Where the shadows are concerned, that depends on what mode you put the Viper in. If you want to see just how wide a dynamic range the Viper can capture try these out for colour correcting in After Effects!
http://www.cinematography.net/Viper/viper_dpx_files.htm
Although I'm not actually sure why the Viper itself costs as much as it does. From what I gather it doesn't have half as much electronics in it as the average 2/3" camera because it captures everything RAW, and it doesn't have an on board recording device. So I do get the feeling with the Viper that you pay for the name, much like you do with Nike trainers. I could understand it if the full price included the Directors Friend, and perhaps a Venom as well. But on it's own, I'm at a loss.
One reason why RED can be made for much less perhaps?