Red-epic-m-224x187We knew RED was going to respond to the recent announcement from Sony, and respond they have. RED has recouped their initial costs for the EPIC project, and that means they've decided to cut the prices on both the EPIC and SCARLET platform (since SCARLET shares many of the same parts as the EPIC). If you've been waiting to buy one of these high-end cameras, there hasn't been a better time than now, especially since RED has created an upgrade path for their new Dragon sensor. They've also dropped a serious bomb with a new battle-tested RED ONE MX. Without further ado, click through for the new prices.

This post will be updated as more information is released.


These are the new prices:

  • 5K EPIC-X Brain -- $19,000
  • 5K EPIC-X Monochrome Brain -- $20,000
  • 5K EPIC-M Brain -- $24,000
  • 5K/4K Scarlet Brain -- $7,950
  • 4.5K RED ONE M-X Battle Tested -- $4000 (includes CF or SSD recording module)

[Update]: Looks like the RED ONE MX with the CF module is sold out, as the page is no longer available. You can always buy the SSD version and the $500 module, which is actually cheaper than if you bought the $4,000 CF and wanted the $1,500 SSD module later.

Here is what Jim said about new pricing in a post on REDUser:

As I said before, everything in the electronics world changes... usually for the better, cheaper and faster. EPIC and Scarlet just did. Right now.

We have built an incredibly efficient factory in Irvine, California and over time learned how to make EPICs in quantity, lowered our assembly costs, found better suppliers and fully paid off our NRE. When we assembled the 1st EPIC camera in Stage 6 at RED Studios Hollywood it took our team 12 hours. It took two more days to de-bug. Today we can assemble an EPIC in 13 minutes and 95+% need no re-work after diagnostics and testing. It is a testament to our manufacturing team and supply chain teams.

Since our costs are now significantly lower we are re-pricing our cameras as of now.

For those of you that purchased a new Scarlet or EPIC brain on or after Oct. 1st 2012, the next time you order accessories from RED you will receive a discount to use towards that purchase. $1000 for Scarlet and $4000 for EPIC. Talk to your Bomb Squad representative when you are ready to use this discount.

Now… here is the new pricing:

5K EPIC-X Brain- $19,000

5K EPIC-X Monochrome Brain- $20,000

5K EPIC-M Brain- $24,000

5K/4K Scarlet Brain- $7,950

4.5K RED ONE M-X Battle Tested- $4000 (includes CF or SSD recording module). The RED ONE is End of Life. Battle tested is all that will be available from here on out.

Due to high anticipated volumes, plan on extended response and processing times.

Dragon sensor upgrade is not included for any EPIC system purchased at the new pricing going forward.

Pricing is being updated on www.red.com as I post this.

So how does this compare to the old prices for just the brain? Here are the comparisons

  • RED EPIC-M: $24,000 vs. $39,500
  • RED EPIC-X: $19,000 vs. $34,500
  • RED SCARLET-X: $7,950 vs. $9,700
  • RED ONE MX:$4,000 vs. $25,000

This is big news for the camera industry. Jim has already said that he appreciated what Sony was doing with their new cameras, but that he didn't believe they were any competition for the EPIC and SCARLET. Now we know why, and part of it is price. Since they've paid off NRE (non-recurring engineering) for the EPIC project, it means that the whole system is currently making money with each new camera they build -- which also means they can sell it for less money. This is good for consumers, it means you can enter into the RED system for a lot less money than previously thought, and it also means the new Dragon equipped EPICs should compete price-wise with the new cameras from Sony (without most of the compressed modes of course). This also means we should see some reductions in used camera prices.

Battle-tested RED ONE MXs are a serious contender to Blackmagic and other lower-priced cameras. I don't think anyone saw that coming. Of course they don't feature an ND filter and are based on older technology, but you're getting mostly everything the SCARLET can do (and more since the ONE can do 4.5K) for half the price. They are used, yes, and the boot-up time is longer, but it's still an amazing deal.

You should keep in mind that the above prices are the brain only, and you'll still need some accessories to make them work. Also of note, RED had a deal going where if you purchased $50,000 worth of an EPIC camera system, your Dragon upgrade was free. That deal has now ended, but even new EPIC owners will be able to pay $6,000 for a new Dragon sensor upgrade.

You can find the new cameras (including the RED ONE MX) using the link below.

What do you guys think? Will you pull the trigger on an EPIC, SCARLET, or RED ONE MX now?

Links: