dieseljunkie
04-14-2008, 03:07 PM
After what feels like years of waiting, RED finally unveiled the Scarlet today. And I believe the whole industry is shaking on its feet for the second time. The Scarlet is totally different from anything we have seen so far and definitely the most unconventional camcorder of the 21st century. People who watch the TV series LOST on ABC know what I mean. That series gives you an answer on a question and that answers leads to 10 new questions. RED had managed to pull of the same today with the Scarlet.
Let's start with the specifications as provided by RED:
* NEW 2/3" MYSTERIUM X SENSOR
* 1-120 FPS (180FPS BURST)
* UP TO 100 MB/SEC REDCODE RAW AND RGB RECORDING TO DUAL COMPACT FLASH
* 4.8" LCD
* 8X T2.8 RED ZOOM LENS
* FULL AUTO OR FULL MANUAL SHOOTING MODES
* HDMI and HD-SDI
* FIREWIRE 800 and USB2
* STILL MODE
* COMPATIBLE WITH MANY RED ONE ACCESSORIES
* WI-FI CONTROL
The first thing I noticed was the weird form factor. It looks like a pocket camcorder for the consumer market, only of the same build quality and looks as the RED ONE. Jim mentioned that this was going to be an all-metal camera. There are multiple pictures of the Scarlet and one is equipped with an external monitor and some handles. I think that although the ergonomics are different, the two handles will definitely work. So in the ergonomics department, they moved away from the classic design that Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC have been using for ages. That might be a good thing.
If we look at the specifications, we see a 2/3" MYSTERIUM X sensor. I think many people are disappointed because they expected a 35mm sensor. But I think for a camera like this 2/3" is a great performance and with most other Camera vendors using 1/3" or 1/2" it is a big improvement. It puts them in the XDCAM and VARICAM territory, which is amazing. It is a single sensor, like the RED ONE, and I think you have to approach it from a photography kind of view. All Digital SLR cameras for photography have one sensor, and they take amazingly sharp and crispy pictures with a good lens. When they have proper debayering, I think this sensor will be perfect.
The framerates. Amazing. From 1 - 120 fps. No other camera in this class pulls this off and this will allow over- and undercranking. Extreme slow-motion, and high-speed shots all in the palm of your hand. 120 fps is something everyone has been asking for on cameras from Sony, Panasonic, Canon and JVC and RED is the first company to pull it off. The 180fps burst mode will appeal to the surf, skate and extreme sports crowd. I think no one has complaints in this area. I hope this will be the new standard.
Up to 100MB/sec REDCODE RAW recording to dual compact flash. Amazing. The only issues I see here is archiving/storage/computing power. Most of us will currently use 25mbps/35mbps/50mbps footage and now we are getting 100mbps 4:4:4 (I suppose) RAW footage. This means additional processing which ask for a lot of storage space and an incredibly fast computer. I have the feeling that many people are hyped up about this camera but forget that this is no HDV format that you can play directly on your television without additional processing. Because of this, I cannot see that this camera will work for the consumer crowd or even many prosumers. You will need a many CF cards to store 100mbps footage and the workflow is completely different than the workflow most people are used to.
4.8" LCD. Means nothing. Size is great, but the resolution is far more important. It should be as good as the Sony PMW-EX1 LCD screen or even better to allow proper focussing of the high resolution image. I hope it includes the one that is shown on the picture because it looks great.
Fixed lens. I am puzzled. I really, really hoped for an interchangeable lens system. I hoped the Scarlet would be the video equivalent of the Nikon D300. And this means I would have loved interchangeable lenses. I think the T2.8 lens is not bad but it could have been so much better. They create the dream camcorder for indie filmmakers and then they limit it to a single, 8x lens which makes it far less appealing to me and many others. I can see that they did this so it does not eat sales from the RED ONE, but I wished (and hope they will change this in the future) made lenses interchangeable.
FULL AUTO or FULL MANUAL shooting modes. How will this work? I see no focus, iris and zoom rings? Will this be menu based? Again, this is weird and something I expected the Scarlet to have. Maybe the come up with a revolutionary new way of controlling focus, iris and zoom. It might have something to do with the WI-FI control. I can see them having a control module which you can attach to the Scarlet to do all these things in a way that is completely different than we have been used to. Like the Nintendo Wii controller looked very weird but has changed the whole industry.
