Red Scarlet vs. Canon 5D mark III RAW

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by Sebastian WöberJuly 8^th, 2013

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After the 4K Blackmagic Camera was announced this year and majorly shocked filmmakers looking for low cost high quality tools, along came the 5D mark III RAW functionality in the form of Magic Lanterns recent firmware hacking achievements and provides a valid affordable RAW alternative.

Here’s filmmaker Ryan Lightbourn‘s comparison between the 5D mark III and a professionally established RAW camera, the RED Scarlet-X.
If you haven’t done so already please watch this short, beautiful piece of professional camera work, give this man some likes and download the source footage here.

This is what he says:
… the power lines aren’t aliasing in the 5D3 footage as some have noted…they are painted with black & white stripes: LINK
Shot back & forth between the two cameras on the same day.
Minor grading done in ACR & RCX to match contrast. No sharpness added. Scarlet footage shot in 4k, downscaled 50% to 1080p.
Lenses used: Tokina 11-16mm & Zeiss 25mm 2.8 (both with Formatt 1.2 ND)
My thoughts browsing through the raw footage: Scarlet has slightly more of a filmic/pro look (maybe due to having more dynamic range overall?) and a slight edge in sharpness. 5D3 raw has less noise, and holds more detail in the shadows. Download 1080p version for a better comparison.
Song: Hans Zimmer – Time
ryanlightbourn.com
twitter.com/ryanlightbourn

The price difference between these cameras is currently as follows:
The Canon EOS 5D Mark III with kit lens, a required SD card and a fast CF card is around $4300.
The basic RED Scarlet-X package offers less storage, less battery life, lacks the lens and is still $10,000 more than the Canon package.

The Scarlet certainly has advantages like the capability to record in 4K and a more secure and professional end result, but has some other important downsides towards the 5D mark III.

If you haven’t seen it you can also check out our 5D mark III RAW vs Blackmagic Cinema Camera RAW video.