RED introduces the new Scarlet-W

How was your weekend? We woke up to the news that RED has announced its new Scarlet-W 5K.

It falls into the DSMC2 line, between the 6K Weapon ($49,500) and the 4.5K Raven ($5,950). While the Red Raven camera was designed with the idea of easy mounting on drones and gimbals, the Scarlet-W is intended for more general applications.

Due to its interchangeable lens mount, the new model is slightly heavier than the Raven; but let’s get to the data that really matters. It has a Super-35 Red Dragon sensor and 5120 x 2700 resolution. It is capable of capturing up to 140 MB/s on Mini-Mag disks, which allows 5K at 24fps, with a 4:1 compression ratio.

The maximum speed we will be able to achieve is 48fps for 5K full-frame, or 60fps for 5K 2.40:1, which would correspond to a resolution of 5120 x 2160. Using smaller sizes we will achieve speeds up to three digits, exactly up to 300fps with 2K at 2.4:1.

Up to 2K simultaneous capture in ProRes is possible (the press release says “including 422 HQ and 422 LT”, so we assume it falls short of 4444), although at higher resolutions only Redcode Raw is allowed. Support for 3D LUTs is also supported.

The company’s new toy is the second camera (from their collection) that is under $10,000, exactly priced at $9,550 for the camera body. For the same price you will find the option of a Scarlet-W Monochrome. There are also basic packages with a V-Lock extender, top handle and LCD screen starting at $14,500.

It is expected that in February we will start to see the distribution of the new Scarlet-W. Here is the link to the technical specifications page of the camera.