Looks pretty good
Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 02:43PM 
The big announcement from Red Digital Cinema is the RED EPIC-X S35. The specs are very impressive and I love the modularity of the system. This will be the first camera to appear from the long list of new bodies (or "brains" actually) that were announced late last year. Anyone who follows this blog has probably already seen the list of what the Epic-X can do so no point in reiterating here. What I really want to comment on though is not the Epic-X but the announcement that they're continuing work on the 2/3" Scarlet. In this new era of small cameras with big sensors, I simply do not understand the interest in this product. True it's going to do A LOT more than a Canon 5D/7D or even your typical video camera at that price point but what are you going to put on it? A Fujinon ENG Zoom? Any regular 35mm format lens is going to crop x2.5 so even a very wide 18mm will become moderately telephoto. I'm super enthused about this big sensor revolution we're living in and if someone can give me a reason to get excited by a 2/3" RED camera, I'd love to hear it.
Reader Comments (7)
There is no reason to be exited. I'm waiting for the big sensor Scarlets.
Plenty of reasons:
1. A 2/3" sensor camera that records 3K RAW for under $10k. How is that not exciting?
2. Indie productions now have near film quality in a camera which sells for less than the rental cost of a film camera.
3. Plenty of nice and sharp Bolex and Angenieux 16mm lenses out there for not a lot of money that'll work well with the Interchangeable lens 2/3" Scarlet. If you don't want those, just get the RED mini primes.
4. The fixed lens version looks very promising for baseline packages.
5. It's small.
6. Crash cam on a big budget show?
As someone who can't afford to drop $30k on a nice S35 package, the Scarlet serves my needs really well.
Everyone is focusing on the cost of the Scarlet. I am not. God knows that the cost of the camera is insignificant in the overall cost of the film making process. Of course, if all you plan is point and shoot, then yes ! This cameras should give you great footage. But if you intend add lights, camera moves, editing and some grads...Then very soon, the cost of the unit itself seems like nothing.
By the way, does anyone know if there is a shoulder mount for the Canon5/7D that balances the weight of the camera right on the shoulder instead of front like most accessories do ? I googled it and couldnt find the right tool.
I'll agree, Anonymous, Point #1 is pretty damn exciting. A 2/3" camera alone at that price point is great. However - given this rapid paradigm shift we're in and I hate to sound snooty but 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3" video is starting to seem like yesterday's technology. Given RED's forward thinking mind set, I'm surprised they would gravitate towards this when there are so many new avenues to explore. In addition, it seems to me there efforts would be far better spent developing one FF or S35 Epic body and one Scarlet body and continuing work on the R1 rather than spreading themselves out over what is it? 9 new cameras?
That's just my opinion.
Soufian, check Zacuto's site for some interesting solutions for shoulder rigs. They have one that can accept counter balance on the back end.
Great point regarding the price-point disappearing behind all the other aspects of production. 5D Mk II is a great example of this. 2500 dollar prosumer camera being used on lots of massive budget advertising. Who cares what it is or how much it costs - it makes gorgeous images. Dress it up and look what you've got - it's a production camera. How about that.