What does RED do for you ?

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My personal passion for RED and answering fiscally to the partners on the basis of business-at-hand and future markets were two trains that weren't going to meet.

Rental allows us to own Panaflex and CineAlta cameras when we need them, it'll be the same for RED. I'd rather drool over it for a week or ten days each time we have paying projects than sweat over paying it down for three years.

e
 
Overland brings some hard business logic to this forum and rather than get all fanboy emotional I want to respond as a businessman.

First off lets talk about the issues that come up when a unit fails in the field. There are already several rezzie holders who are setting up, or are adding to existing rental businesses, the RedOne so sub renting should be feasible in most areas. You absolutely need to have called around and pre-arranged your fail safe, but that is best practice even if you're shooting BetaSP. Obviously working with a rental company like Panavision has many benefits but for many of us the cost or geography make that untenable. I would love to talk to other Red owner-operators about setting up a co-op or other kind of group in my area where we back each other up, it makes sense and while no ad-hoc network will match the support level of a Panavision it should cut the risk to acceptable levels.

Let's talk about the size of the market for image acquisition at a particular level. Like Gibby and others I look at the RedOne from a different perspective in that it is so scalable. Sure, maybe its overkill for some gigs, but at the price point Jim has given us I can amortize it faster than a Varicam, XDCAM-HD, etc. It also gives me a selling point on the mid-market corporate jobs that pay the bills. It gives me a chance to bid on higher end jobs - even if they have their own hot shot DP I can go out as a DIT and just manage data on set and be a reference person for camera operations.

From a purely financial perspective it may make more sense to just rent RedOnes at first and, like many pieces of gear, only buy it when the demand level reaches a certain point. Perhaps I am too excited about working with the camera to think clearly. Just ask my wife.:Drogar-Evil(DBG):

Blair S. Paulsen
RedOne #19
 
I have been a full-time DoP for one year as of Jan 1, 2007 (part-time since 2001) and, having shot with every imaginable 1/3", 2/3", SD, HDV, HD, and 16mm/s16mm camera, I am truly looking for an owner/operator camera that will capitilize on my current experience and help me to the next level - 35mm Indie feature and commercial production. I sold off my lovely GY-DV500 this last summer and had been avoiding owning anything until the right combination of price and features presented itself.

Austin, Texas is rife with people claiming to be DoP's and some very real ones as well. With all the that competition, I have to distinguish myself, not only with my work but with my toolset. Between a Red One, my fat one-ton lighting package, and a reel of which I am proud, I should be in pretty good shape.

As far as I am concerned, the Red One is my future - all rhetoric intended. :)

M
 
The evolution of RED comes from the frustration of Jim Jannard (who by the way is not a professional filmmaker but has the resources to design and build a camera that has the features he wants without spending $85,000 for it), and he wants input from the (so called) experts as to what would make the ideal camera, to make RED a viable and profitable venture.

I want to see RED work because I want to adapt the camera with the features I will need in the future and hopefully not have to buy another one.
In this age of 'built in obsolescence' where there is a finite working life of everything that you buy, being able to contribute to a camera system that will challenge the status quo and force the other manufactures to respond is a welcomed revolution!

J*

and besides, who can resist wanting to push the shiny red button!
 
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I would gather that this would be an ideal purchase for truly independent filmmakers. It gives them the ability to pull a "Brothers McMullen" and shoot whenever time allows without the added expense of film, processing and telecine -- and not worrying about weekend rental availability.

Red would be an ideal tool for my advertising agency. I would have the capability to go out, run-n-gun style, and pick up shots for a presentation to a client with a tight deadline. I was going to pick up the Panasonic HVX, but decided to put this on hold until I see what's going on with Red, and the amazing promise it holds. For my company, one job would easily pay for the Red unit, which is expensed to my corporation. But I will hold off on buying this unit until I can determine whether it truly fits my needs.

