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Scarlet dilemma

A

ali walker

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I looking to purchase a Scarlet and spent the last few days trawling the forums on peoples opinions / thoughts. I've always hired Epics / Red One's never a Scarlet and I have a few questions:

1) Epic 4k vs Scarlett 4K. Correct me if I am wrong but this should be IDENTICAL in image quality?

2) Scarlet overheating issues- Are there any?

3) Anamorphic - still no Ana setting?

4) Stills- still max exposure time 1 sec?

5) Do you think they made the Red One too good too early? Apart from form factor I cannot see a benefit (5k ok for stills)

My only positive is that I can upgrade the sensor and shoot more like a DSLR when I want too in comparison to a Red One which is big selling point.-

Thoughts?
 
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epic and scarlet at same settings should be pretty similar. however: you can shoot epic at lower compression. and then the settings are not anymore the same.
 
The first thing one should know about the Scarlet is how to spell Scarlet. :smiley:
 
If you are looking at shooting with a Scarlet, why not look at the Dragon sensor?

Scarlet Dragon 5k at 8:1 is comparable to Epic MX 5K 5:1 due to the better REDcode Compression Dragon uses. Also, better low light, better Dynamic Range. You can shoot 7:1 redcode in WS with Scarlet Dragon. With my Zeiss Primes, I often feel the look is almost too sharp.

Also, Scarlet Dragon has anamorphic. No overheat issues. It actually runs cooler than Epic.

Frame rates up to 150fps are pretty decent and usable in 2k if exposed correctly.

If you are more interested in the Scarlet MX, I unfortunately cannot vouch for it as I have never used it, but I have shot on RED ONE MX and the camera is damn good. Bulky and heavy and needs a team to operate it efficiently. It's a true cinema camera. But don't be fooled by its age, it's still a damn fine camera and shoots amazing images. From what I have seen, so is the Scarlet MX.

Both the RED ONE and Scarlet MX are going for pretty cheap these days. You need to ask yourself the question, are you shooting alot of run and gun stuff by yourself, or do you make features and commercials with crews and support? The RED ONE can be shot with one guy, run and gun style, but the scarlet will be far easier and will allow you to get those cool shots easier and cheaper. Image wise, I think the RED ONE and Scarlet are pretty comparable from what I have seen. The question is... Lenses. What mount are you shooting with? As the RED ONE is limited to PL mount and Nikon Mount. There are other 3rd party mounts, but yeah... do your research.

Just some food for thought.
 
I've hired the Epic Dragon a few times, but i'll hire it for the moment as out of budget range. That's a reason i'm tempted by the Scarlet as the upgrade path is future proofed. Yeah the R1 weight is the issue, but in my opinion the only issue- i'm not too fussed about it but does wipe out Ronins etc. I would use it as a B camera and for a film. I've never used or hired a Scarlet either. I wish they would add one more feature to the Scarlet- ANA setting or longer exposures for stills, or even 4.5k- that'll sway me straight away.
 
Unless you want to upgrade to Dragon; then you have less than two weeks before the price goes up.

Another thing that I dislike about the R1 is the boot time... And the form factor/weight. But there is a lot to love -- like mini-XLRs (which originally annoyed me, but are way better than the 3.5s you get with DSMC), two SDIs, two RED display outputs (EVF and Monitor), 4.5k, higher FPS, quieter...

But, yeah, if your inevitably going to want Dragon, you either have to go DSMC now and upgrade (preferably within 2 weeks, since the price goes up on Dec.1st) or buying outright (which, after Dec.1st is a much better/cost-effective option as far as Scarlet is concerned). But yes, 4.5k/24-25fps and/or ANA modes would have been incredibly beneficial for Scarlet owners, but then I bet nobody would have upgraded to EpicX or ScarletD...

Shamalan-twist would be if RED release a 4.5k firmware upgrade for Scarlet-X soon after Dec.1st (as upgrading Scarlets at that point will be incredibly rare since no on in their right mind would to pay $12500 to upgrade to a $14500 camera... may as well keep your Scarlet-X as backup or sell it privately for more than $2k).
 
I have the same dilemma. I registered on this forum more than half a year ago and since the day one I read and still reading every day comments and thoughts. For me It's Scarlet X vs Epic X as well. And I am very very curious what December 1st will bring to us. Scarlet looks like very good 4K camera. But Epic's 4K WS 150 fps for me It's the biggest selling point. Every film, every commercial, every music video, even every private holiday movie has some slow motion footage. If I don't need/like slow motion I'd take Scarlet immediately. Picture from Scarlet with let's say Zeiss CP2's looks absolutely stunning. :-) In the meantime I am going to read some more info about RED here on RedUser :-)
 
I love my scarlet, and i've found the footage to be identical to epic-mx at 4k 6:1. Also overheating is no worse than epic - and on that note if you know your camera well heat and fan noise can be controlled and will not be an issue. Only major drawback for me is not having slow-mo, which makes me constantly dream of upgrading to epic!
 
Slo mo is over rated, it's on everything & everywhere. Depends what line of work your in I guess but shooting actors @ 24/25/29.7 fps anything outside of these frames rates becomes an effect . (Sure there are times when you need it & when you do hire it in .)

Scarlet MX is still the only viable all in one 4K solution out there, despite all the new camera releases and I suspect it's about to get cheaper .

Scarlet D delivers more than current Epic. MX apart from hi - off speed. So whatever your decision look hard at what your in the business of creating/shooting and base your decision on that .
 
Mike Garrick said:
Wait till after Dec .1 before making any RED purchase decisions
Click to expand...

If Red's history is any indication it will be a few years before we might expect to see a new sensor. The system is modular so barring a new larger form factor option we have every reason to expect that any significant new development is likely come in the form of a module or accessory that all DSMC owners could take advantage of.

Why then would someone wait?

Dragon prices are going up and that should help keep prices across the market buoyant unless Red were to slash MX prices. I don't get the impression that Red has an inventory to clear, so I don't expect to see a repeat of that. Do you?

Is there some other reason?
 
I'm sensing a wind change & yes I could be wrong.

IMO the only reason to buy now before Dec 1. is if your doing sensor upgrade from DSMC MX . The op was asking about a Scarlet MX purchase .

Next week we will know for sure .
 
I love my scarlet! I have had it for two years now and have no plan to upgrade to dragon or epic anytime soon. The image is amazing in my opinion. I shoot 3k 48 for action sports all the time, and it looks quite nice.
 
Mike Garrick said:
I'm sensing a wind change & yes I could be wrong.

IMO the only reason to buy now before Dec 1. is if your doing sensor upgrade from DSMC MX . The op was asking about a Scarlet MX purchase .

Next week we will know for sure .
Click to expand...

OK. :-)

December isn't a month in which we usually see new tech, but I could be wrong and as you say it isn't far away so I guess there is no harm in waiting. For my money (I am a Scarlet MX owner.) April is the time when we might see new cameras come to market that could possibly have a negative impact on the value of Scarlet MX, and six months is longer than I would advise anyone to wait. My recommendation is; if you have an actual use for the gear now and purchase makes more financial sense to you than rental, then I say go ahead and make the purchase now with the understanding that this is a volatile market and you are buying "old" tech so don't expect high resale value. OTOH, Red's camera resale value record overall is still better than most any other tech I can think of.
 
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