Red Digital Cinema recently released info on the their latest Scarlet/Epic/DSMC camera designs. (Check out the links here and here!) The future line-up they’ve rolled out is absolutely amazing. It’s more feature-rich and functional than what anyone is offering, and still at a price point that’s unbelievably low for a camera with similar specs. At the core of their new system, are the modular imaging-sensor/processing-engine units Red calls a, “Brain.” And all of this is even more amazing when you consider the specs that were just released still have a year or more to mature into something even better.

 But damn it Jim, I’m a broke indie filmmaker genius, not a non-broke indie filmmaker genius!

 Or maybe it’s a broke indie filmmaker non-genius… Anyway, what I’m getting at is despite these latest offerings, I still don’t see the camera system I want near the price I can afford. There’s even conjecture about whether the fixed-lens Scarlet will still be fully shootable out-of-the-box at the originally stated $3,000. But again, these “new” cameras aren’t even shipping yet, so the only thing to do is sit back and wait to see what Red actually does with them. (Which is usually surprise us!)

 But back to my point, which revolves entirely around the present fact, I might not be able to afford to go Red. And this is immensely aggravating. For a number of factors, I’m financially forced to consider other options, despite the fact I love the Red camera and modular concept.

  My predicament, you see, begins with, “I’m in a bad, insatiable need of a sexy DSLR.” So I perused the usual fare of Nikon and Canon based systems. I have a small preference towards Nikon, but nothing I couldn’t break from. Of course, the $3,000+ high-end bodies looked very enticing, but I was hoping to put that kind of cash towards a Scarlet. The $1,500 price range was the ceiling for any DSLR purchase. This put my budget for both at around $4,500 (spread out across five years) to have an eventual pro worthy motion and still pair I would be happy with for the rest of my life.

 You probably think I’m kidding about the “rest of my life” part, but the strategic thinker in me is not joking in the least bit. I’m rather spartan in my wants, and as a matter of fact, I could spend the rest of my life making great movies with my DVX and I would be happy. I’m still seriously considering this. Aside from an appreciation of photography, I want a DSLR for compositing reasons, as it would complete my DVX filmmaking capabilities. (Note: I also have other reasons why I don’t want to continually buy new things forever, but that’s a future-of-economics/capitalism/consumerism/sustainability topic!)

 But to get back on track, I was looking for a nice DSLR when models began popping up that could shoot HD video, and even more exciting than that, Red Digital Cinema announced their DSMC. At the time, the DSMC appeared to be a camera line unique from Scarlet, Red One, and Epic. Most people assumed, as did I, it would be a DSLR competitor, with some rockin’ motion camera features, but still something aimed at photographers that would compete with other DSLRs with motion capabilities. On top of the DSMC announcement, there was a general consensus the new Scarlet and Epic were going to be even more modular than the Red One, as deduced from several posts made by Red on RedUser.net.

 This sounded like a potential answer to my dilemma of burning DSLR desire. The possibility of getting an all-in-one still and motion package that had upgradable features and components was perfectly in-line the pragmatist that I am. I hoped I could get from Red, a full-frame 35mm (or at least Super 35) DSMC still camera with limited motion capabilities. As time passed, I would just upgrade the frame-rate and compression specs until I had an all out filmmaking machine that would not stop until I was dead! And if I didn’t die, I would keep upgrading until I could use it to create a fully-immersive/3D/holodeck experience!

 More importantly, though, I hoped the DSMC would be competitively priced against high-end DSLRs, which I imagined would be around $4,000. Due to a narrow margin of specs and price-point between the could-have-been DSMC and the would-be Scarlet, I figured this was why Scarlet and Epic were being redesigned.

 Well, I was wrong, and not, at least for the time being, in my favor either. If Red’s entire camera line were available today, the list below would be my current options with the aforementioned $4,500 budget. (Please note I’ve tried to be conservative in my pricing guesstimations.)

 Option 1

1. I go over my budget and spend an upfront $7,000 for just the S35 “Brain.”
2. How to afford things like lenses and other Red modules to make the camera even usable, I’ll just let the Feds worry about.
3. But at least I’ll have a single, upgradable long-term solution to do motion and stills.
4. Overall cost for my needs would be between $10,000 to $15,000.
5. The overall cost is mostly a one-time fee.