How Long Will RED last?

[explosive]

WE all know technology dates so fast these days. By the time you've bought something, a better product arrives.

Now, we also all know RED's ingenious modular design shall spare us of many of these woes.

However, given the current RED rig, how many years would your prediction be before it becomes outdated?

[J. Bernard Vallon]

Red is headed for some deep deep market penetration as soon as it launches. Excellent marketing campaign, even if there was no "official" marketing campaign. The dalsa origin has been out for years and no one has been shooting features with it. If red can get everyone over to the RED workflow, that momentum might last them for years, even if a newer better camera comes out.

[Curran Giddens]

Forever.................! :sorcerer:

[laguun]

4K resolution will be good enough for a decade, if not several decades, easily surpassing the quality level of most blockbusters in the recent history of cinema.

The quantum leaps ahead for cameras are:
-HDR
-3D

The etablished (former) marketleaders Arri, Aaton, Panavision, Sony and Dalsa show no indication of releasing products comparable or competeting with the red one in the forseeable future.

SI offers some clever features and also smaller sizes and interesting procepoints - however nothing which would endanger red.

Bottomline: red has no real competition at the horizon, and that is the maximum one can expect from a product.

[Gbabymogul]

If it performs anywhere near 35mm film, then it should be sufficient for a long time. Heck, check out the value of film cameras from the 70's -80's, people are still using them.

If you can't create your masterpiece in 4K (or 35mm for that matter) than more rez ain't the answer.

This camera is a 'put up or shut the F' up' technological wake up call. No more excuses. No more whinging. No more procrastination.

At this price point, we're well on our way for it to being equal to free paint brushes for everyone. Now, get painting. :wink:

[Mark B.]

Higher resolution will always have a certain appeal, but 4k resolution is equivalent to film and has satisfied audiences thus far, so Red footage should be good enough for the next hundred thousand years. There will always be people that want IMax size and stereoscopic projection, requiring much higher resolution, but with living space going up in value it's more likely that theater screens will get smaller in the future rather than larger.

Of course there will also be camera people clamoring for higher frame rates and improvements to the latitude of the sensor, but those modifications should fit inside the existing camera body.

Financially though, I am a bit worried that the RedOne will become outdated very quickly. It's going to be up against lots of competition within two or three years, and the price paid now will be way higher than what people will pay in 2010.

[Unwounded]

Some cameras have longer shelf lives than others and the Red is definetly gonna be longer than usual. Definelty plenty long enough to pay itself off many times over. Realistically, the main advances left to one up the red would be more latitude (but the reds latitude sounds pretty impressive as it is).

[Mark B.]

A decade or two from now, our current latitude levels will be considered comical.

[laguun]

A decade or two from now, our current latitude levels will be considered comical.

fully possible. hdr and 3d are the next 2 big innovations.
but even when they will be introduced, i don´t see them taking the market in a year or two, as red did.

if you look at reds orderbook, 2000 units as of yet, they became 35mm marketleader from zero within less than 24 months. Quality, features, price, businessmodel, corporate communication - in many areas where progress was very slow, they quantum leaped their competition.

[Jason Murphy]

fully possible. hdr and 3d are the next 2 big innovations.
but even when they will be introduced, i don´t see them taking the market in a year or two, as red did.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Red are well aware of what the next big innovations are, and have some ideas about how they would implement them.

You also have to remember Red's motto "Making Obsolescence Obsolete." Sure, the RED One may not be able to compete with the newest HDR 6K camera that comes out in 10 years, but I'd be willing to bet that there would also be a plan to get some of those improvements implemented into the RED One.

[Jeremy Hughes]

RED's upgradable, I don't see it happening. Not only will it avoid obsolescence, but it will stay ahead of everybody. Get a new 8K 200,000:1 dynamic range ratio Mysterium in a few years and you'll be set for another few years. Holographic memory will roll around too...

If anybody has any second thoughts because you think it might go obsolete soon, it's the best camera available now, and the more time you hesitate the more time you waste better spent on filmmaking.

A 70mm RED TWO could come sometime but I don't think it'll be soon... At all.