old argument, "my camera is better than your camera", "my child is smarter than your child", "my daddy is stronger than your daddy" the list is endless but it all boils down to this: "I'm better than you"! It's part of the human condition that, in it's finest form, allows us to push the limits and achieve remarkable things by not settling for mediocrity, in its worst form, causes us to kill one another.
I gather you did your research and made an informed purchase, now you are letting the darker side of the above conceit and other folks' twisted need to impose superiority get to you. These are all professional tools we are using, so where would you prefer to concentrate your attention now, the tools or the work?
You now have your shiny new racecar, do you go out and race? Or do you stay in the pits listening to folks verbally chip away at your confidence: "Your car is not as fast as ours". You know what? Your car is fast enough! Now go and work on what's important, learning how to race! Impress us, I dare you!

Well said

 

[Rob Ruffo]

Ever since I received my RED Scarlet, I have been bombarded by ARRI enthusiasts telling me I wasted my money on RED and that I should've invested my resources into an Alexa. I looked at the specs of the Alexa and I found it to be similar if not worse than the RED Epic. It's true that some ARRI Alexa shot films look great, Drive in particular, but I think RED has done a fantastic job in making its mark in the film industry with spectacular products.

It looks like I've been sucked unwillingly into a war between RED and ARRI and right now I stand with RED.

Both cams have plusses and minuses. However, the plusses of an Alexa, very slightly wider dynamic range, in my opinion are not worth the loss of post flexibility and 4X price difference. A good DP could for sure produce something that looked as nice as Driver with any current Red cam model.

 

[Dave Blackham]

Might nice pictures not have more to do with the Cinematographer than the camera ?

Some things important to our company are, ability to shoot high speed, small size of camera, supported Underwater housings, 4k or greater resolution, small recording device to capture full sensor data amongst many others.

I dont think there is much doubt Alexa is a very nice camera but then so it Red Epic, Our money is on Red.

 

[Ash Worth]

Season 2 of Downton Abbey was shot on Alexa and it looks terrific. Alexa is really hitting the sweet for episodic tv it seems. However, the trailer for Promethius looks like nothing I have ever seen. I am so happy to be a Scarlet owner, and have a true 4K cinema camera for my independent work. What Red has delivered in Scarlet is still for me a total game changer. I can't even look at 2K video capture any more let alone some kind of cooked "4K" mumbo jumbo. I can see the Raw data in Red Cine and its awesome how many looks I can create, ahem...for free!

You are a documentary filmmaker and you can't look at 2k video? Really? What kind of documentaries are you making? What's your set up for shooting documentaries and please list all the equipment you have to use for a typical doc shoot day. I think this would help other potential documentary filmmakers. I'd also like to know how much documentary work is being shot at 4k. Thanks.