Rental Houses considering/are buying RED camera

[Yash Keough]

Hey everyone,

I'm just curious here to find out what rental houses have a reservation for RED or are considering buying one. The reason I'm wondering is in speaking to our producer at the production company I work at, he is extremely skeptical about RED and whether or not it will be easily available. Thus I'm wondering if there's anybody from companies such as SIM, Clairmont, or others who will have one.

Furthermore, I am wondering what the general rental policy will be in the case of break downs etc. One of the concerns our producer raised was how will it be serviced if it breaks down? Like what kind of care/support can be expected. If a camera breaks down, it needs to be replaced ASAP or fixed otherwise the production will lose a huge amount of money. Jim and co. have all been extremely supportive and open of reservation holders but the question of rentals, that is making this available in every major film city in North America so producers can easily get them, and in the event of a problem, have them replaced/fixed quickly is something I haven't seen addressed.

This is not a criticism however but rather just a question so that if I'm discussing this with somebody, I can have an answer. Perhaps Jim can sound off on this one?

The camera though does sound like it will have a huge impact on the industry. What RED has done is truly groundbreaking and I'm extremely excited to see what the future holds. Keep up the excellent work RED team! :)

Yash

[Brook Willard]

Many of the major rental houses have reservations. Beyond that, many individuals will be willing to rent their cameras. RED will not rent cameras.

It's a professional camera, so it will be supported like one. To start with they'll rely on FedEx and door-to-door service if you're local. As time moves on, a more significant support system will be put in place. Don't worry, they'll take care of you.

It is, of course, not up to RED to make sure that the camera makes it into rental houses in every city where they want it. That's up to the houses themselves. If there's a demand, there will be a followup on the house's side. As for direct local support by RED, well... the future is open wide.

[Yash Keough]

Thanks Brook that was well said. :)

I personally have a huge amount of faith in Jim and the rest of the team at RED and I know most of the people on here do too. The problem of course is in persuading the people who know nothing about RED other than that they've heard it's vaporware. Once again though well said. I guess we'll just have to wait until people start to deliver theirs, shoot stuff, show it, and thereby increase demand. Thanks though!

Yash

[Brook Willard]

I think all the "vaporware" folks were proven wrong this week...

[Yash Keough]

I think all the "vaporware" folks were proven wrong this week...

Oh I totally agree - I've believed in the project since Mike started talking about it on HDforindies.com. But some people always seem to be able to come up with a reason as to why they won't use it. What can you do though. Personally I'm looking to the future :)

Yash

[Eric MacIver]

We'll own multiples of just about everything Red releases to add to our many camera bodies. We'll support everything the best we can, but like any rental house, when these first get released, it's going to be a bit of a learning curve as to how to quickly resolve issues. (Often, the post-prod side of things takes the most getting used to)

That said, it appears to be a well built, yet simple to operate camera, so I don't expect much trouble there. And, although we like revenue, we do hope to always have one available for swap-outs. If we don't, we'll be in touch with a lot of local owners for quick, emergency subrental connections.

On the biggest productions that have higher budgets and more riding on the line, it's always recommended to have a second unit on had for any item that has a potential to break and that would shut down your production (ie a camera body).

[JD Holloway]

Hi Yash,

There are at least one or two full servies rental houses in Toronto that have invested in RED. There are at least 10 individuals in the GTA that have reservations. Many of the individuals will be supporting each other (at least in the early stages) to smooth production and post workflow until its relatively seemless. Many of these will have other services available to you within the network.

Who are you working for in the T.O.?

Feel free to contact me by PM.

[soundoc]

Hi Yash, I am getting my RED in Sept and my associate is getting his in October. I am going to rent mine and my associate has agreed to let me use his as a secondary rental or emergency substitute for mine. I am in the Seattle area. Will have stuff about rental posted on site soon.
www.inconceivable productions.com