I think most people hear the name RED and think $$$$. Instant put off.

As great as the products are, not much point if the market your using them in doesnt lend itself to such high end, high priced gear.

I think the preference that some have stated for the 5D Mk. II has more to do with its immediate availability than any other factor. Among these folks there will be those who choose the 5D now and will then transition into Scarlet once it becomes available.

First, Scarlet followers had been promised Scarlet 1.0 by spring. Now that looks like fall.

Second, when Jim Jannard announced a new redesign, promise was still Scartlet would be available by spring, and that there would be amazing changes.

Third, many of us speculated, rooted and lobbied for a single model workhorse with a 35mm sized chip, mass produced like Pentaxes and Minoltas of the 70's that would revolutionize for use with 35mm lenses like Nikkors and Canons.

Fourth, along comes November 13, 2008, and the announcement was made, but it is clear now that at least at the low end, there would only be a fixed lens model... so nothing changed there except a delayed release date and now, instead of the promised around $3K ( I was expecting $4K) there is not a lot on pricing. Yes there were other amazing models and variations announced. Fantastic, but not really within reach of the mere mortals. With what is going to be available in the spring, looks like the you will have a $15,000 to $20,000 investment to get up an running.

Now its not Jims fault, that this didn't happen, because its probably is a technical or financial impossibility. But it still was something we had hoped for, and for a moment with Jim's announce change coming, we had visions of "sugar plums". Now back to reality.

And so for most event and indie low and zero budget film makers, it was a sort of a thud--- a non event, in the end.

In Red's defense, the 2/3" fixed lens Scarlet is still very close to the idea they tossed out there a year ago, but now there are so many more enticing options out there that it takes some of the shine away from the low end models. 3K for $3K might be a little off, but I'm guessing you'll have a workable version with little LCD for $4K. That's not night and day different. If you want all the bells and whistles you'll have to spend more on rails, matte boxes, whatnot but you were going to have to do this with Scarlet 1.0 too.

The more I think about it, I think the reason the Event video market didn't go ga-ga on the 13th was in part due to the 5D and it's price point, the carrot of the nicer versions of Scarlet, and the realization that workflow, record times, and (possible) ergonomic problems might be something we'd have to deal with.

Anyone else feel that the idea of Scarlet being a soccer mom camera seems silly now?

You must be talking about the $7,000 Scarlet S35 + lenses, modules, and accessories, right?

I think it's worth mentioning that the $2,500 Scarlet 2/3" Brain is not that far behind: "Summer/Fall (est.)". Jim said that RED's new 2/3" lenses will be priced in line with the price of the brain, I have the feeling it will only be about $1,000 each. I would guess we'll be able to shoot Scarlet 2/3" with a 16mm f/1.4 for about $4,500 in a fully-capable configuration.

Yeah, thats what I meant. Its to the level of a 35mm sensor we dreamt of getting, though actually the FF is the one that gives the full 35mm frame..

I'm not going to get overly excited about the Scarlet until pricing comes out and we see how well it holds up in low light. I also have the storage issue that has held a lot of people back from buying the EX1. Its a great camera, but I don't have enough storage space for all of those weddings.