Red Scarlet camera cancelled

Red's Jim Jannard told fans of the forthcoming Red Scarlet, a $3,000-ish HD movie camera, some bad news: it's getting the can. From the Red User forums:

Scarlet... not the same. We have changed everything about Scarlet because the market has changed and we have discovered a lot of things in the process. We have a new vision.

Wipe you minds of the past announced Scarlet. Forget the design and forget the price. It is all different now. We think you will be surprised. Glad we didn't take any deposits... :-)

And later, he talked of the replacement:

This will be like getting a second generation camera instead of a 1st generation. Actually, much bigger than that. ...

What we are planning is the right thing to do no matter what. If you do the right thing... you just have a better chance at selling something. Our motivation is doing the best we can 1st. Then we let the success (or failure) be the judge of how well we did.

The decision, Jannard wrote, was made only a few days ago.

Recent months have seen DSLR cameras adding more powerful HD video capabilities, so it's only natural for Red to rejigger its prosumer masterpiece to make sure it remains head and shoulders above those products.

Daniel Browning, a poster at the forums, puts the skeptical case: "I'm not surprised ... Come on: 3K, RAW, 2/3", 120 FPS for $3K? Madness."

Thread [Reduser.com Forums]

[#1 posted by Jun-Dai , September 23, 2008 6:39 AM]

You skipped the part where he mentions that all the changes are improvements and that the name and date will remain the same. And that EPIC is also going to have radically different specs as well. And:

Based on my own words:
1) To be stunned by the new camera
2) Fully working models at NAB
3) Shipping after NAB
4) All orders caught up with by Fall '09
Jim

and more cryptically:

We are skipping a generation in design and possibilities. Someone just challenged us to compete in the big leagues. We accept.
Jim

[#2 posted by Rob Beschizza , September 23, 2008 6:47 AM]

Will the price remain the same?

[#3 posted by oxrs , September 24, 2008 5:47 AM]

#2 - He also said that the best things from the previous version of Scarlet would remain. I can't think of a single person, other than perhaps people at Sony, Panasonic and Canon, who would argue against the price being one of the best things. It might go up to $4k, or they may have made a technological breakthrough, sell this new super camera for $2k and shut down the competition all but completely, forcing the big three to re-evaluate their line up and usher in a new era of affordable cameras that have no limit in quality and features.

Can you hear the hope in my voice as I type that? As always, he is cryptic as ever and all we can do is speculate.

[#4 posted by Tzedekh , September 28, 2008 11:17 AM]

"Forget the design and forget the price. It is all different now. We think you will be surprised."

That tells me he's excited by the price. The old price was the most astounding thing about Scarlet. I can't see how he'd think anyone would be pleasantly surprised by a price increase. Sure, the features could merit one, but if $3,000 or so is your budget, it's no longer a possibility. I think it'll be $2,500 to $3,000. And I hope that still includes a lens -- otherwise, the cost could effectively double, triple, or even worse.