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Selling Scarlet

  • Thread starter Thread starter Adam Welch
  • Start date Start date
A

Adam Welch

Guest
I am trying to get an idea what I can sell my Scarlet and accessories. This is what I have:

SCARLET-X W/SIDE SSD AND CANON AL MOUNT
DSMC SIDE HANDLE
RED TOUCH 5.0" LCD
REDMAG 1.8" SSD 64GB
REDMAG 1.8" SSD 48GB
RED STATION REDMAG 1.8" (MINI) - ESATA
AC POWER ADAPTOR (DSMC)

Just trying to get an idea what all of this is worth.
 
I know I understand that. I am not putting up for sell yet. I am just trying to get an idea what I can sell it for before I actually make that decision.
 
Ownership transfer is $500 + another $100 for RED inspection, which will give the new owner a 90 day warranty on the camera body.
 
Al Lougher said:
I am seeing 40-50% resale value these days, which is crazy. I don't get why the Scarlet isn't holding it's value compared to other cameras.
Click to expand...
Yes, a bit crazy, but its just the market. The good side about this is, you can get a Scarlet (often with not much hours on it), for a good price. And you can upgrade that Scarlet to Dragon and or a EPIC.
 
It's probably because the landscape has changed so drastically since Scarlet's launch -- 4k (and raw) can be had for quite cheap these days, and the accessories and media for the alternatives are non-proprietary and generally much more affordable too (picture quality is more than acceptable as well).

If you're buying a used Scarlet now just to upgrade, you may as well wait for a new Scarlet-Dragon (with 1 year warranty) or cut to the chase and get an Epic, hence no consistent market for used Scarlets.
 
yeah I agree with Mike. It's the demand not the quality. The choices for a 4K camera is starting come into the market this year. There is lots of choices and unfortunately Scarlet is no longer the new kid on the block and thus no longer as exciting. That and the competition cost is way lower (as people don't see or know the full difference and some camera's cutting their bottom-line to get more customers and thus more confidence in their brand, demand, and market.

If you're not planning to upgrade path to the Epic or Scarlet Dragon and you don't wanna hold onto it to make your money back as rentals/op, I think this is the best time to sell it. It's only gonna go down in price the more you wait.
 
If anything the market is saturated cuz people are selling scarlet and buying scarlet dragon brains...
 
I'd consider a Scarlet-X Brain for ~$3k (with SSD module)... But, yeah, any more than that and it's kind difficult not to just wait for standalone SD... Especially since used could have tons of hours/usage/wear and no warranty... and a $500 transfer fee that realistically does nothing for either end-user. It's technology; prices fall hard/quick.
 
What other camera shoots 4k RAW internally?

you can export 16-bit or anything close to that via HD-SDI...

Honestly, if you look at other RAW conversions, you'll see that they are not close to the same quality.
 
Jeff your totally right. Just got off the AJA page and the CION has less dynamic range than MX and RAW is external up to 120fps. Anything cheaper will do ProRes but RAW will kill productions hard drive budget fast. That's why most commercials, music videos indy films shoot Red. Red is a Mid Range to Pro, BMCC & CION are targeting ProSumer to Mid Range. Arri targeting just the Pro market.

I really wish my Scarlet did 5K @speed & 4k 60fps, I'd pay for a firmware update. Sony & Canon have done it. I'm not ready to upgrade just yet.

Red originally wanted to target pro sumer with Scarlet 2/3 but that never happened.

Take a look at all the new 4K cameras they have the same Specs or Less than Scarlet. Clients want Red cause of the reputation in the mid-low budget world. All the big features are shooting Arri RAW which usually puts you at 3-4TB of footi a day your media budget is much larger than shooting .R3D. All of television shoots Arri ProRes and use BMC along side.

If you cant afford an Alexa you own a Red if you can't afford a Red you own a BMCC

Scarlet will hold its value even more so if they did a 5K firmware. No one talks about the AF100 or Sony F3 anymore.

If you had to shoot a feature on a 4K BMCC or Scarlet what would you pick?
 
Does BMC raw burn kelvin in? I know Sony and Canon Raw does...

So the only things I know don't is Arri Raw and R3d raw... Also I know the files on BMC raw are huge, its not like shooting the wavelet compression of r3d files at all... That coupled with all the bugs and issues anyone in their right mind would pick a Scarlet...but I would like to know more about the BMC...all i hear is bad stuff which is why i opted out of my order...
 
BMCC can shoot RAW but no one can afford storage for it. Better off shooting Red. ProRes is your best bet and what everyone shoots on when it comes to BMCC. They're great camera's for the money; can't beat it.

If I was in my early 20's again I'd probably own a 4K BMCC beats a DSLR image any day plus a copy of Resolve. Such great tools at your fingertips.

Main reason Canon DSLR sales went down after 2012, that $1000-$3000 price range is a huge market and Black Magic is doing a great job even though many early adopters got burnt for waiting and waiting. Red will make you wait for your camera but not like Black Magic; you'll be waiting for over a year lol. Some people will never do business with them again which I totally understand.

Red is a money pit, years and years of spending thousands of dollars. If there's a new sensor/camera every two years your obligated to save $5k a year just to keep up after you sunk over $13k for a super basic camera package. One item for your kit is usually a minimum of $1000 and it takes several items to complete your kit. So many poorly pieced kits that crews have to deal with when a ownenr operator's involved. Then you have companies like Panavision renting out Epic kits with Ultra Primes and Arri support for $1k a week. Owner Ops can't compete with that. Currently its a renters market you can get some great deals in LA at least.


