The RED paradigm shift

[brake]

So RED is going to be priced well below competing cameras. I'm hoping this is just the first shift in this industry. I look at that glow in the dark focus wheel going for 600 bucks in a recent thread and want to vomit in my britches and enter a hula hoopin' contest. I mean look at that thing... Is there 600 dollars worth of anything in there? Materials? Ingenuity? No, nothin' except for the fact that it straps on to your ARRI and she wouldn't be caught dead with no reasonably priced follow focus, what a dreadful thought!

[Mark B.]

Everyone is saying that Red will be priced way below the competitors, but there have been hints that the Red price will be raised. It will still probably be way below competitor prices, but people might want to start thinking flexibly about how much this camera's going to cost come 2008.

[Ralph Oshiro]

I'm guessing that Jim's "affordable" pricing philosophy will continue through 2008. It's been confirmed that early reservation holders will be getting a "better package" and a guaranteed low price, but I think Jim is committed to keeping RED's price point still highly differentiated from competing products. Of course, I could be wrong. Sure, it would be nice to find later, that we all got the deal of the century for believing in Jim's vision early, but I don't think that's the plan. I think Jim's larger business strategy is yet unknown.

My "imagined" business model for RED, is for RED to take over the increasing number of F900 accounts on Hollywood sound stages. I read that 18 shows were shot on F900s at the beginning of the 2005 television season (I may have the year wrong). If RED can ramp up to develop a capable service and support organization, RED may be positioned to replace many of the "Panavised" F900s around town. More and more shows are moving to HD origination, and I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing. If I were a film DP on an episodic or sitcom, and the producers said, "Say goodbye to your Panaflexes and your expensive 35mm film stock, you're gonna shoot HDCAM from now on," I'd be really, really bummed.

I have a friend that used to work exclusively on film sets, and now, he DPs F900 sets exclusively. These are mainstream, network hour-dramas. And it certainly wasn't by choice. More and more shows are being pressured by the people who pay the bills to acquire in HD instead of 35mm film. Some producers, the ones with enough clout, can hold steadfastly to their 35mm film budgets. But like it or not, more and more shows will soon be shot digitally. And right now, 99.99999999% of the shows shot digitally are shot with F900s. If RED is the next best thing, and it allows film DPs to use high-quality, PL-mount cine lenses, I think that would be a market ripe for picking.

[Ralph Oshiro]

But then again, even if every TV show suddenly switched out their F900s for RED ONEs, that wouldn't mean a huge VOLUME of sales. Panavision's "don't-sell-just-rent" business model works for them. RED is affordable, so this business model won't work for RED. But it would open up an opportunity for a new crop of RED-savvy DITs to enter the market!

[Mike the beginner]

I'm guessing that Jim's "affordable" pricing philosophy will continue through 2008. It's been confirmed that early reservation holders will be getting a "better package" and a guaranteed low price, but I think Jim is committed to keeping RED's price point still highly differentiated from competing products. Of course, I could be wrong. Sure, it would be nice to find later, that we all got the deal of the century for believing in Jim's vision early, but I don't think that's the plan. I think Jim's larger business strategy is yet unknown.


Jim Jannard and red team plans are well known to most of us that have been followers over this last year. His plans are simple!!!

To be the best camera company in the world.

I have never bought a pair of Oakley sunglasses but i know a few guys in Scotland that have and their comments are 100% quality in every way.

Mike the beginner

[Ralph Oshiro]

To be the best camera company in the world.Right. It could be just that simple! I know he's building RED because HE wants to shoot with it! But, I'm guessing there's a long-term business strategy coupled with that goal as well.

[Ralph Oshiro]

By the way, I do believe RED will be responsible for the next paradigm shift. It's the most impressive thing I've seen since RCA's Hawkeye camera was shown at NAB in 1981 (the first broadcast CCD camera). Sure, when Sony's first HDCAM cameras started to come out, I was like, "Wow." But I was never really impressed with what you could do with an F900, with its dynamic range still very "video-ish" (overexpose a stop and a half, and your picture's GONE), and never considered the SI2K, only because I didn't care about any image making machines that still used 2/3" imagers.