Atomos has gone public

Yea, I hear you...but sometimes you just have to change course in business.

Not everything is always going to come to fruition, but they did provide lots of updates over the years.

Moving forward their words/promises may have more meaning.
 
Atomos virtually has no competition with monitors/recorders, so they were already able to do pretty much whatever they wanted.

[CD is too expensive these days (and sometimes I feel like they are closing shop any day now), and Blackmagic is just a thorn in the side.]

Whether the product quality or company mission suffers is not known at this time, but I imagine they will be held more accountable with their newly found status.
 
I like the Black Magic private ownership model better. They don't have to answer to anyone but themselves. They don't seem to have a cash flow issue; steadily adding products and making themselves better every year.
 
Run&Gun said:
I'll gladly go on the record as saying that it's my belief that publicly traded companies are a huge part of what's wrong with society.
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I have had experience with some Pharma/Biotechs and shareholder bitching and the seasonal lawsuits from
disgruntled shareholder groups. I agree with Run&Gun, there is little impetus to even go public if you can avoid it.
 
NorBro said:
It's really a worldwide model now that applies to all kinds of other devices too; phones, video games, software.

Release ASAP - now, now, now - and then fix/update later while you work on the next batch of products.
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Once they realized people are willing to buy the products that way, specially if they are cheap enough, why bother finishing any products? I never buy unfinished products. I Never buy on promises, which is why I never bought a 7Q when it came out.
 
firehawk said:
Theoretically, they would be in a position to make a camera without needing to cripple it to protect their higher end cameras, since they have none
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What else do you need which is not already available? There are all sorts of great options. It's hard to think of how a camera can do more for example than a F55. Or how it can be more cinematic than any Alexa or a F35. Or a better bang for buck than a FS7 or FS5. Unless you are one of those waiting for an Alexa 65 for $2000, to which I will say we don't need it. Last thing this industry needs is more dirty cheap cameras of questionable quality to allow more hacks to do $5000 jobs for $500.
 
Greg_E said:
If you are a stock holder, especially if you own enough to vote, then yes.

And yes, I was going to mention the AJA camera, those people should have also been able to make a really good camera, not sure what happened there.
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This:

NorBro said:
Anyone who owns a CION will actually tell you it's a pretty good camera, but the camera had too many things going against it.
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I think as a camera the Cion is the best thing south of an Alexa. The design was well thought in most ways. At least they tried making a proper camera instead of what Canon, Red, Blackmagic etc makes, which are just boxes with lenses. If they only had used a better sensor I think the camera could have been a hit.
 
puredrifting said:
To me, having been an imaging pro for over three decades, it feels like we are already spoiled for choice, compared to even just five years ago.
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We are! If somebody can't do with one of the cameras for sale now he should probably change fields and do something else.
 
Sttratos said:
This:



I think as a camera the Cion is the best thing south of an Alexa. The design was well thought in most ways. At least they tried making a proper camera instead of what Canon, Red, Blackmagic etc makes, which are just boxes with lenses. If they only had used a better sensor I think the camera could have been a hit.
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Lord, really? Did you ever use one?
 
Sttratos said:
What else do you need which is not already available? There are all sorts of great options. It's hard to think of how a camera can do more for example than a F55. Or how it can be more cinematic than any Alexa or a F35. Or a better bang for buck than a FS7 or FS5. Unless you are one of those waiting for an Alexa 65 for $2000, to which I will say we don't need it. Last thing this industry needs is more dirty cheap cameras of questionable quality to allow more hacks to do $5000 jobs for $500.
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I've said this on DVX multiple times, cheap/inexpensive gear has been a big part of the downfall of this industry. When I had to fork out $45K for my first VariCam and put a lens on it worth another $30K I was making WAY more money than, now. Looking at the first full year that I had that camera(2007) vs. 2018, I probably made 1/3 the money compared to '07.

Rates have plummeted the last few years, despite companies making record profits and the stock market in the stratosphere at higher levels than ever before. There is still the extreme high-end, but everything else has been commoditized. Experienced people with expensive, quality gear are no longer of value, because the client can get someone with a $800 dslr to do the work for almost free and because they're paying almost nothing for it, they don't care that the quality isn't there. And it continues to spiral...
 