HDMI and HD-SDI. Perfect, I guess that we will also get embedded audio through both of these jacks. No complaints here.
FIREWIRE 800 and USB2. Perfect. Both industry standards, and having FIREWIRE 800 is always great as it is much faster than USB2.
STILL MODE. Also a nice thing because you can use the Scarlet as a still camera as well and it makes it possible to take photos during shoots which are of high quality and can be used for marketing purposes.
COMPATIBLE WITH MANY RED ONE ACCESSORIES. Great. I expect this camera to be completely modular. That's why I guess you cannot see any audio jacks. There will be an audio module (I guess) which two XLR inputs and audio management options that can be attached to the cameras. I also mentioned the two handles which looks great and comfortable. Then there is also the matte box (and I guess that means filters too). Modularity is the best thing in the world as you only pay for what you want and not for what you won't need. I don't see why other companies don't understand this. You can always add things but never remove things you won't need.
The conclusion is that I think they are creating a revolutionary product that has already sent a shock-wave through the industry. I am sure many R&D teams of Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC and maybe even Nikon and Olympus are watching every step of RED from now and are going to jump in this market with their own products. I hope we will finally see more metal products instead of all those plastic, flimsy prosumer camcorders. But I do have some doubts. The major one is the lens and the controls. They have to come up with a good system for controlling focus, zoom and iris and I cannot see it from the pictures they released. I hope they will also release a version with interchangeable lenses. Without those, I think you get the most powerful camcorder but can never unleash its full potential. I see why they would want to protect the sales of the big RED's but I think they can do this as well by increasing the price of such a Scarlet by $2,000 - $2,500 so the difference between the Scarlet and the RED One will be smaller.
I hope there will be a lot of interviews about this camera with Jim soon because I have more questions then when I did not know what the Scarlet was a few hours ago. Anyway, interesting times. RED shaked up the industry and all other companies will be forced to rethink the way they work, and more importantly, how their products look and what features they have. Only for that reason every industry should have a company like RED.
Congratulations Jim and the other members of your team. Enjoy NAB and I hope I get some answers in the coming week!
Let's start with the specifications as provided by RED:
* NEW 2/3" MYSTERIUM X SENSOR
* 1-120 FPS (180FPS BURST)
* UP TO 100 MB/SEC REDCODE RAW AND RGB RECORDING TO DUAL COMPACT FLASH
* 4.8" LCD
* 8X T2.8 RED ZOOM LENS
* FULL AUTO OR FULL MANUAL SHOOTING MODES
* HDMI and HD-SDI
* FIREWIRE 800 and USB2
* STILL MODE
* COMPATIBLE WITH MANY RED ONE ACCESSORIES
* WI-FI CONTROL
The first thing I noticed was the weird form factor. It looks like a pocket camcorder for the consumer market, only of the same build quality and looks as the RED ONE. Jim mentioned that this was going to be an all-metal camera. There are multiple pictures of the Scarlet and one is equipped with an external monitor and some handles. I think that although the ergonomics are different, the two handles will definitely work. So in the ergonomics department, they moved away from the classic design that Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC have been using for ages. That might be a good thing.
If we look at the specifications, we see a 2/3" MYSTERIUM X sensor. I think many people are disappointed because they expected a 35mm sensor. But I think for a camera like this 2/3" is a great performance and with most other Camera vendors using 1/3" or 1/2" it is a big improvement. It puts them in the XDCAM and VARICAM territory, which is amazing. It is a single sensor, like the RED ONE, and I think you have to approach it from a photography kind of view. All Digital SLR cameras for photography have one sensor, and they take amazingly sharp and crispy pictures with a good lens. When they have proper debayering, I think this sensor will be perfect.
The framerates. Amazing. From 1 - 120 fps. No other camera in this class pulls this off and this will allow over- and undercranking. Extreme slow-motion, and high-speed shots all in the palm of your hand. 120 fps is something everyone has been asking for on cameras from Sony, Panasonic, Canon and JVC and RED is the first company to pull it off. The 180fps burst mode will appeal to the surf, skate and extreme sports crowd. I think no one has complaints in this area. I hope this will be the new standard.
