RED V-RAPTOR and V-RAPTOR XL 8K S35 Cinema Cameras Released

Camera News

by Jeff LochMarch 8^th, 2023

RED has just released two new cinema cameras, the V-RAPTOR and V-RAPTOR XL 8K with S35 image sensors. The Super35 versions are less expensive than their Vista Vision image sensors siblings (between $5,000 and $7,000, respectively). So let’s take a closer look at these new Super35 versions of the RED DSMC3 cameras!

The RED V-RAPTOR was announced in September 2021 and was the first camera of the DSMC3 lineup. The V-RAPTOR features a full-frame/Vista Vision image sensor capable of shooting in 8K at up to 120 frames per second. In August 2022, the company launched the V-RAPTOR XL, a bigger version with the same image sensor. However, compared to the V-RAPTOR, the V-RAPTOR XL is a more “production-ready” cinema camera with an interchangeable lens mount, one extra SDI output port, a GenLock port, more power input/output ports, and for the first time in RED’s history, a built-in internal electronic ND filter system.

But wait, you might be right to ask yourself: “didn’t RED already release an S35 version of their V-RAPTOR camera not very long ago?” Well, indeed, as the S35 V-RAPTOR “RHINO” was announced in November 2022.

This time, RED launched a regular black body version of the S35 V-RAPTOR, which is $2,000 less expensive than the grey “RHINO” version but has the same exact features, body design, image sensor, and specifications. The second camera to be announced is the RED V-RAPTOR XL S35 which sports the same 8K Super35 image sensor.

RED V-RAPTOR S35 8K – features

I’ll go quickly into this one because, as I already mentioned, this is the same camera as the S35 V-RAPTOR “RHINO,” except it is now available in black color.

The camera body, operating system, input/output ports, and even recording formats/framerates are identical between the “original” RED V-RAPTOR with a Vista Vision sensor and this new V-RAPTOR S35. So the only way to tell the difference between the two cameras is the “S35” in the top right corner of the new model instead of the “VV” found on the other model.

However, I found one difference between the RED Vista Vision (VV) and S35 versions. On the cameras with the new S35 image sensor, you’ll lose the 7K 17:9 anamorphic 2x, 1.8x, 1.6x modes and 6K 17:9 anamorphic 1.5x, 1.3x, 1.25x modes.

As a quick reminder, a smaller S35 image sensor will “crop” around 1.5x into your image compared to a full-frame/Vista Vision image sensor. This extra crop is helpful if you’re shooting a lot of macro, wildlife, or sports content, for example.

If you want to learn more about it, we recently added all the RED V-RAPTOR S35 Recording Modes to our CineD Camera Database, along with the 4,000 different resolution/frame rates/codecs combinations of the RED V-RAPTOR VV. We still can’t wait to get our hands on this new version with its 26.21 x 13.82mm S35 image sensor, which is, by the way, smaller than the one found in the Komodo – that claims to have 16.5+ stops of dynamic range!

RED V-RAPTOR XL S35 features

As a quick reminder, the V-RAPTOR XL is a bigger camera compared to the non-XL version, but that adds a couple of input/output ports, an interchangeable lens mount, and an internal electronic ND filter system. So what is new with this V-RAPTOR XL S35?

The only difference between the RED V-RAPTOR XL and the new V-RAPTOR XL S35 is the sensor size. The camera body, input/output ports, operating system, and all the recording formats are identical between the V-RAPTOR XL and V-RAPTOR XL S35.

Please note that the S35 image sensor is also identical between the V-RAPTOR S35 and the V-RAPTOR XL S35. It means that the V-RAPTOR XL S35 will not have the 7K 17:9 anamorphic 2x, 1.8x, 1.6x modes and 6K 17:9 anamorphic 1.5x, 1.3x, 1.25x modes.

Price and availability

Both S35 versions of the RED V-RAPTOR and V-RAPTOR XL are available now. The V-RAPTOR S35 is $17,995 ($7,000 less than the VV version). The V-RAPTOR XL S35 retails for $34,995, so you save $5,000 compared to its bigger VV brother.

For more information, please visit RED’s website here.

What do you think about these new S35 V-RAPTOR cinema cameras? Does it make sense for you to shoot with a Super35 camera compared to a full-frame/Vista Vision one? Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments down below!