CANON 5D MK II VS. THE RED SCARLET
Posted by Peter Marsh in Articles, Featured Aug 31st, 2009 | 14 responses
Ok, so we all know how amazing The RED One camera is, and the massive crater is has left in the filmmaking industry. When it was introduced a few years back, it dominated the market and blew the sides off the Hollywood studio system.
Then, in the last year, the filmmaking industry was changed again! An amazing influx of DSLR still cameras with video capability left filmmakers awe struck and astounded at the amazing quality, the leader of which was the one and only Canon 5D Mark II.
Now, as we steadily cruise to the year 2010, we are at the dawn of “high quality, low cost” cameras that will, in my opinion, leave a permanent ripple in the industry from here on out. The most notable of those cameras? Why of course the Canon 7D and the much anticipated RED Scarlet.
We have discovered recently a curious comparison between the Canon 5D and a prototype RED Scarlet that leads us to believe that even the “untouchable” RED company has been shakin’ in their boots about this DSLR revolution.
As you can probably see, RED has modeled their Scarlet very similar to a Canon DSLR. Of course it is missing all the flare of a usual RED, but needless to say, this camera will be compact and powerful! Much like our beloved Canon 5D and now 7D.
Yet the very best thing about both of these amazing cameras is the price…
The Canon 5D and 7D, being consumer products, are both under $3000 respectively (body only).
The real shocker for me is the projected price of the Scarlet (given it’s unbelievable specs!). The brain (or body) of the camera only is priced at $2,500!!
I know we all love our DSLR technology, but if the RED Scarlet ends up at this price, I’m really might consider a switch…
Sure 2500 for the body. Want a lens cap? $25. Want a handle? $250. Eyecup? $150 please.The way Red makes money is by a thousand (not so little) cuts.
so true. I know guys who spend upwards of 50,000 dollars on their red one cameras when the body is only 17,500.
You’re comparing 3K vs HD
And H264 compression versus Wavelet RAW!!!!
You’re not ready to shoot with just a canon body as well!!
Common guys. The size of the sensor of the 5d is much bigger than the one on the futur scarlet, even the 7d has a bigger sensor. Both canon shoot full hd (which is about equal to 2K), while the scarlet shoots 3k with a 2/3 sensor…
I would buy canon. With it, I can really have a total control over depth of field. It is also a lot more sensitive than red.
Oh cmmon Kevin what you know about how Canon use these big sensors for video??
Big size is great beacause of optics and DOF but skipping lines and other flaws leave all this advantage in a dust. Even some small HD camcorder with tiny sensors perform way better.
So please rather compare result picture than specification.
I even guess that Canon is procesing picture in cameras only in 1440 pixels instead of 1920
Dont give up just yet. Stay alive and fight another day.
Where You Going To Scuba Diving in This Year ?
guys im really tired of everyone talking about resolution and cameras vs some other camera …why dont u guys throw this god damn discussions over these stupid and talk about what ur STORY is about.
5d is great in what is does and RED is great in slow motions etc and pro style shooting.
i have new arri 435 xtreme RED 1 canon 5d and 7d. all are great cameras and they exactly what they suppose to do. so lets not get into childish talk. work on ur story.
“You’re comparing 3K vs HD
And H264 compression versus Wavelet RAW!!!!
You’re not ready to shoot with just a canon body as well!!”
By the time it gets to a TV or Vimeo nobody will know the difference.
I have nothing against Canon DSLR (have one myself) or RED Scarlet but I have to say it has come a long way. I am personally a believer of the film media and I still feel that there no comparison to film which gives you a far greater working latitude in terms of color, DOF and its sensitivity to light. If I don’t have the luxury of having lights which is what is required if you want good digital images, I would work with film with little light or with what’s available. You get a total wrap around feel in your images captured on film, this is something that digital will not be able or is still trying to achieve. My hats off to all the researchers in the quest for better imaging quality. there’s no doubt the digital age has arrived and has caused a ruckus in the filming industry to a certain point. If I want to shoot images for print…I use a stills camera, HD Video…a Video camera and Film…16 or 35mm film camera. I am not comfortable with Hybrids.
Lets not compare prices…from what I can see is that most people are spending far too much on accessories to make their unit do what is already available off the shelf. I dont see the rational at buying a $3,000 or $17,000 camera body and then spending a further $15,000 to $80,000 just to make it look credible.
You’ll be surprise at what you can achieve with just the basis kit…pay more attention to lighting and the cameras limitations,
make it work for you and not the other way round.
Its always the case that users will compare. To me the 5Dmk2 and Scarlet offer amazing photo ability for filmmaking and to compare too aggressively is to miss the point.
The Canon is a picture camera with great video (even at 8-bit compression), and I can afford it.
The Scarlet is a ‘designed for’ camera with some basic limitations (sensor size 2/3inch) if you are comparing but for a different purpose.
Btw. just like My PS3 and Xbox. I’ll be buying both.
A Canon for now and the red when its out.
Canon 5D and 7D don’t come close, Red runs circles around it, sorry. It’s a fine ‘HD’ cam for the price, but look at the true resolved resolution, the actual details is far from great. Looking at a resolution chart, the 5D weights in around 550 -600 horisontal lines, thats it. AFter that the horrible moire pattern begins. A pro HD camera can atleast resolve 800 lines.
We’re at the dawn of something, but comparing to reds, and even pro HD cams, not just yet guys