Up to 100MB/sec REDCODE RAW recording to dual compact flash. Amazing. The only issues I see here is archiving/storage/computing power. Most of us will currently use 25mbps/35mbps/50mbps footage and now we are getting 100mbps 4:4:4 (I suppose) RAW footage. This means additional processing which ask for a lot of storage space and an incredibly fast computer. I have the feeling that many people are hyped up about this camera but forget that this is no HDV format that you can play directly on your television without additional processing. Because of this, I cannot see that this camera will work for the consumer crowd or even many prosumers. You will need a many CF cards to store 100mbps footage and the workflow is completely different than the workflow most people are used to.
4.8" LCD. Means nothing. Size is great, but the resolution is far more important. It should be as good as the Sony PMW-EX1 LCD screen or even better to allow proper focussing of the high resolution image. I hope it includes the one that is shown on the picture because it looks great.
Fixed lens. I am puzzled. I really, really hoped for an interchangeable lens system. I hoped the Scarlet would be the video equivalent of the Nikon D300. And this means I would have loved interchangeable lenses. I think the T2.8 lens is not bad but it could have been so much better. They create the dream camcorder for indie filmmakers and then they limit it to a single, 8x lens which makes it far less appealing to me and many others. I can see that they did this so it does not eat sales from the RED ONE, but I wished (and hope they will change this in the future) made lenses interchangeable.
FULL AUTO or FULL MANUAL shooting modes. How will this work? I see no focus, iris and zoom rings? Will this be menu based? Again, this is weird and something I expected the Scarlet to have. Maybe the come up with a revolutionary new way of controlling focus, iris and zoom. It might have something to do with the WI-FI control. I can see them having a control module which you can attach to the Scarlet to do all these things in a way that is completely different than we have been used to. Like the Nintendo Wii controller looked very weird but has changed the whole industry.
HDMI and HD-SDI. Perfect, I guess that we will also get embedded audio through both of these jacks. No complaints here.
FIREWIRE 800 and USB2. Perfect. Both industry standards, and having FIREWIRE 800 is always great as it is much faster than USB2.
STILL MODE. Also a nice thing because you can use the Scarlet as a still camera as well and it makes it possible to take photos during shoots which are of high quality and can be used for marketing purposes.
COMPATIBLE WITH MANY RED ONE ACCESSORIES. Great. I expect this camera to be completely modular. That's why I guess you cannot see any audio jacks. There will be an audio module (I guess) which two XLR inputs and audio management options that can be attached to the cameras. I also mentioned the two handles which looks great and comfortable. Then there is also the matte box (and I guess that means filters too). Modularity is the best thing in the world as you only pay for what you want and not for what you won't need. I don't see why other companies don't understand this. You can always add things but never remove things you won't need.
The conclusion is that I think they are creating a revolutionary product that has already sent a shock-wave through the industry. I am sure many R&D teams of Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC and maybe even Nikon and Olympus are watching every step of RED from now and are going to jump in this market with their own products. I hope we will finally see more metal products instead of all those plastic, flimsy prosumer camcorders. But I do have some doubts. The major one is the lens and the controls. They have to come up with a good system for controlling focus, zoom and iris and I cannot see it from the pictures they released. I hope they will also release a version with interchangeable lenses. Without those, I think you get the most powerful camcorder but can never unleash its full potential. I see why they would want to protect the sales of the big RED's but I think they can do this as well by increasing the price of such a Scarlet by $2,000 - $2,500 so the difference between the Scarlet and the RED One will be smaller.
I hope there will be a lot of interviews about this camera with Jim soon because I have more questions then when I did not know what the Scarlet was a few hours ago. Anyway, interesting times. RED shaked up the industry and all other companies will be forced to rethink the way they work, and more importantly, how their products look and what features they have. Only for that reason every industry should have a company like RED.
Congratulations Jim and the other members of your team. Enjoy NAB and I hope I get some answers in the coming week!