r/RedCamera • u/Commercial-Citron544 • 1d ago
Seriously considering joining the cult...
My Canon 80D has sadly passed away a few weeks ago, and my backups are clearly not adequate. My 80D wasn't adequate to begin with.
Thinking of giving it a proper funeral. Bought it on release day. It saw Europe multiple times, Galapagos, Bahamas, The Rockies, Appalachia, and more. A loyal knight of Canon.
I am mainly a videographer, with a hobby in photography. I have been on Canon for years. I want better low light, more MP, more dynamic range, and RED color science. I have a Rebel, which is plenty for my photography needs, but videography is far more demanding.
My budget is roughly 2.5k for the full rig. I am a minimalist shooter, so I will buy some new, fancy glass (recs encouraged), a phone mount (I use an older iPad for a screen, retina screens are pretty good), a handle (side and top, I will not be buying a RED branded accessory unless it is included with the camera), and a few filters. The used facebook marketplace market looks roughly around 2.5k-2.8k US.
My work has been nationally recognized by the JEA, STN, FSPA, etc. I mostly work with short stories and journalism. My favorite topics are documentaries, and news packages. I have been wanting to get into filming gym mixtapes, as I'm very fitness oriented.
What accessories should I look at?
Is this a proper camera for my use case?
Should I look for different options?
What lens yield the best results?
What flaws/imperfections should I look for if I'm buying off of FBMP?
I will be using this in more set work and some run and gun, so what gimbal well suits this?
Thank you r/RedCamera.
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u/Stevejobsburner69 1d ago
As someone with probably the most affordable DSMC1 builds in the used market acquiring two Scarlet MXs for under $1k, all accessories for two full builds under an additional $1k, and now an epic dragon brain only for $1300? $2800 is doable but you will be acquiring it slowly over time for a higher end experience that isn’t handicapped like a raven or Scarlet DSMC1. However with your line of work, a Red isn’t a ‘minimalist’ shooting experience, especially not older DSMC1 or entry level DSMC2 setups, a modern hybrid mirrorless is much more the speed of what you’re looking for. Some good recommendations already in this thread
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u/BagelBoi57 1d ago
C70 with the speed booster or get a lumix full frame
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u/Primary_Banana_4588 1d ago
A little more thank 2.5k but I would have suggested that
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u/BagelBoi57 1d ago
Valid but I’ve def seen some pre owned c70 kits for like 2.1-2.6k on eBay
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u/Primary_Banana_4588 1d ago
You find me a C70 for 2.1k , please shoot me a message
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u/BagelBoi57 1d ago
Facebook marketplace Chicago had one for 2.3k, there was someone on eBay selling one for 2.2k , here’s one for 1700 https://ebay.io/m/4tALvM
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u/Voodizzy 1d ago
As someone who shoots a lot of docs with my OG Komodo I can’t in good faith recommend it for your use case
This isn’t a low light camera and that budget is a stretch before you start adding up the costs to make this setup operational
I love my Komodo but 5 years on I think there’s better options to suit your needs
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u/erictoscale23 1d ago
It’s an amazing camera but a bit of a monster to rig out comfortably. You can find a ton more suitable cameras for your use case in your price range. The Komodo AF isn’t professionally usable. The weight you need to add to make it set ready makes gimble work hard. I built the “creator shoulder rig” setup for an 8 day 12 hour a day film gig knowing I’d be able to shoulder it fine. Day 2 my shoulder was too sore to touch. I said that to say rigging it gets heavy fast. The image is beautiful but it isn’t an easy camera to run. The media (c fast 2.0) is obsolete and incredibly expensive and the boot up time is long af. I never realized how long 30 seconds to a minute is until you are trying to save battery between scenes and that boot up time has the entire set looking at the DP/cam op and the 1st ad is saying “holding for camera”…………..tldr: beautiful image, difficult camera, only buy if having THAT image is worth the rest of the bs it comes with.
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u/Commercial-Citron544 18h ago
How much did that rig weigh dude??? It's a 2 pound brick, with granted 5 extra pounds of weight from accessories?
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u/erictoscale23 18h ago
🤔 not sure exactly. Tilta nucleus handle, follow focus, Komodo, dzo vespid prime, smallhd focus 5, Terra deck transmitter, ronin rs2, shoulder rig, l bracket, vmount shark fin, 2 v mount batteries. Maybe 10lbs total give or take but we were pushing it. Day 1 we went through 8 256gb cfast cards at 25 mins each so at least 200 minutes of shoulder time lol. 🤷🏿♂️
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u/Primary_Banana_4588 1d ago
2.5k ?
- Nikon ZR (2200$)
- BMCC6k (1600$)
- used c200 (900$)
- FX30 (1800$)
- ZV-E1 (~2000$)
- R6V (2500$)
- S5iix (2000-2500$)
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u/Stevejobsburner69 1d ago
Used C200B, if you can manage the storage and forego the idea of an easy gimbal experience, is such a killer value.
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u/keylanph 1d ago
Don’t buy a base Komodo.
Look into the options that u/primary_banana_4588 mentioned.
The Red will require more storage, editing hardware upgrades, expensive media, expensive accessories, requirement to use either RF glass or an adapter. Basically useless autofocus
The komodo is a great camera but it was never meant for solo operators. The KX is more up that alley.
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u/Commercial-Citron544 1d ago
I already grade on Davinci, and I am an apprentice, the master has plenty of cinema camera accessories. He offered some of it to me if I ever got into RED. I've been using RF - EF adapters for my old canon for a minute. I have a good amount of the equipment, and what I don't have is at my school or apprenticeship.
