Technology grows exponentially, and that certainly holds true for camera technology. But every decade or so, a new product hits the video industry that completely revolutionizes things overnight. In 2002, that product was Panasonic’s DVX100 camcorder. This was a special camera because it would shoot progressive video at 24 frames per second, the same rate 35mm film is projected at in the theater.

The DVX100 brought the film “look” to the masses. It opened up the industry, enabling anyone with vision and determination to make a motion picture that could finally look more like a movie than a home video. But the DVX100 still had a small sensor and still relied on tape-based media to record highly compressed, low resolution (especially considering the oncoming standardization of High Definition Video) footage. Small sensor size and high compression ratios introduce all sorts of creative limitations. It’s difficult to achieve shallow depth of field, for example, when your lens is resolving to a small sensor.

Things changed drastically again about a three years ago when a guy by the name of JIm Jannard announced he was going to develop a game-changing camera that records raw, uncompressed footage to the medium of one’s choosing. These kinds of announcements had happened before to no avail, but this scenario was different. Jannard was a millionaire who owned the Oakley sunglasses company and also happened to be a huge still and cinema camera aficionado.

To the astonishment of many and the delight of most, Jannard concept became a reality one year later with the Red One, a “digital cinema camera” that records uncompressed images at variable frame rates at the whopping horizontal resolution of 4000 pixels (thats more than twice the resolution of high definition video). At a price point of $17k, this camera certainly revolutionized the industry and is quickly becoming a standard for image acquisition with low budget and Hollywood films alike.

Which brings us to the present. Things took off for Red, and Jannard decided to sell Oakley to focus on the production of a new line of cameras starting with “Scarlet,” a camera which - should it make it through production - will flip the video and cinema camera industry on its head. Why? Because the entry-level Scarlet system will retail for less than $4k.

What does this mean for PROPERMEDIUM and the rest of the video production industry? It means images will originate in their most pure form possible. It means offering clients imagery that, before Scarlet, would have required an unrealistic budget. We’re looking forward to the release of this camera.

Tags: Scarlet, Red Digital Cinema