Epic and Scarlet release in 2010

Status
Not open for further replies.
This perhaps would have been the optimal time to have announced Epic altogether. :)

I am very interested in Red's next camera. Until then I'll keep shooting with the amazing cameras we have today!
 
Last edited:
little late for that :)

Like it or not, for better or worse, they do it different... it is what it is...

once they are out, all's that matters though (to shooters) is how they perform...
 
Fastest way to become a millionaire?

First be a billionaire and then launch a digital cinema camera.

Regardless of what Jannard does his legacy in the marketing history books is certain. In just a few years he has been able to create an army of zealots from one working camera and the promise of another. Many of REDs most outspoken fans HAVE NO RED. This thread alone has 413 replies. Scarletuser.com has nearly 5,000 members and 80,000 posts. Not bad for a product none of us can buy.

Jason,

Let me start off by saying I'm not a Red fanboy and I honestly don't know what to make of Jim Jannard.

BUT you have no idea what you are talking about. Red has not just released one camera and promised one more.

Red has made three zoom lenses and an entire line of (seven) prime lenses. Two EVF's, two LCD displays. A hardware acceleration card and various recorders and drives. And of course the plethora of brackets, rails, cables, etc. that complement any camera system.

In addition, they introduced a completely new workflow for processing moving images by using RAW data. This required creating various applications, the most recent of which is RedCine-X, which is an impressive grading application in its own right.

If you think Red is going to turn Jim Jannard into a millionaire from a billionaire, or that Red has only made one camera and promised one more, you are sorely mistaken.

And again, I'm not even sure what to think of Red, but the above account of what Red has done thus far lists facts that really can't be argued with.
 
Last edited:
Agreed. The accomplishments of RED are a quickly growing list. Even if you don't plan on owning a red one/scarlet/epic i think it is easy to appreciate their desire to make the highest quality products more affordable.
 
RED and Mr. Jannard may have taken some incredibly bold decisions, and this is a no doubt a labour of love. But don't for one moment think this is not a profitable enterprise. The business model is brilliant. Thus far we have had digital cinema cameras in this market sell for six figures and only a couple of hundred (AT MOST) were ever sold. They had all kinds of problems and practicality issues which were all resolved by several solutions, one of the most important being REDCODE. It's all about making it as simple and straightforward as possible, and in doing so, drastically cutting down on production costs. A simple innovation like REDCODE saves tens of thousands of dollars in recording equipment. However, there shall be no compromises in quality. Here's the brilliance in the model - they have taken an oligopolistic market which previously dealt in luxury goods and twisted the market to a normal goods market. Sacrificing massive margins for reasonable margins, RED gained an exponentially larger market. 8,000 cameras for the first model is an enormous amount. If anyone were to do a market share study of the digital cinema market, RED is the dominant firm with a huge market share. Despite selling the cameras for a relatively lower margin, they sell a quantity several times - leaps and bounds ahead of the nearest competitor. The end result - greater revenue, greater quantities bringing economies of scale and greater spread of NRE and R&D costs, and ultimately, greater profits. The customers are satisfied in seeing a quality product at an unprecedented price, establishing an immense brand loyalty.

It has been done before, and this is indeed quite similar to what Henry Ford did with Model T.

I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one—and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces.
Sounds familiar?

And much like the RED One the whole idea of an automobile costing under $900 (the next cheapest car was >$2000 and cars were often rented) was received as a scam and hoax and so on and so forth. And no doubt the Model T had teething problems. Even when it did go on sale, many predicted Ford Motor Co. will be bankrupt in months. He had his detractors all the way through. They called the Model T and its subsequent revisions a "toy". Within 12 years, Henry Ford commanded an enormous fortune which in today's currency would be worth $200 billion and Ford dominated the industry. And boy did they have satisfied customers. Needless to say, Ford forced competitors to innovate substantially and try to match Ford's production costs and quality. It turned the industry on its head. Oh, and yes, there were inferior modes of transport, but none of them were quite the same as owning a car.

Obviously, cinema is a far more exclusive market than automobiles, but Jim Jannard is doing something similar, just on a much smaller scale. Turning a luxury market into an accessible one.

All I am saying is, don't for one moment make assumptions. Time will tell how RED fares, but don't for one moment pretend to think you know how it will turn out just because you fail to see Jim Jannard's vision. I don't see it either, but like Barry put it so eloquently a couple of pages back, this is due to me not understanding, not the folks at RED being fools. I am not a business person, but say what you will about Jim Jannard, to question his business decisions will be an act of sheer folly. And let's not forget that RED is just getting started. Less than five years - it's nothing. Let's wait and see where they take us over the next decade or so. Till then, despite any missteps they might have made and will make in future, we must support any entity attempting to push imaging technology forward.
 
Congrats to Red Camera Co. That said...the best thing that anyone can do to help...is plan on not seeing it until June-Dec 2011. They've still got a long road ahead....if it comes out sooner GREAT! That said...I WON'T be holding my breath.
 
Congrats to Red Camera Co. That said...the best thing that anyone can do to help...is plan on not seeing it until June-Dec 2011. They've still got a long road ahead....if it comes out sooner GREAT! That said...I WON'T be holding my breath.

I think they'll come out sooner, but the quantity is going to be slow. Hopefully they will ramp up as they "figure it out" :) I mean, it's not like they haven't built a camera before, so at least they'll have learned something from the production end as well with the Red One.

Now, for people who've not been able to order one at this point, well, I think you are right :)
 
They've made lots of claims on dates. I honestly believe they are working towards those targets, but I'm sure there will be more roadblocks. I mean, look at the white iPhone. It still isn't shipping because of a manufacturing problem. You just never know. (And from what I hear, the problem is differing whites on the case and the button).
 
It just feels like another carrot being dangled in front of people now that Panasonic and Sony are in the race and WILL launch cameras in the next few months.
I hope i'm wrong, Scarlet s35 could be the camera that last me for years.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top