OK. So the new Scarlet has definitely undergone some major changes. If you remember I posted a few days ago about my anticipation of RED’s redesign of one of their proposed cameras for next year. Well I was up early this morning and thought I’d check out red.com to see if they have announced the new specs and of course, as I expected, the site was broken.

I did expect they would have difficulties. However, this afternoon I was able to view the website and what I saw, though exciting, was very different in price than what I was expecting. Red originally had planned to release the Scarlet for under $3000. Well, I guess they realized their madness.

Immediately the biggest difference in the new design is instead of having all of the features “fixed,” meaning it comes as is, nothing can be replaced, the new design is very modular. As you can see in the image above every aspect of the camera is “swappable.” You can now build your camera exactly how you want it. And RED is now erasing the lines between still cameras and video cameras.

The “brain” of the Scarlet is available in two versions, the cheaper one starting at $2500. The brain alone doesn’t make a camera so on top of that you will need to purchase a lens, a recording system of some kind, a veiwfinder/lcd, and a controller. Though there are no prices listed on any accessories (nor is there even a list of accessories yet) but I could venture a guess and say that a reasonable starting price for a Scarlet would be in the neighborhood of $7000.

Now don’t get me wrong! Even at $7000 this is an awesome camera, but this is far from the original $3000. Of course the possibilities given the new capabilities, and the ability to change out modules when some become obsolete or a new or bigger feature is needed, makes this camera very appealing to professionals from many different backgrounds, videographers, cinematographers, and photographers alike.

The release of the Scarlet is still a ways off, possibly not shipping until next Fall. When it is released it will be interesting to see how this camera will change the Event Video industry.

Below is an image of the original Scarlet design.

Original Scarlet Design