RED: The Revolution the Camera Industry Needs

If you a serious photographic prosumer and contemplating getting a new DSLR and a HD camcorder, consider waiting for the RED Digital Cinema DSMC (Digital Stills and Motion Camera) scheduled for release in early 2009.  Earlier this year Nikon and Canon released DSLR’s that were capable of recording in HD (Nikon D90 and Canon EOS 5d Mark II).  While both these cameras are excellent for still photography, their HD recording capabilities are not enough to be considered a camcorder replacement.

On November 13, 2008, Red announced the Scarlet and EPIC lines.  Basically the Scarlet and the Epic are the Brain of the camera from which you can build upon your setup.  If you want to have more of a DSLR or camcorder experience, the choice is yours to do either or both.  There are over 2,251,799,813,685,248 configurations as of today.  Think of it as the Lego project, build it to fit your needs.  All the parts are interchangeable.  If you need to upgrade the Brain (which is the processor) in a few years, the rest of your camera is still useable with your new upgrade.  If you select the S35 Brain, you can also use Nikon or Canon Mount lenses.  If Nikon and Canon mounts are a must, the S35 Brain is pricey at $7000.  If not, there are less expensive models.  Comparatively, if you looked at the cost of separately buying a DSLR and a HD camcorder, the cost for the RED is not out of line, plus you have the ability to incrementally upgrade.   RED has Scarlet Brains (processors) currently at $2500 to $12000.   There will also be a fixed 8X Scarlet Brain under $2500.

The good news for consumers is RED is going to do to the camera industry what Apple did to the cell phone industry with the iPhone.  This radical innovation is going to drive manufacturers to offer similar options to their camera lines and hopefully get to a point where the camera product is not obsolete after 18 months.  For now the average consumer will see no change, but the changes should start trickling down into the consumer camera equipment in the next year or two.  At the rate technology changes,  this is the camera revolution I have been waiting for.  Only one question remains for me…….How do I convince my wife?