Which Budget RED Camera?

[JT Thurlow]

You can buy an Arri on Ebay for the price.

How do the cheaper Arris (Alexa Plus, Alexa M) compare to REDs at the same price levels? From prices I've found (assuming I'm not overlooking expensive required accessories that are missing) this would be Helium level for the Alexa M, and Scarlet-W + $2.7k for the Alexa Plus.

 

[JT Thurlow]

You can buy an Arri for <$4K. You said you need 120fps so in that case youre best with A7s3.

I had Helium, even there 2k looked horrible using the best glass (zeiss Otus).

I'm in the UK and haven't been able to find them as cheap.

But you're saying that all Arris are better than even the more expensive REDs?

I mentioned that I heard that the A7SIII looks a bit hard/digital and not cinematic (if given the choice, I'd rather have a cinematic image with a bit more issues, that no one will probably notice, than something that's technically closer to perfection but doesn't look cinematic)--is that not the case?

 

[M Harvey]

But you're saying that all Arris are better than even the more expensive REDs?

I mentioned that I heard that the A7SIII looks a bit hard/digital and not cinematic (if given the choice, I'd rather have a cinematic image with a bit more issues, that no one will probably notice, than something that's technically closer to perfection but doesn't look cinematic)--is that not the case?

I think you're probably at the point where you have to do your own testing. We're all happy to offer opinions, but you're the only one who's going to be responsible for what's projected on the cinema screen!

Here's what my next steps would be: so we've got a list of camera contenders, and we've got some usage guidelines (compression ratios etc), and so it's probably a good moment to reach out to rental houses. They'll typically let you test cameras on premises. You might also be able to meet up with owner/operators in your area (perhaps via reduser or facebook or equipment sharing sties or whatever). It also might be worth speaking to some post-production folks about their impressions of the quality of these files, noise reduction techniques, etc.