Red announcing DSMC DSLR replacement on November 13?

Ready for the tease? RED just announced an announcement. According to RED Prez, Jim Jannard, "no one has any idea how incredible this announcement will be." A stream of words, specs, and renderings, we presume, all cobbled together on November 13th with a promise to put the "RED ONE announcement to shame by comparison... the biggest, most exciting and incredible thing." So mark your calendar for November 13th -- that's the day RED DIGITAL comes clean with its Scarlet and Epic programs. We're sure Nikon and Canon will be watching to see if RED launches its DSMC (Digital Still & Motion Camera) aimed squarley at the DSLR market, or not. Even if we have to er, settle, for a 3K Scarlet or 5K Epic video cameras, those aren't bad consolation prizes, eh?

[Thanks, Brad]

[ric @ Oct 27th 2008 9:20AM]

Is it going to be as big as Ginger was? Like, going to change the way we live and the world we live in? Then we find out it's a stupid gyro scooter?

[SubGenius @ Oct 27th 2008 10:20AM]

Future cities will be built around it!

[Patriks7 @ Oct 27th 2008 9:24AM]

That logo looks like a button for a bomb..

[ViaTorci @ Oct 27th 2008 9:56AM]

Looks more like HAL to me.

[phanbouy @ Oct 27th 2008 12:58PM]

Stop, Dave, stop. I can feel it. I can feel it.

[lol @ Oct 27th 2008 9:29AM]

I would assume not the consumer DSLR market, though. I shudder to think of the price tag.

...unless a super awesome price point is a part of this mega-announcement, this won't mean much to anyone who isn't a pro.

[ViaTorci @ Oct 27th 2008 9:55AM]

Red is supposedly going to keep true to the sub $3000 pricepoint promised for Scarlet. They would have to remain competitive in the market as even the 5D MKII is available for around $2500. Anymore and you are in professional realms that would rather look towards the Red One.

Rumors are it is a DSLR of a different style that also records FULL FRAME HD using Red's custom CMOS sensor, which means no shutter rolling (virtually). You get the light sensitivity of DSLR's, the high res super HD of Red One, for the price of a typical HD cam.

I'm not a pro photographer but rather an aspiring filmmaker. A $3000 dollar price point is super awesome if the specs are even relatively close to Scarlet. Heck, $3000 is about the bare minimum you can spend to begin to get to quasi-professional video cameras. Even the Red One at over $17000 is a super awesome price point.

This is a great time for independent film. Here's to falling prices!

[Temple @ Oct 27th 2008 10:45AM]

So far Red has one product and three promised products. The Scarlet went back to the drawing board when the D90 and 5DMkII was announced to do video. It took them a long time after initial release to get the kinks worked out on the Red One so hopefully they can handle three more products.

DSMC are essentially point-and-shoot type cameras, likely with a larger sensor like the Sigma DP1. The problem with a DSMC is that it lacks a mirror box, so no phase detection autofocus, superior metering, and optical viewfinder. Panasonic has put tons of R&D in overcoming these shortcomings in their upcoming MFT G1 like developing a 180fps LCOS EVF and 0.2s contrast-detection AF. However, I doubt Red will be putting money in this area and rather concentrating on video. For a pro photographer, a spot on phase-detection AF/metering is an absolute necessarily, something a camera without a mirror-box cannot offer.

[bloggersmosaic @ Oct 27th 2008 9:36AM]

that's should be good..

[Salsa Shark @ Oct 27th 2008 10:21AM]

squarley?

[SubGenius @ Oct 27th 2008 10:25AM]

I wish Apple would put some of that $25,000,000,000 (I love seeing all those zeros) in cash they have sitting around to good use and acquire RED.
Final Cut + Aperture + DSMC = Mmmmmm

[DBrim @ Oct 27th 2008 10:39AM]

I'm definitely curious to see how they will handle lenses. If they partner with a good glass manufacturer, this could be a game changer.

[linuxamp @ Oct 27th 2008 8:58PM]

I hope they use a Nikon mount (unlikely) Just because I don't want to spend another fortune on new lenses.

[Alex @ Oct 27th 2008 10:55AM]

@ Temple

Most still remember that RED (Jim Jannard himself) was one of the first people to break the news that Canon and Nikon were going to introduce video in their new DSLRs.

You can safely bet that he knew about it months in advance as well.

That should put things in perspective and point us to the true motive for the Scarlet delay.

I for one, as I'm sure many of you do as well, feel that Red did not get surprised by the Canon/Nikon introduction of video in their DSLRs. Red knew about this for a while.

[phanbouy @ Oct 27th 2008 12:55PM]

DSMC DSLR now with more DOHC and WTFBBQ functionality

[Ming Han chung @ Oct 27th 2008 1:22PM]

Umm so they didn't say they would release info about the DMSC did they? I thought they were waiting till Jan 1st to annouce stuff about that.

[Johan S @ Oct 27th 2008 4:35PM]

This thing better have an ultra high FPS mode.

[Sharone @ Oct 27th 2008 8:02PM]

More attention whore antics from Jannard. His main Camera (Red One) has only recently become useful with Build 16, and the tool is spreading rumors of upcoming product that will somehow be better than anything Canon, Sony, Panasonic et al can build.

Yeah right.

[AlthalusTheThief @ Oct 27th 2008 8:08PM]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Black Silicon or SiOnyx as a potential exotic material for the new sensors. Obviously there aren't enough Engadget readers in the Red forums

[davec @ Oct 28th 2008 10:11AM]

Apart from this RedUser thread,obviously:

http://205.234.135.241/forum/showthread.php?t=20370

Oh...and this one:

http://205.234.135.241/forum/showthread.php?p=303602&highlight=silicon#post303602

Not forgetting this one too:

http://205.234.135.241/forum/showthread.php?t=20374&highlight=silicon

[Guy Barwood @ Oct 28th 2008 4:22AM]

FYI Red One does not have a Full Frame DSLR sensor, it is close to the DX sensor as it is a super35 sized sensor. SEnsors such as the Nikon and Canon one's kids RED One's but for still images.

[Adam Barker @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:00PM]

"Full frame" only has meaning when applied to a specific film format. In the case of DSLR cameras, it means that the sensor is the same size as a 35mm still camera frame.

Super 35 motion picture cameras use the same film stock as 35mm motion picture cameras, but the image frame is larger on super 35, because they take advantage of negative space on the film stock that isn't used by 35mm cameras. 35mm motion picture and 35mm still picture frames are different sizes, which makes it complicated to compare sensor sizes. This means that the Red One has a full frame sensor as far as film makers are concerned, because the sensor is the same size as a super 35 film frame.

The third response in this thread on reduser.net has a nice comparison of frame sizes across still and motion picture formats. The diagram is not up to date, and does not include the Nikon FX sensor, but you'll notice that "full frame" digital SLRs have larger sensors than either Academy or Super 35 motion picture stock.

Sensor size can play an important role in image quality and camera sensitivity, but the most important difference between sensor sizes is the impact on the effective focal length of your lenses.

If the new Red cameras move to a 35mm still frame size, you won't be able to use standard motion picture lenses on the camera without significant cropping of the frame. This is what happens when you use a Nikon DX lens with a Nikon FX body. If the target market is enthusiast photographers and indie film makers, this is no big loss, because you'll be able to use 35mm still Nikkor or Canon lenses, which are (presumably) a lot less expensive than comparable motion picture lenses.

[Adam Barker @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:01PM]

I guess Engadget doesn't like HTML. Here's the thread on reduser.net:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14037