Dragons are becoming more common but shooting 6K will take a toll on drive budgets. Its gonna be interesting to see if producers acknowledge Dragon over MX in everyday practicality, maybe two years from now. The only time I've used Dragon has been on commercial work. Just finished a feature few weeks back and we shot Epic 4KHD 6:1 and its 2014.
 
Al Lougher said:
I am seeing 40-50% resale value these days, which is crazy. I don't get why the Scarlet isn't holding it's value compared to other cameras.
Click to expand...

There is a shopping street about 3 km from here called Wellington street. The rents there are cheap enough to attract a lot of start-ups, but just expensive enough that these very start-ups struggle to stay afloat, so there are always tons of "for rent" spaces on that street, regardless of the economy, and regardless of the fact that is is actually well located in the center of a very safe, high density, fast gentrifying neighborhood..

Scarlet is like that - it has a perfect storm price. Cheap enough to attract lots of dreamers with no business experience, who in some cases then fail, but expensive enough that many REALLY need their money back in a hurry if things don't work out, so they become destitute, panicked sellers.

If it were more, it would be bought only by people with some business experience, or "rich kids" who could afford to wait. You don't see many destitute Alexa sellers, or destitute sellers of Resolve control surfaces, Cooke lenses, etc.. You're also unlikely to see many destitute 5D sellers, because it costs so little why bother. Maybe some, but not many vs how many units have been sold. This is why.
 
Cid J Salcido Uyarra said:
BMCC can shoot RAW but no one can afford storage for it. Better off shooting Red. ProRes is your best bet and what everyone shoots on when it comes to BMCC. They're great camera's for the money; can't beat it.

If I was in my early 20's again I'd probably own a 4K BMCC beats a DSLR image any day plus a copy of Resolve. Such great tools at your fingertips.

Main reason Canon DSLR sales went down after 2012, that $1000-$3000 price range is a huge market and Black Magic is doing a great job even though many early adopters got burnt for waiting and waiting. Red will make you wait for your camera but not like Black Magic; you'll be waiting for over a year lol. Some people will never do business with them again which I totally understand.

Red is a money pit, years and years of spending thousands of dollars. If there's a new sensor/camera every two years your obligated to save $5k a year just to keep up after you sunk over $13k for a super basic camera package. One item for your kit is usually a minimum of $1000 and it takes several items to complete your kit. So many poorly pieced kits that crews have to deal with when a ownenr operator's involved. Then you have companies like Panavision renting out Epic kits with Ultra Primes and Arri support for $1k a week. Owner Ops can't compete with that. Currently its a renters market you can get some great deals in LA at least.


Dragons are becoming more common but shooting 6K will take a toll on drive budgets. Its gonna be interesting to see if producers acknowledge Dragon over MX in everyday practicality, maybe two years from now. The only time I've used Dragon has been on commercial work. Just finished a feature few weeks back and we shot Epic 4KHD 6:1 and its 2014.
Click to expand...

Most DSLRs are sold to photographers, and many of those have learned that they cannot make money selling videos at the level they shoot them at (editing video takes a a lot more time than Photoshop, and they don;t have customers who can pay enough to cover all the long number of costs that video brings with it, including heavier, more expensive lighting, stabilization, sound…) So really DSLRs are all about photography, and the problem is they are more than good enough - no need to buy a replacement, especially when differences, in terms of photography, are so subtle now with new models.

As for drive budgets We always shoot Epic 5K, which on Dragon means shooting 5.5K for the same field of view that just works and looks right in my opinion, but since you can use a little more compression on Dragon with no loss of quality vs MX, data will be exactly the same. Drives cost us about $250 per shoot day, including redundancies. Not exactly a fortune, but not free either.

BMCC has no OLPF and very poor IQ. Yeah it's cheap, but it's way, way lower IQ than ar Red One MX, at gynormous data costs (even Prores is heavier than RedCode.)
 
Cid J Salcido Uyarra said:
Jeff your totally right. Just got off the AJA page and the CION has less dynamic range than MX and RAW is external up to 120fps. Anything cheaper will do ProRes but RAW will kill productions hard drive budget fast. That's why most commercials, music videos indy films shoot Red. Red is a Mid Range to Pro, BMCC & CION are targeting ProSumer to Mid Range. Arri targeting just the Pro market.

I really wish my Scarlet did 5K @speed & 4k 60fps, I'd pay for a firmware update. Sony & Canon have done it. I'm not ready to upgrade just yet.

Red originally wanted to target pro sumer with Scarlet 2/3 but that never happened.

Take a look at all the new 4K cameras they have the same Specs or Less than Scarlet. Clients want Red cause of the reputation in the mid-low budget world. All the big features are shooting Arri RAW which usually puts you at 3-4TB of footi a day your media budget is much larger than shooting .R3D. All of television shoots Arri ProRes and use BMC along side.

If you cant afford an Alexa you own a Red if you can't afford a Red you own a BMCC

Scarlet will hold its value even more so if they did a 5K firmware. No one talks about the AF100 or Sony F3 anymore.

If you had to shoot a feature on a 4K BMCC or Scarlet what would you pick?
Click to expand...

We can afford an Alexa, but chose Red because we like it better for a number of reasons. You think House of Cards "can't afford an Alexa"?
 
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