Very confused RED Scarlet X or RED Epic?

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

Having a Hard time deciding wich one to save up for, on one hand Scarlet X is Cheaper but with Epic you can do much more but is more expensive ,which we don't mind saving but wich one is more cost effective in the long run:001_unsure:

 

[Imran Farouk]

I'd say EPIC but really it also depends on your backend,

Lenses you have, the amount of storage, what kind of productions your run...

They are both the same sensor just one has a beefer ability with FPS and HDRX, if you really need both those features, EPIC is your choice but if you don't have the storage for the footage, then...their is your bottle neck...

Lenses is another factor but different case entirely as you can always go stills and in the future invest in cinema but this all goes into your planning of finance and how you intend to pay the camera off/generate funds from the camera

EDIT:

I did end up purchasing Scarlet but only because RED gave that wicked deal on EPIC-X so I am lucky to have both, If I didn't have a the EPIC-X choice, I'd have gone for EPIC-M because I never know what might be the next thing I feel like doing with the camera, its for personal use so its highly different to what most people would do with the camera,
Other thing is that Dragon is going to open up an AWESOME world when it comes to EPIC and a similar move with Scarlet but I can only imagine the abilities that will come at that point for the EPIC will be insane...

It's a difficult choice but you need to plan financially and see what the trade offs are for each route you go and where you see yourselves 2 or even 5 years from now, difficult yes but its only an estimate and your never locked down to anything thankfully with RED

 

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

We have iMac 3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 16GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x4GB 2TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5 Promise Pegasus 12TB (6x2TB) R6 RAID System with 2 thunderbolt 27" displays on each side

 

[Michael Millichamp]

Are you skilled enough to use an Epic?

Can you make your money back?

Do you have clients that would like an Epic?

Are you just using it as a personal camera?

Do you need 5k?

Ask yourself all of that, and I think you can find answers.

 

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

Well we just had a client drop us because they said we are selling out if we use RED

Are you skilled enough to use an Epic?

Can you make your money back?

Do you have clients that would like an Epic?

Are you just using it as a personal camera?

Do you need 5k?

Ask yourself all of that, and I think you can find answers.

 

[Imran Farouk]

We have iMac 3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 16GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x4GB 2TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5 Promise Pegasus 12TB (6x2TB) R6 RAID System

Wow well thats awesome for both, at the end of the day you'll make end up getting cheaper back up storage and even more raid storage, 12TB is great but EPIC will quickly eat that up depending on your production, short films its perfectly fine, then just use consumer raids as back up,

I'm taking this though as its for personal projects and films rather than for clients

Clients its a different ballgame and there are tons more people here than myself suited to that but I've seen some serious set ups and some not so serious but equally capable of EPIC,

Both routes I've always pointed out to people the camera is a minor fraction of the cost, the backend is where its going to eat up the money,

Also like some, is 24fps enough at 4K? or do you want 5K 96fps-120fps? Whats important to you guys is what you need to be thinking about, 5K or 4K, high FPS or is everything really just going to be 24fps, HDRX or no HDRX? stuff like that

On the note on the client dropping you, don't sweat it, there are plenty of fish in the sea and when everyone starts getting 4K (sony,panasonic,canon) consumer wise you'll probably want to be where the cutting edge is and thats RED, the competition will change it all and RED will hopefully be at the front line

 

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

Thank you we have allot to think about, it is for personal and clients

Wow well thats awesome for both, at the end of the day you'll make end up getting cheaper back up storage and even more raid storage, 12TB is great but EPIC will quickly eat that up depending on your production, short films its perfectly fine, then just use consumer raids as back up,

I'm taking this though as its for personal projects and films rather than for clients

Clients its a different ballgame and there are tons more people here than myself suited to that but I've seen some serious set ups and some not so serious but equally capable of EPIC,

Both routes I've always pointed out to people the camera is a minor fraction of the cost, the backend is where its going to eat up the money,

Also like some, is 24fps enough at 4K? or do you want 5K 96fps-120fps? Whats important to you guys is what you need to be thinking about, 5K or 4K, high FPS or is everything really just going to be 24fps, HDRX or no HDRX? stuff like that

 

[Ian McGrew]

Other thing is that Dragon is going to open up an AWESOME world when it comes to EPIC and a similar move with Scarlet but I can only imagine the abilities that will come at that point for the EPIC will be insane...

It's a difficult choice but you need to plan financially and see what the trade offs are for each route you go and where you see yourselves 2 or even 5 years from now, difficult yes but its only an estimate and your never locked down to anything thankfully with RED

Well put Sir!!!

I personally am buying a Scarlet X package... planning on paying off the camera as fast as possible and then save for an Epic. Who knows what great things that camera will be doing in a years time. Or two years! Or hell... What new camera Red will have out then. I am ready and have the clients that will use the Red. But 9 times out of 10 people are hiring a shooter with a Red... BECAUSE IT S A RED!!! Doesn't matter which it actually is. 9 times out of 10 your going to dumb it down to 1080p anyways...

