5D Investment v. Scarlet... Need Advice!

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Blast80

New member
I’m looking to buy a 5D camera right now and was wondering if I should hold out for the scarlet? DOF is important to me and from my understanding 5D will be superior for that. However, the scarlet is suppose to have advantages too. For starters its built for video where the 5D just coincidentally can record excellent video. Being built for video it has lots more options to work with… But I’m still new at this technical side of everything so please correct me if I’m wrong…

I figured if I’d use the 5d mkii for now, but upgrade to the mkiii when it comes out which will supposedly be better built for video. This way the lenses I buy now

I’m looking at buying the gear that d5filmmaking.com recommends. The canon 50mm prime, and the 24-70m. Would you guys recommend these two lenses? Is this a good idea?

Ultimately, I need some advice from these forums as I’m just about to invest a lot of money in cameras and lenses. Is it worth it to invest the 5D and lenses? Or should I wait for the Scarlet? And theres even the 7D option too... But it doesn't have a full sensor so the 5D superior, but the 7D has 60fps... Ugh all this technical stuff makes it so hard to decide.

Thanks for your help and I appreciate it!
 
You haven't mentioned what you want to make with your camera. That should dictate what you purchase more than anything.
 
A good camera is always a good camera and even if you get a 5D now, you can still sell it if/when Scarlet becomes a reality IF you still feel the need to own a Scarlet at that time.

That said, I've been using the 5D almost exclusively for 4 or 5 months and I can tell you, it works. One thing I'd caution about is the 5D has dangerously shallow depth of field. If I were to buy a 2nd camera to use with the 5D, I'd get a 7D.

Also, to make these cameras functional on a serious basis, depending on what you're doing, you have to attach a fair amount of accessories.

.
 
I'm planning on making short films, commercials and potentially music videos. I currently have a Canon HFS 10 which is great, but no DOF and I really would love to have the 5D also to experiment and learn filmmaking from a more professional level.

Will the lenses I mention work with the scarlet? Or do I have to get a different set for that
 
I would say, if you're looking for a learning tool, consider the 550D. It's the cheapest option and the smaller sensor should make the DoF more handelable, while giving equivalent image quality.
You haven't said which of the hypothetical Scarlet configurations you hypothetically plan on buying, if it's any of the 2/3" options then there will be, hypothetically a Canon mount but the sensor size will involve a substantial and debilitating crop wrt both the 550D / 7D and even more so wrt the 5DII.
Dave
 
Well, I don't think you'll regret getting the 5DII even after you buy another camera. I just wouldn't buy alot of support gear that won't transfer over to another system. Even after buying another camera like a 2/3rds Scarlet, the 5DII will be able to do things it can't. They'll probably compliment each other nicely.

If it makes your decision easier, I would bet you will not be able to have a Scarlet in your hands until early 2011, and I think that is being overly optimistic. If you don't already own a Red One, you are definitely a second class citizen with Red. They get theirs, then you'll get yours. I think the AF100 is looking more promising.
 
Blast80 said:
I’m looking to buy a 5D camera right now and was wondering if I should hold out for the scarlet? DOF is important to me and from my understanding 5D will be superior for that.
...
And theres even the 7D option too... But it doesn't have a full sensor so the 5D superior, but the 7D has 60fps...
Click to expand...
You are misinformed. One of the factors for DOF is image format size. The larger the image format, the shallower the DOF. Regular 35mm motion picture film is 21.95mm wide. The 5D's full-frame sensor is 36mm wide. Thus, the 5D offers DOF that's far shallower than what you typically see in the theater. So you must ask yourself: Why do you want shallow DOF in the first place? Is it to emulate what you see in the theater, or is it because you're going for a specific effect that requires the shallowest DOF possible?

The full-frame sensor is better insofar as it offers a slight advantage in low light. Otherwise, it's not "superior," just different. The 7D's sensor is 22.2mm wide, which makes it about the same size as 35mm film.

However, a few of the 5D's other features, enabled by the latest firmware revision, make it a better video camera than Canon's other DSLRs.
 
ydgmdlu said:
You are misinformed. One of the factors for DOF is image format size. The larger the image format, the shallower the DOF. Regular 35mm motion picture film is 21.95mm wide. The 5D's full-frame sensor is 36mm wide. Thus, the 5D offers DOF that's far shallower than what you typically see in the theater. So you must ask yourself: Why do you want shallow DOF in the first place? Is it to emulate what you see in the theater, or is it because you're going for a specific effect that requires the shallowest DOF possible?

The full-frame sensor is better insofar as it offers a slight advantage in low light. Otherwise, it's not "superior," just different. The 7D's sensor is 22.2mm wide, which makes it about the same size as 35mm film.

However, a few of the 5D's other features, enabled by the latest firmware revision, make it a better video camera than Canon's other DSLRs.
Click to expand...

Even most movies and major TV shows that shoot on film shoot at around an f4.0.

Extremely shallow DOF is starting to get over rated. Blur the back ground just enough to separate the foreground from the background and it'll look similar to what you see in the movies. Anything more than that is just stylized or overkill.
 
The Scarlet S35, they only Scarlet I'd consider vs the 5D will cost about 4 times as much as a 5D. I don't expect we'll be able to get our hands on one for another 6 months either. I hope RED prove me wrong on both counts but I doubt it. In 6 months the chances are there will be a much improved DSLR available. Nikon are bound to release a much improved video spec on the the D700 replacement and hopefully it will have the sensor from the D3s. RAW isn't everything I'm really interested to see what the Scarlet sensor is capable of.
 
Not to mention the price difference in PL mount lenses versus EOS mount.

It's all well and good making a budget camera that'll shoot excellent quality RAW video but unless you have the cash for some serious glass you're not doing the camera any justice.
 
Calomile said:
Not to mention the price difference in PL mount lenses versus EOS mount.

It's all well and good making a budget camera that'll shoot excellent quality RAW video but unless you have the cash for some serious glass you're not doing the camera any justice.
Click to expand...
True, but if the camera can't use the benefits of the better glass, do you really need it? One thing that the DSLRs do is they get the most out of mediocre glass. You don't "need" top of the line lenses with DSLRs, and the sharper the glass, the worse the resulting image might look. The unusual sampling the DSLRs use mean that overly sharp glass tends to contaminate the image with more aliasing, rather than actually making the image truly resolve more.

Whereas with a Scarlet or Epic or something, it's unquestionable that the better the glass, the better the end image will be.

So: better functionality with better lenses, sure. Better images with better lenses? With a DSLR, that's not a given.
 
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