Odyssey7Q February 2014 Firmware Update

rheinturmblau said:
2GB SSD or 2TB SSD?
Could we use those also for the O7Q?
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Oops, missed that in the copyediting. 2TB, of course.

The Athena will use the same media as the Odyssey7Q, and both units will be able to take advantage of any model SSD we introduce. By the time Athena arrives we expect to have larger SSDs available.
 
I plan on purchasing the 7Q a bit down the road. I am wondering how current owners of the 7Q are treating this addition to their camera package with regard to charging clients.

Simply absorbing the $4000+ cost (the 7Q/SSD's/4K upgrade with CD/etc) as the cost of doing business and thus making myself more attractive, or charging extra.

And how much?
 
joe/dp said:
I plan on purchasing the 7Q a bit down the road. I am wondering how current owners of the 7Q are treating this addition to their camera package with regard to charging clients.

Simply absorbing the $4000+ cost (the 7Q/SSD's/4K upgrade with CD/etc) as the cost of doing business and thus making myself more attractive, or charging extra.

And how much?
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I'm charging extra: £100 (roughly the rental rate of the O7Q - or at least the cheapest local rental).

If you're not charging extra to provide a 4K/10bit HD 422 camera with 13stops of dynamic range (and a nice monitor!) I will find you and kill you.
 
Hi Mitch,
After playing around with the quad monitoring more, it seems it would be great to have a 'picture in picture' mode. One input full screen, with the option to have a second input on the screen bottom in a smaller frame. I have found the quad layout to be on the small side for viewing. A simple screen tap to switch between the 2 (or more) inputs for viewing the desired angle.
Will quad mode ever accept an SD signal?
 
Colinelves said:
I'm charging extra: £100 (roughly the rental rate of the O7Q - or at least the cheapest local rental).

If you're not charging extra to provide a 4K/10bit HD 422 camera with 13stops of dynamic range (and a nice monitor!) I will find you and kill you.
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Absolutely!

its a significant investment, it needs to earn it's keep!
 
Colinelves said:
I'm charging extra: £100 (roughly the rental rate of the O7Q - or at least the cheapest local rental).

If you're not charging extra to provide a 4K/10bit HD 422 camera with 13stops of dynamic range (and a nice monitor!) I will find you and kill you.
Click to expand...

;-)

assuming you have a client or a job on a low budget what sometimes happens.
Your client is asking to shoot AVCHD and cancel the 7Q. Do you leave it at home
and don't charge £100? You paid the 7Q and not using it and not charging for it won't
return your investment.
In reverse: using and charging extra for a recorder means you are getting more expensive
for your clients. I find it quite difficult as we are competing against some cheeper cameras
as 4K Blackmagic or soon to come GH4 and some others.
 
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Have to agree with Clermond from my perspective. I just accept that a percentage of my profits goes back into re-investment into the business, in order to keep up with the technology and remain competitive.

Something like the 7Q my clients would never ask for specifically (I'm in the corporate video market) as they'd generally have no clue as to what camera or technology I use, all they care about is the end result. But I would consider the 7Q as part of my arsenal in order to achieve optimum image quality for the price/market place I'm in - which is why I will eventually (perhaps later this year) either purchase the 7Q (most likely) or change my camera. Whereas let's say a quadcopter or specific crane/jib was needed for a requested shot from my client, this would allow me to charge the client extra - as they would appreciate the need to hire extra gear to gain that shot.
 
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Its former name was "The March Update".
A good reason to switch to a "no more empty promises"-policy.

I guess, the next Firmware will be published after NAB 2014. The 4K compressed recording seems to take more time than expected. Rule of thumb: It's ready when it's done.
 
Clermond said:
;-)

assuming you have a client or a job on a low budget what sometimes happens.
Your client is asking to shoot AVCHD and cancel the 7Q. Do you leave it at home
and don't charge £100? You paid the 7Q and not using it and not charging for it won't
return your investment.
In reverse: using and charging extra for a recorder means you are getting more expensive
for your clients. I find it quite difficult as we are competing against some cheeper cameras
as 4K Blackmagic or soon to come GH4 and some others.
Click to expand...
If the client doesn't want to pay for the 7Q then they'll get AVCHD. To bring it along anyway sends a pretty clear message to the client ie plead poverty and get the bill as low as possible, they'll bring along all their toys anyway so production value will bd the same.

I've yet to have a client say no, end of the day, even with the extra for the 7Q it's a lot less than the cameras it can now compete with.
 
I slowly increase my dayrate as my kit improves but don't charge for specific items like this, since I want my footage to always look its best. I sometimes shoot short music performances so i've been offering to shoot in 4k for an additional $300 per concert - mainly to deal with post flow and storage.
 
As others are saying here, i too am not charging specifically per item when shooting for corporate or other clients coming from outside the media industry.

I do not want incompetent people deciding what type of gear i will bring into the field with me. If i need a slider, a crane or a jib, i will pack it without adding to my fee. However, this approach also means that i am quite expensive if you only want a tripod and camera, so i tend to vary my prices alot depending on my own vision/plan for quality.

To the media ofcourse i specify the bill accordingly. They know exactly what they want and what the competition charges ;-)

Since the O7Q is a rather new piece of equipment, i have put together a new cheap deal to introduce it into the market along with the picture quality. Low low starting fee. Will increase eventually when the clients start asking for it.
 
Believe me, I understand all the POV’s stated here about charging or not charging for the 7Q.

Part of me wants to jump in and just start using the 7Q to elevate the quality of my work and outshine all the people shooting what we’ll call standard HD. Chalk that up to just the cost of doing business.

Would I like to ask clients for more money to create a better looking image for them? You bet. I’m up against some very budget conscious clients who sometimes balk at paying my regular fee/gear rate. It’s often a back and forth.

First thing I want to do is build a small body of work to show off the beautiful images that the 7Q can produce. That is precisely what I did when I got my FS-100. I was shooting a “NOVA Science Now” show several years ago and told the producer that I was bringing my new camera at no cost to her along with my principal camera. I knew we were going to shoot a series of interviews and I wanted to create a new Interview Reel out of that material. And that’s what I did. She loved the look of the interviews. After that I was approached by some new clients on the basis of that work.

So for me it’s really feel your way as you go. Charge when you can and also use the 7Q when it’s to your own advantage.
 
35mill said:
Hi Mitch,
After playing around with the quad monitoring more, it seems it would be great to have a 'picture in picture' mode. One input full screen, with the option to have a second input on the screen bottom in a smaller frame. I have found the quad layout to be on the small side for viewing. A simple screen tap to switch between the 2 (or more) inputs for viewing the desired angle.
Will quad mode ever accept an SD signal?
Click to expand...
Interesting thought on Picture-in-picture. I'll mention it to the engineers. Don't know about SD, but if we do it will only be as an SDI signal, not composite.
 
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