Buy a can of flat grey spray paint... make yourself a sticker that says Epic and put it on the front... Most people will never know the difference haha

 

[Sergio Perez]

Of course Epic. Its a matter of budget. Having the Epic gives you no boundaries creative freedom (camera features wise- yes, no 1000fps) with that camera at optimum resolution: 5K 120fps, 3k 300 fps, better red code with less compression, cheaper dragon upgrade (and with better features)... Its the ultimate camera. The Scarlet is probably best described as the Red One Mini. However, the price difference is a LOT. If you're talented, skilled, have great ideas, have good support gear and talent, nothing prevents, in my view, one to achieve blockbuster quality imagery with the Scarlet, since blockbusters were done with the now 4 years old RED ONE.

Its all a matter of budget and what you have planned, really. Actually, if you have a great script or project lined up right now and if you don't have the budget for an Epic-M, you should definitely get the Scarlet. It will pay for itself fairly quickly, and then, jump to the Epic and keep the Scarlet as a B cam.

 

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

Thank u all for the advice =)

 

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

Hope the Scarlet footage looks as good as this

 

[Nuka Wølk]

Hope the Scarlet footage looks as good as this

In many respects, the footage You'll make with ANY camera will only be as good as You are able to make it. The technical quality of an image from a SCARLET-X will be far superior to MANY professional cameras out there. The quality of the content is only limited by You and Your teams talented skills and in some cases, also the budget.

I could also say: I hope the Scarlet footage looks as good as this

It would, if I was Fincher, had the budget and the talent...

 

[Demetri Zuev]

Buy a Scarlet, rent it out, return the investment plus earn some on top of it, sell a Scarlet add what you earned and buy an Epic.

Would certainly be faster than to just save up.

 

[Imran Farouk]

Girlfriend experience - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4A2xCwQsMo
RED One, natural light.
Scarlet, next gen. higher Dynamic range.
More possibilites...

I gotta agree with most though, if you can work with a Scarlet to begin with that seems like the best route unless your clients are demanding 96fps at 5K because 60fps at 2K seems good enough for a lot of things



"There is no point in having sharp images when you've fuzzy ideas." - Jean-Luc Goddard, definitely a quite that sticks with me now days

 

[Liam Hall]

Well we just had a client drop us because they said we are selling out if we use RED

Selling out of what?? I can understand clients with specific workflows that need to be considered, I have those, but I don't have any clients who take an emotional stand on my equipment choices.

 

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

Yeah it was so weird and hurtful that they did this

Selling out of what?? I can understand clients with specific workflows that need to be considered, I have those, but I don't have any clients who take an emotional stand on my equipment choices.

 

[Mike Garrick]

Hi Guys a couple of things. The client & the Red is weird, couldn't you argue you're supporting American jobs? Anyway in regards to Scarlet & Epic you're business is young, that's because you're young, at this stage I would be buying a Scarlet X minimising my exposure financially (who knows whats coming?) whilst gaining the experience & know how, how to drive it. All the time generating revenue & a return on your investment, then in the future if you need to, upgrade to Epic. The last thing any business needs is to buy gear no matter how sexy, & Epic is sex on a stick, & not be able too or need too reach the full potential of the gear. Wasted dollars, wasted effort. I argue this position as a business owner who has been in the production game for a little while

 

[D Fuller]

Well we just had a client drop us because they said we are selling out if we use RED

If the client said they dropped you fro that reason, I suspect they are bullshitting you. Unless your client is a better filmmaker than Terrence Malick or Steven Soderbergh, they are a fool to be taking that kind of position on any camera system. I wouldn't worry about them. Move on.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

This question is kind of like asking "Should I buy an F100 or a BMW? What do you need it for? What do you need to do the work for your clients? Which will make you the most money beyond the camera package? Do you care about making a profit? What can your clientele afford? Can you get higher paying clients with an epic?

For me I'll shoot everything at 24p, anyone I would consider renting it to would probably be shooting 24p and I don't intend much income directly from my ca.camera so there is no reason to spend anymore and would rather put the price difference into talent and production values.
But if you are renting out and you rent your camera 1/3 as often or for 1/3 as much then you would be better off with the more expensive option since it pays itself off and then some.

 

[Johnny Friday]

well, Epic is the obvious choice...if you have the $$$. don't think one needs to debate or write down in two columns the plus or minus....if you got the dough then get the epic...has features you want and compared side by side the scarlet it's king of the hill...so what more? One would assume you are not buying either of these cameras for your family vacation movies...but even if you were, if you have the $$ and want to produce some cool family videos, who't to argue. But i'm sure you know the answer to your question already.