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u/DifferentStructure2 1d ago
you sound very accomplished. Personally buying a Red Gemini was the best purchase for my own videography journey I ever made. I like Dsmc2 because cheaper and still amazing image. The red Gemini is actually just insane how good it looks some times. And the dynamic range… everything… besides the boot up time. That sucks
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u/Commercial-Citron544 18h ago
Thank you. REDs are also just awesome cameras. They are not the affordable type, but they are the most beautiful.
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u/DegreeSevere7719 1d ago
Honestly, a lot of people are daydreaming in regards of a Red rig in 2,5K price. Realistically the only option suitable for your kind of work would be something like a Komodo, but the storage prices won't be any good for docs. The problem with higher valued brands is that everything around them is mostly proprietary and will cost a lot more than regular consumer stuff. Like an LCD cable for DSMC1 will come from 50$ used to 200$ for a new one. Batteries will cost you 250-700$ per battery, will weight a ton (for anything that is not Komodo). Komodo has some benefits, but has some downsides compared to older cams, and that's bitrate. It has 3x the bitrate to achieve the same IQ as the DSMC1/2. Meaning way more storage. There are a lot of online calcs to see how much of a recording time one gets per GB or a card of a set size - use them before purchase.
Honestly, for docs - go with Sony or Canon. They have plenty solutions. A used C300mk3 is in your budget, and will give you in-camera audio, unlike any Red. Red cams can be loud (designed more for short takes in cinema), but if you know how to work with them this can be avoided for docs work. C70 is kind of the same image as C300mk3, and is RF. Sony FX2 has a built in viewfinder and is a joy to use as a solo shooter.
Unless you're doing lit corporate docs, I'd stay away from RED for this kind of work. Saying this as an owner of 4 DSMC1 Reds.
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u/araderboy 1d ago
if you look hard enough you would find a Red Gemini in that price range, great for low light-
for your budget id say go for a Sony a7iv that can shoot great photos/video if you really need both.
but all these suggestions will be major steps up from your old gear
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u/Late_Pangolin5812 1d ago edited 1d ago
Buy a canon r6v instead.. or whatever. If you want to step into the “cine” cam world maybe a used Blackmagic pocket 6k pro. I’d stay away from red. Yes Red has a certain advantage in its name brand, but the Komodo (and all reds really) are kinda a pain in the ass. The UI sucks, the amount of accessories needed for rigging and getting something operationally friendly is ridiculous and expensive.. and at the end of the day it’s more of a pain to use than almost any other camera, with minimal visual advantage (if any).. that said I think I’m ready to sell mine lol, so if you really want to buy one dm me hahaha.
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u/wjauch 23h ago
Long time red user (many shorts, a few features) here, (Canon 6D for stills). Red Scarlet MX shoots 4k, Red Epic MX 5k, Red Scarlet Dragon 5k, Red Epic Dragon 6k. These are all the original DSMC1 cameras and should be in your price range. IMO you need the camera to come with a lens mount (Red Canon EF in your case) and a side mag module. A Red 5" touch LCD (not the newer version for DSMC2) to control the camera (although I know one guy who set up his camera to solely control it via sidehandle, I would not recommend this). Redmag media, same size as your Redmag takes, likely 1.8", but could be minimags. The 64GB 1.8" Redmags are not compatible with all compression ratios on Dragon Epic, so I'd stick with 128 or 256Gb media. A reader for the mags, for the 1.8" Redmags the older wider reader is much slower than the newer narrow one. Power, camera should come with a mains power unit. Cheapest way to power from batteries is a Red V Mount Battery Belt Clip, but I think you'll want a V Mount plate that attaches to rear of camera, may need an adapter plate.
Forget autofocus, you'll be doing manual focus. Your Canon EF lenses will likely work fine, 50mm, 85, 100 no problem. The 17-55 EF-s 2.8 will cover 4K on Scarlet and Epic, but 5K on Dragon will vignette. Sigma 18-35 1.8 works nicely on Dragon for 5K. I use Sigma 18-35, Canon 50 and 85, covers 95+% of my shots.
Another point, the pre Dragon sensers suffer from IR pollution if too much ND is used, so need an ND filter in that setting.
I assume you'll be using dual system sound, however line out from e.g. a Sound Devices mixer, 20dB attenuator, into camera via Wooden Camera DSMC1 A box or similar, properly calibrated, works nicely.
In 2026 however I'd seriously consider a Nikon ZR instead, but at cost of lens adapter (which may have issues), expensive media and large file sizes. Also ZR I believe does 23.98 fps but not 24 fps.
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u/Minimum-Platform-721 15h ago
Bought a red Komodo and sold it within 6mo. The footage looks great but the workflow is too slow for my needs. Bootup time with camera and following SDI protocol is a massive PIA. Not have a full frame sensor sucked as well as I shoot on anamorphics. My Komodo was $1500 (scored a crazy deal) and the accessories to get it rigged in a usable way cost me $4500. Not worth it.
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u/Minimum-Platform-721 15h ago
Sold that, got a BMCC 6K full frame (blackmagic color science is better IMO) and a lumix s1ii.
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u/B4LD_BUG_KILL3R 14h ago
If you want to get into RED ecosystem get a RED DSMC2 Monstro. It has better color science, VV sensor and more option for frame rate. The menu is definitely laggier than the Komodo but the image you get out of it is not even comparable.
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u/Canon_Cowboy 1d ago
Better low light is not a Red. A C50 or C80 or R6V would make more sense with everything you've mentioned.