Run&Gun said:
I've said this on DVX multiple times, cheap/inexpensive gear has been a big part of the downfall of this industry. When I had to fork out $45K for my first VariCam and put a lens on it worth another $30K I was making WAY more money than, now. Looking at the first full year that I had that camera(2007) vs. 2018, I probably made 1/3 the money compared to '07.

Rates have plummeted the last few years, despite companies making record profits and the stock market in the stratosphere at higher levels than ever before. There is still the extreme high-end, but everything else has been commoditized. Experienced people with expensive, quality gear are no longer of value, because the client can get someone with a $800 dslr to do the work for almost free and because they're paying almost nothing for it, they don't care that the quality isn't there. And it continues to spiral...
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Cracks me up reading the comments on YouTube gear reviews from Erik Naso, Curtis Judd, etc. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the comments are about how this $800.00 light is REALLY expensive. Or this BMD Pocket Cinema Camera "costs a fortune". I just roll my eyes, these people have zero clue as to what expensive was and is. My first Betacam, lens and batteries was almost $100k. Sadly that is the mindset. If "DPs" and videographers think that way, it's because they are being asked to shoot and produce something you and I would charge a good chunk of change to do for pennies on the dollar. When you're doing what should be a $50k corporate video for $1,200.00, no wonder an $800.00 light "costs a fortune". It is sad how our industry has almost totally devalued what we do but I knew back in the 90s this was going to happen, you could see it coming a mile away at the beginning of the DV Revulsion (yes, intentional misspelling).

In 1999 and 2000, our little production company had gross sales of $1.2, then $1.5 million dollars. FF to now and I am happy when we can hit between $100k - $200k in gross sales and clear 50-60% of that net. The DV Revolution basically destroyed an industry but the same thing happened with graphic design, print design, music production, still photography and dozens of other once high skill-hi net value occupations. If I had it to do over again, I would have gone into healthcare, investment banking or commercial real estate, or some other business where customers don't ask for something for nothing as a matter of course, trying to make a living in this business is almost impossible. Thank goodness for side gigs.

Even though I am still producing, writing and shooting quite a bit for clients, my current main gig is serving as director of PR/Marketing for a technology company. They're paying me pretty well and the owner has promised to give me a healthy amount of stock once we achieve financial capture for our main product. It really would be my dream to not have to hustle for production work any more. I'd still like to produce my documentaries for fun (hardly anyone makes money from documentaries as you know) and just work away in my day job, which is producing and writing but I will hire DPs, crews and editors and will just shoot when I feel like it. Feed the 401k and investments, buy more real estate and leave the production side to all of you ;-) I truly think trying to make a living in this side of the business is hopeless and I encourage anyone who asks me about our business IRL to "get a real job" because this business is a loser from a business perspective. Not being pessimistic, just realistic.
 
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'Expensive' for today's world...natural technology depreciation.

Of course we all know that just because a camera set up was $100K once doesn't mean that's acceptable today.

Also, I don't know if anyone would ever say the 4K pocket is expensive...that's just crazy, haha. (And this is coming from someone who's pretty brutal on manufacturers and some of their modern day pricing.)
 
NorBro said:
'Expensive' for today's world...natural technology depreciation.

Of course we all know that just because a camera set up was $100K once doesn't mean that's acceptable today.

Also, I don't know if anyone would ever say the 4K pocket is expensive...that's just crazy, haha. (And this is coming from someone who's pretty brutal on manufacturers and some of their modern day pricing.)
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That's what's insane, a lot of these commentors are "aspiring" to spend a few hundred dollars on a piece of production gear? The comments that the BMPCC was an expensive camera made me scratch my head, I don't understand, in what world is that an expensive camera? Maybe compared to Legos?
I see it a lot on all of the review videos in the comments. I've seen people posting that the XT-3 is a ripoff and it should be cheaper? What?
 
I don't know about how others do with their business but last year for me was actually petty good in the ratio worked hours/dollars earned. Looking back I had three months vacation and such where I turned down jobs even. I've slowly increased my rate and clients doesn't get scared. And I'm still shooting with the old FS7 (and other cameras as well). Not like they would care which camera I'm using as long as the footage looks good and I do my work well.
 
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