About two weeks ago, RED announced a new beta firmware 6.4.21 beta build firmware adding significant updates to the RED Scarlet-W and RED Weapon Magnesium (MG), which can now record in 4K ProRes and DNxHR. Prior to this firmware update, the Scarlet-W was able to record in the popular ProRes codec at a maximum resolution of 2K (2048 x 1080) in 422 HQ/422/LT up to 60p. And that’s not the only news around RED this time of year.
The Scarlet-W (as well as the Raven) have been extremely popular with filmmakers and with huge backlogs looming, RED has had to increase “…manufacturing spend significantly to catch up with the demand and backorder specially on Raven and Scarlet-W lines, and to offset those costs we are increasing the price on both Raven and Scarlet W.”
A price increase was imminent, and RED boss Jarred Land mentioned it a while back on reduser.net, and now it is a fact – the Raven and Scarlet-W are unfortunately going up in price.
The new price for a RED Raven bran goes up to $8,950 (£7,970 UK & 9,030€ EU) and Scarlet-W & Scarlet-W Monochrome (brain) goes up to $12,500 (£11,130 UK & 12,615€). The price increase is hefty and hits the Raven pretty hard – the original price for the Raven brain was $5995, which (given what the camera is capable of) was still pretty low. Now with a nearly $3K price increase, the early adopters have something to smile about.
The Scarlet-W goes up a bit less, but still $2,550 is still a good chunk of change. In any case, both the Raven and RED Scarlet-W are incredible cameras even with the new pricing, they still appear to be very competitive considering other cameras in their range.
The good news is that “if you already have a deposit in you will pay the old lower price when your camera is ready to ship. All deposits placed after the time of this post will be paying the new prices.”
Existing deposits also are entitled to the old pricing for upgrades, i.e. if you have a Raven deposit and want to upgrade to Scarlet-W before your Raven ships you can do so to the old Scarlet-W price of $9950.
The new firmware update gives the following new resolutions/frame rates to the RED Scarlet-W and Weapon MG:
RED SCARLET-W and SCARLET-W Monochrome
- Increased Max Data Speed up to 170 MB/s using RED MINI-MAG
- Added Apple ProRes 422 and 422 LT:
- 4K (4096 × 2160) up to 29.97 fps
- Added Avid Codecs DNxHR, SQ and LB:
- 4K (4096 × 2160) 8-bit up to 29.97 fps
RED WEAPON 6K Magnesium
- Added Apple ProRes 422 HQ, 422 and 422 LT
- 4K (4096 × 2160) up to 29.97 fps
- Added Avid Codec
- DNxHR HQX
- 4K (4096 × 2160) 12-bit up to 29.97 fps
- DNxHR HQ, SQ and LB
- 4K (4096 × 2160) 8-bit up to 29.97 fps
- DNxHR HQX
RED 6.4.21 Beta Firmware New Features
Added
- SCARLET-W Apple ProRes 4K and Avid DNxHD/HR 4K support
- WEAPON MG Apple ProRes 4K and Avid DNxHR/HD 4K support
- REDMOTE v9.7.10
Fixed
- ‘Unsupported Module’ error message on startup with Side Handle attached
- Log view with Creative 3D LUT
- IPP2 playback controls
- Playback of R3D+Apple ProRes 4444/XQ clips
- Darker image with IPP2 playback
- IPP2 controls for Sidekick
- Highlight Roll-Off affect on image
- WiFi Ad-Hoc connection failure
- Possible DNx file corruption
- Load failure of clip in playback switching file formats
- Blank REDTouch 4.7″ LCD after systems restore or upgrade
- Sigma 18-35mm for Canon lens support
- Sigma 50mm lens support
- Tearing in R3D for 3.5K 5:4 2x Anamorphic mode
- Behaviour of RED Touch 4.7″ LCD during camera shutdown
- Vertical lines in playback with ANA formats
- WEAPON sensor flip/mirror at high frame rates
- Apple ProRes 422 clip identifier in playback
- RM indicator when CTRL Protocol is set to None
- Media full indicator with R3D+DNx or R3D+QT
- Changed Colour Space ‘P3’ to ‘DCI-P3’
- Improved HELIUM calibration
Red owners out there have already been using the company’s new image processing pipeline called IPP2, however some us new to the RED game may have to do some catch up.
In REDs words: IPP2 offers a completely overhauled workflow experience and encompasses all of the steps in the image capture process, from raw sensor data to final image output.
This RED TECH gives an overview of the workflow philosophy for IPP2 and all of the visual enhancement options that come with it.
RED IPP2 Highlights
- Better management of challenging colours
- Improved shadow detail
- Smoother highlight roll-off
- More accurate mid-tone hues
- An improved de-mosaicing algorithm to achieve higher detail at the same pixel resolution
- Simpler and more intuitive workflow
- A workflow designed for HDR from the ground up
- Industry-standard naming
- Standardized colour space and gamma
Download the latest DSMC2 camera firmware and REDCINE-X PRO software to take advantage of IPP2 from RED here. For more RED TECH videos visit RED’s official YouTube channel here.
RED cameras with the HELIUM 8K S35 sensor can now monitor and control our new image processing pipeline, IPP2, in-camera through a firmware update. Learn how to toggle between legacy and IPP2 modes; new CDL features to go along with standard white balance, ISO, and 3D LUTs; and how to access new in-camera image pipeline settings.
Of course, as a reminder, the 6.4.21 firmware is a BETA build, so if you encounter some bugs don’t be surprised. Test the new firmware before doing a paid gig, or wait for the 7.0 Release build, which are more stable.
[via REDuser]
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I am not liking the direction Red is going here. Now that it is more popular we will charge more for it! Hmm.
I can see their point, but where does it stop?
They have already done this in the past. That’s how RED works. If they need to catch up with production or have issues, they will increase their prices and decrease them again when they’re ready.
One thing to mention is that they let you know in advance so you can at least put your deposit and still benefit from the old price.
Buuuuuuut… On the other hand I have a Scarlet MX and the new color science works with my 5 year old camera, improving the still awesome image quality I can get from it. Who else does that?
I feel like they were being pretty transparent about why they raised prices in their monthly update (which is another thing I wish other companies would do).