As far as the actual inputs on the camera, the only thing that was still up in the air when I went to the booth was the audio interface. While the camera will definitely record two channels of audio, how this audio will get into the camera is still uncertain. The mockup showcased a 1/8” jack, which is an unbalanced audio connection. (Thanks to audio editor John Howard for that little reminder on the NAB show floor!) When I asked Jim Jannard about the plug, it was clear that he was uncomfortable about the 1/8” jack and stated that the lack of balance is the reason they weren’t “fully committed to a 1/8 inch plug.” From this reaction, I would expect that they will somehow manage to squeeze a couple of XLR plugs into the small camera or come up with a proprietary balanced connection that will dongle out to XLR plugs.
As you can see from the pictures, the camera is pretty compact. While it’s not a palmcorder, it could probably be fit into a trenchcoat pocket. The fact that it can fit a number of the RED One supports and accessories will mean that it should be able to rigged out in such a way that it won’t be too light and shaky. (Properly outfitted with accessories, the Scarlet looks like a lot of the very popular 16mm cameras that were around in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s.)
In addition to the main draw of the Scarlet for microfilmmakers, RED announced a few new inventions aimed at different markets. The 5K Epic camera is designed to start at $40K for the body (as opposed to $17.5K for the 4K Red ONE body) and is clearly aimed more for the Hollywood studio system. The RED Ray Drive is a new drive that’s clearly designed to play back uncompressed RED media in a number of different forms, including the new RED Disc. (Despite the clever name, this appears to be only a playback device as opposed to a drive that burns RED files from compact flash to Blu-Ray disc.) Pricing on this is currently unknown. All three new products are slated to be released at the beginning of 2009. While the team at RED believes this deadline is doable, I personally would be surprised if the Scarlet was shipping before Q4 ’09.
Redrock Micro’s microX and microMatteBox
After checking out RED, I decided to check out the good folks at Redrock Micro, who were hidden on the edge of the Central Hall of the LVCC. Despite the fact that they were so far away from the central action of NAB, they were doing a bustling business as folks came to check out there new accessories. They were showcasing their new microMattebox, an economic Mattebox for cameras which was shown on a number of camera models (including the RED One). At $500-$750 for a fully rigged mattebox, it may not seem terribly inexpensive, but compared to many matteboxes that range from $1500-$3000 it’s a pretty good deal.
However, the thing that was inspiring the most interest was the new microX, a $350 converter that automatically flips the image of the Redrock Micro M2 before it is recorded by the camera. The footage we saw while we were there looked pretty good with very little light loss, but we’ll be able to report more on that when we review it in depth later this year.
The final release that was there as a sneak preview was a shoulder-mounting rig with parallel handles for stability. While Brian Valente at RRM wouldn’t give us many details, he did state that a version for smaller cameras (which might well fit the upcoming RED Scarlet from my visual estimation) might sell for $500 or less. We’ll let you know more on that next year when additional information comes out.