Where business is concerned, I can't afford the risk of buying a first generation product of any kind. I'm not willing to be a beta tester and am only too happy to learn about a product from others experiences. But that's the compelling thing I've learned about buying habits while working in advertising. People buy based on emotion, not reason. If most of folks who've preordered the Red sat down and thought about it rationally, they probably would change their minds, realizing that there are possibly better strategies to get them where they want to go. But that doesn't happen often. If it did, my job would be much harder.
 
So who is producing the doc on RED fever? Is it being shot with the RED prototype???
Any RED set-ups heading to europe??
 
Red would be an ideal tool for my advertising agency. I would have the capability to go out, run-n-gun style, and pick up shots for a presentation to a client with a tight deadline. I was going to pick up the Panasonic HVX, but decided to put this on hold until I see what's going on with Red, and the amazing promise it holds. For my company, one job would easily pay for the Red unit, which is expensed to my corporation. But I will hold off on buying this unit until I can determine whether it truly fits my needs.
Click to expand...

An advertising agency is exactly what red is for me. Promotion, selling a product and making that product look much better visually than it looks in real life. Advertising your product to the potential investers or clients.

I cant produce such images with a 1/3rd sensor ccd camera. I have the opportunity (if i learn enough) to do so with the red camera.

Michael
 
What does RED do?

Before discovering RED and, admittedly, for a little while after I was ready to buy a complete mint condition Bolex EL kit w/s16 conversion for around AUD15k. As my narrow minded angle is purely cinema, s16 was the minimum format-size requirement for our project. That hasn't changed.

I had originally wanted to shoot digitally using XDCam or something but felt that this and other formats at that time would be too much of a compromise given the higher quality attributes of film reproduction. I was actually hoping a camera like RED would fall out of the sky.

It would be easy to say that a miracle has occured...but it hasn't; not just yet. However if this camera does what it says on the box then it will give me the at least the quality, if not the look (this can be fixed) that I would've achieved using 16mm. And for that, well lets just say I will be more than a little impressed by the Red Digital Cinema Company.
 
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For me, Red does represent finally having the right tool to do my movies, a tool I can grow with and build up.

The XL1s was my first love. I bought a ton of accessories (wide angle lens, matte box, shoulder mount, eye piece, filters, etc.), made a feature and several shorts. Then the XL2 came out and was a massive disappointment, way too much for not much new. I sold my XL1s and am still getting rid of the accessories. I'm tired of this every-three-years-my-camera-is-obsolete model. I'd like to have a good base camera then continue to buy better lenses, better accessories, filters, etc.

Red means finally be able to have a tool I feel I can actually use all the techniques I've been learning (narrow depth of field, high contrast lighting, focus, etc).

I'm a software engineer by degree, so gear lust is in my blood, but Red represents a serious breaking point where I will be content with the camera and will shift my research and purchase power into accessories.

This happened a year ago for me in digital photography. I had used a pile of point-n-shoot digitals, each better than the last. But when I finally got my 20d I was happy. Are there better DSLRs out there? Oh yeah, but my desire for them is rather limited. My 20d does all I need it to for now and since then I've been able to bulk up on various lenses, a top notch flash, lights, etc, and in the last year my skills in digital photography have exploded.

Lastly, I am very excited to start using a tool that I know I could grow with. Next year I can make my indie feature on Red, then when Rodriguez calls me up and gives me a big budget (yeah, yeah, run with me here), I could shoot a 20mil, 50mill, 100mil feature with Red (albeit more tricked out).

If you want to make big boy movies, use big boy toys.

Red means that my movies now have better potential. Before, I was just every other joe blo with a 1/3" 3ccd. Next year I'll be the only indie in town I know of that will be shooting 4k. Finding crew to help me for deferrals won't be that hard.

So in all, Red means I can grow, learn and have a solid base that won't get yanked out from me in 3 years. I want to get off the tech lightspeed treadmill. It gives me all I truly need, and most importantly, it's a tool that is so ridiculously professional it will force me to up my game big time.

Now that's what I've been waiting for. Thanks Jim :-)
 
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