The EF-5 of video cameras

[Jody Radzik]

"RED, the company whose 4K-capable 'RED One' camera — that's 4,096 by 2,160 pixels — became one of the most lusted after cameras of recent memory last year, has announced the 'Scarlet,' a hand-held Flash-memory based camcorder capable of a remarkable 3K resolution at 120 frames per second. They've stated they intend for it to sell for under $3,000. That means the relatively small Scarlet — pictured above (http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/15/red-scarlet-3k-camco.html) both naked and with lots of accessories bolted on — will be capable of shooting video worthy of projection in digital cinemas, which mostly top out at around 4K these days (although typically only at 24FPS)."

[Jody Radzik]

http://atman.net/nmupdraft/stormtrack/digvidres.png

Here's a chart of the digital video resolutions. Number 16 is normal NTSC. Number 12 is 1080i HD, and number 8 is the 3K resolution of the new Red camera. With all that data, you'd be able to virtually zoom into your subject by cropping to 1080i res.

[Mike Hollingshead]

Bet it's a blast to try and edit!

[Bill Tabor]

Yeah, but what about low light performance?

[Andrew Ryan]

I'm very interested in the camera. I'll definitely be tracking the progress of its development.

I don't know what it's low light performance would be like, but it has a 2/3" sensor, which should help. But I don't know until an actual prototype comes out.

[Alister Chapman]

Just because scarlet has 3k pixels dosn't make it 3k resolution. It will use a bayer matrix which will reduce the resolution well below 3k. Red with it's 4k imager only manages to resolve somewhere around 2.5k.

[Jason Foster]

And I see in the review that it isn't great for stuff like sports....which to me is about the same type of action we're filming (speed and resolution). The comments go on to say about the fact it's great for cinema.....but I don't think we're making a great hollywood dramatic production here.

Think I'll stick with the tried-and-true Sony products.

[Andrew Ryan]

And I see in the review that it isn't great for stuff like sports....which to me is about the same type of action we're filming (speed and resolution). The comments go on to say about the fact it's great for cinema.....but I don't think we're making a great hollywood dramatic production here.

Think I'll stick with the tried-and-true Sony products.

I don't know where you found that out but that couldn't be further from the truth! I've seen the Red One used at a football game and the quality was amazing. I also saw it used during a sky dive. If it works them, there's no reason why it can't work for storm chasing.

If anything, HDV cameras should perform poorly. This is because they are highly compressed and perform poorly in low light.

[Andrew Ryan]

Just because scarlet has 3k pixels dosn't make it 3k resolution. It will use a bayer matrix which will reduce the resolution well below 3k. Red with it's 4k imager only manages to resolve somewhere around 2.5k.

That's not completely true. They suggest you shoot at 3k to get a pristine 2k image. You can shoot at 3k, you'll just get aliasing problems, which plagues any camera/sensor when shooting at the native resolution of the sensor. BTW, Red One's "optimal resolution" is just above 3k, not 2.5k.