waitin'

[PatrickFaith]

Only facts on timeline I know are:

"Dragon upgrades will not begin until the end of this year. EPICs are 1st."
"Scarlet upgrades won't begin until 2013. 1st EPIC upgrades begin end of this year."

So by the end of 2013, there could be around 4000 epics to be upgraded ... so at 500 a month (assuming this December is when the upgrades really start at full volume) ... i'd think most scarlet people would start seeing major volume of upgrades in like ... July 2013. I'd be happy if my upgrade happened in August of 2013 - which is over a year from now. I think if you have a movie to shoot, renting a red one mx is at a great price point.

I'm learning so much on my scarlet, it is so completly awesome ... i couldn't image waiting a year. Another good thing of having the epics converted first is it gets the production at volume, therefore reducing the cost of the scarlet upgrades. Also I think it would be confusing selling Epic-x's with the current sensor while scarlets are being upgraded dragon (thus they really need to get the entire epic production moved over to the dragon before the scarlet upgrades can happen anyway). To me the tougher decision is whether to buy epic at the 50k price point, or go with the current scarlet ... if that isn't a option based on how much you have to spend ... no reason not to buy the scarlet right now(given that you have a project to do that needs a scarlet or red one).

[Adam Beck]

Steve is 100% correct, it's about lighting. Scarlet is an amazing camera, but if you can't light, your images won't look that good.

[Patrick Grossien]

I don't want to upset anyone, but the Scarlet Dragon Upgrade is still not decided. Think about it for a second: there is no information on pricing. And that is key!
The upgradeability in obsolescence obsolete is: buy your gear, and if newer technology comes out, switch that part and don't buy a whole new camera. But that also means, you could be buying a new brain. I know RED is trying everything to make the upgrade possible. But if the upgrade costs the same as getting a new brain or is close to it, that just doesn't make any sense. So we will just have to wait and see for an announcement.

Don't hold your breath: go shoot! With whatever is possible right now. You might be waiting a year or longer.
And maybe your dream kit won't be $20K but maybe the brain might already cost around $15-17K ... who knows?

Ché was shot on preproduction RED ONEs. Literally millions of films were shot with 24, 25 or 30p. what is holding you back?

[Daniel Meador]

Bare bones to start....
scarlet X with SSD side mount
EVF
15" touchscreen
RedBrick
SSD 1.8" RedMag
RedStation RedMag
Matte Box with cage
AC power supply

Use Still glass and when it's called for....
Rent PL lens (breathe when pulling focus!) and rent a Ti PL mount. LensRental.com has the mount for $143 for 6 days.

[Daniel Meador]

I just wanted to recommend Chater Camera in Berkeley. They rent EPICs and ARRI. Very helpful.

[Timothy Carr]

Bare bones to start....
scarlet X with SSD side mount
EVF
15" touchscreen
RedBrick
SSD 1.8" RedMag
RedStation RedMag
Matte Box with cage
AC power supply

Use Still glass and when it's called for....
Rent PL lens (breathe when pulling focus!) and rent a Ti PL mount. LensRental.com has the mount for $143 for 6 days.

When i got my package, it came with a AC adapter... Dont buy one separately.
Aslo you forgot the brick needs a connector...

[Maik Müller Menendez]

Hmmm, for a barebones kit i would skip the evf and instead of going the redbrick-route i would take the sidehandle + dual- or quad-battery-module with a few redvolts. IMHO the sidehandle is a must, really. ;)

[PatrickFaith]

When i got my package, it came with a AC adapter... Dont buy one separately.

If your on a tripod or jib, the AC works real nice. Scarlet goes through power so much that running on just a few batteries is difficult for a shoot, and all that battery & connector stuff add's up super quick. If you want a pro looking feature look ... I'd buy the TI PL mount and get a 18-50 Red Pro Zoom - with that you'd be fixed to make a indie or short. Also would be awesome for corporate work.

[Daniel Meador]

Getting sharp focus is my concern for using an EVF, especially on exterior shots. Can I get by with just an attached monitor instead? What about all that sunlight reflection off the screen in exterior shots? I will do the TI PL mount and red pro zoom. I like that. As far as power, I won't have access to a wall jack with all the country shooting Ill be doing. So I'm going to have to stock up on red bricks or redvolts for that, unless someone has a better idea. I'd really like to get to the showroom at Red Studios but just can't.

[Gavin Greenwalt]

It'll almost certainly be late. And if history is a guide--it'll be cheaper to buy and upgrade than to buy an already upgraded camera.