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April 14, 2008

3K For Under 3 Grand: The Red Scarlet is Here

By Michael Perlman
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The Red Scarlet with some handles,
a mount, and an LCD attached. 		 
   
Today at NAB, Red Digital Cinema showcased the long-awaited Scarlet, a compact model capable of shooting 3K video for under $3,000. Film and video enthusiasts flooded the show floor, clawing to catch a glimpse of the Scarlet's rectangular upright body and unconventional architecture. The Scarlet is equipped with a new 2/3-inch Mysterium sensor and supports 1-120fps with a 180fps burst mode. The Scarlet can capture video up to 100Mbps in REDCODE Raw format and RGB recording to dual compact flash.

'Considering the performance and the price of Scarlet, it's going to have a huge range of customers, from the soccer moms to the indie filmmakers,' stated Ted Schilowitz, Leader of the Rebellion at Red Digital Cinema.

Red's latest compact addition has a 4.8-inch LCD screen, 8x optical zoom lens, and full Auto or Manual shooting modes. The Scarlet's connectivity includes HDMI, HD-SDI, FireWire 800, and USB 2.0. Many of the accessories from the Red One are compatible with the Scarlet.

On the higher end, Red also debuted the Epic camera (estimated at $40,000), capable of shooting in 5K video and equipped with a full frame S35mm new Mysterium X sensor. The Epic can shoot in 1-100fps and can support up to 100Mbps transfer in REDCODE RAW and RGB recording. The Epic has a full-size dual link HD-SDI interface, 2 XLR jacks, HDMI, Wi-Fi control, FireWire 800, and USB2. The Epic features a fully upgradable sensor, body, boards, and mount. The machined aluminum body weighs 6 pounds and is compatible with most Red One accessories.

The new Epic camera is significantly more expensive than the original Red One. The Red One debuted at NAB 2006, making waves with its 24.4mm x 13.7mm (Super35mm) 12-Megapixel Mysterium Image sensor with a gross pixel count of 4900 x 2580. The Red One shoots in 4K RGB (4:4:4), 3K RGB, 2K RGB, 1920 x 1080 progressive (RGB or 4:2:2), and 1280 x 720 (RGB or 4:2:2). The Red One is can also shoot in the following frame rates: 23.98, 25, 29.97, and 30fps (4K), 50, 59.94, and 60fps (3K, windowed), and 75 and 120fps (2K, windowed). Video preview can be attained via HD-SDI and HDMI at 1280 x 720 progressive with a 4:2:2 color space. The Red One utilizes the REDCODE codec and stores files as 12 bit 4K, 3K, and 2K RAW files. Connectivity on the Red One includes of FireWire 800/400, USB-2, e-SATA, and 2 XLR channels.


Interview with Ted Schilowitz, Leader of the Rebellion 

Shooters can customize the Red One to whatever size, media, lens, and power options they want, whether shooting a feature film with full Rail system or stripping the features down for a more compact, handheld approach. The Red One ships as a bare bones camera unit, allowing shooters to add lenses, media, monitors, and housing systems. The $6,500 Red T3 Zoom lens can be added to the Red One, in addition to the Red-Rail system, designed to house the Red One using a series of steel rods and cradles. Red also offers an EVF and LCD for onboard monitoring. A number of Red storage solutions are available, including the 320GB HDD Red Drive, The 64GB Red Ram solid state Flash drive, which holds between 30 and 40 minutes of 4K video, and the Red CompactFlash drive, compatible with CF cards.


The Red Scarlet, stripped to its bare essentials

By contrast, the Red Scarlet is a complete camcorder system, with lens, processor, and recording medium (CF card). For more capacity, shooters can mount a hard disk drive or connect directly to a computer. Red Digital Cinema was not able to answer every question about the Scarlet. For instance, Schilowitz could provide no information on the battery. The workflow for video from the Scarlet could be similar to Red One's files, but that could not be verified. As with the Red One at NAB 2006, there was no working model of the Scarlet - merely a mock-up in a glass case.

The Red Scarlet is scheduled for a release early next year. The price point could only be confirmed as under $3000. And just so would-be owners of the Scarlet receive fair warning, the brochure handed out at the Red Digital Cinema booth states: 'Sepcifications, delivery dates and design are subject to change... count on it.'




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