Hint...

[WOT Fanar]

Oddly I am feeling that I'll miss all the fun.
Who wants to date a perfect girl? I want a girl with issues! Who screams at me sometimes, and if I don't take good care of, eventually will leave me in the dark.
What's the fun of dating a perfect girl?
I kindda get used to my camera's issues, and knowing what to do with them.
It's a strange feeling, does anyone share it with me?

I'm glad you said this, though it's not the love story with the camera I was looking forward to, my inner film writer was looking forward to a camera with nothing but a record button at 24P and then becoming the hero it was destined to be. (Or maybe i just play too many computer games and now need all objects to level up. "You have now had your camera for two years and reached level 20, you now have better skin tones and tungsten lighting")

thanks for keeping us up-to-date Jim

Wot

[Rob Castiglione]

Jim, I don't care how long it takes. In the meantime I have a Red One!

[Michael Mann]

Thank you for the hint. Don't hurry! Take all the time you need.

[Sanjin Jukic]

With our big announcement coming up at the end of this month... I thought it would be nice to give our customers, who have been very patient BTW, a hint.

As with any big news in this industry, there is usually "the good news and the bad news". Most often, the bad news is not getting the features you hoped for... or the cameras aren't free.

Our only bad news is the schedule hit. This should not be a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention and it won't be terminal, but that is about the closest thing we have to bad news.

At RED, "everything changes". In that spirit... even our philosophy has changed.

In a "unique to the industry way" we released the RED ONE as a beta camera and fixed things, enabled features and generally relied on our transparency and the patience of our customers to carry us through. We needed to do that because 3 years ago... we had no idea what we were doing. We were learning how to build a camera right before your very eyes.

Since most of our customers live here, I have tried to communicate as directly as possible so RED ONE owners were not left in the dark. We delivered our promises and even added some major surprises for free along the way. For the most part... it all worked out pretty well.

What is changing is that we are about to sell new cameras to many more new customers (that's the plan anyway). We don't believe that most of them will fight through a beta program and update their firmware on a weekly basis... or stand for "trust us... we are almost there". We need to have a bulletproof program with a camera that works and features in place. When we initially announced our schedule, we did NOT have this philosophy in mind. It takes time to deliver a more robust and trouble-free system. That means a schedule hit. Pretty easy math.

We do have a plan for complete testing in this community, just different than the 1st time around. We will be transparent as always... that part of the philosophy has not changed.

Even though the schedule hit is not unexpected, we do expect to hear that some of you "just can't wait another day and need to buy something right now." We fully understand. But we can't do it both ways. We can either deliver "work in process" cameras or finished cameras when they are really done. We have chosen the latter.

For those of you worried about big price increases... relax.

For those of you that need to know this program is still worth it... relax even more. It is better than our wildest dreams... we suspect yours as well.

I will clarify most of this Oct. 30th.

We appreciate your support.

Jim

What ever were reasons for the newest "delay hint" we can only guess about it.

The latest DSLR that hits the market is Nikon D3s:

"Nikon has taken low light shooting to a whole new level with its latest pro digital SLR camera, the D3s.

The successor to the two-year-old D3 has a seven-stop IOS range of 200 to 12,800,
plus three further boost settings that allow photographers to capture images up to
an unprecedented ISO equivalent of 102,400. Even at this extreme setting, judging
from images BJP saw from pre-production samples at an exclusive European press
preview at St Andrews last week, noise takes on a relatively natural, filmic look that
would be usable for some applications, and results shot at ISO12,800 were particularly impressive."

Read more 1 >>>

"ISO performance: ISO 12800 as standard, expandable to ISO equivalent of 102400 (Hi 3)
Professional photographers can now rely on ISO 200 to ISO 12800 as the professional standard
of image quality for their assignments — an incredible advantage when shooting indoor sports,
tadium events at night or any other shooting situations where light is limited and Speedlights
are not practical. Shooting at ISOs as high as 12,800, the D3S can take commercial-quality,
pin-sharp images in low light at action-freezing shutter speeds — a capability that will open
a new world of photographic opportunities. When needed, the D3S expands
to the amazing ISO equivalent of 102,400, still revealing colours and details even in extremely
low-lit places where human eyes may find it difficult to discern objects.
This exceptional low-noise performance also applies to D-Movie capture,
which creates new potential for multimedia projects and assignments."

Read more 2 >>>

As we know well RED1 is working also as a sort of DSLR camera.

DSLRs low light sensor sensitivity is already a big hit on the market.

RED also must "catch up" with this latest trend(s) otherwise...

Don't forget that ARRI announced "three new CMOS super sensitivity digital cine cameras"

that are going to hit the market later next year or 4th quarter of 2010.

As I said before it's not so much about camera body new design,

it's more about new sensor design that is in a heart of any digital camera.

Let's think about that like in a sort of "film/analog way",

it's more about new "film stock" then about new film "camera design".

So now get patient and of course stay tuned at the forum.

In between shoot great pictures (stills or movies) with your R1 (buy it if you still don't owe it) and have a fun.

Just my 2 Austrian schillings.

[Justin Kirchhoff]

Thanks for the "Hint" Jim. I feel a little more settled now. I'm glad I may have a little more time to find money. :)

[Roberto Lequeux]

Love how the title made me see hint again when the word was hit. It eased me into the schedule hint. : )

Looking forward to the 30th. Hope the announcement includes the Mysterium-X upgrade schedule.

My birthday :)

later,
Jason

It was always about you Jason.

Great. Oct 31st is my birthday.

Ahaha... Cool.

Happy pre-birthday to both of you!

Sounds like you'll be busy during you festivities. We'll be refreshing and celebrating along with ya both.

[Joseph Hutson]

The perfect release time for me would be around Jan-Feb '10. But, more than knowing the release dates, I am really looking forward to hearing some price quotes on the gajillion accessories RED will be enticing me to buy.

[Jay Silver]

Jim,
Thanks for being honest. If only other companies were this honest, maybe the country wouldn't be in as big a toilet as we're in now. Though it does feel like it's getting better..

With what ever the delay is, a few months, six months (I hope not this long), this will just give me more time with my little RED 1 camera. Build 20 is great and the images are wonderful. I'll now have more time to explore the boundaries of this great camera.

Keep us posted as you always do, and if we have to wait a little longer to get something that is rock solid, something that boots up in 2 seconds, something that I can use in almost any configuration, so be it.

Thanks for the honesty.

[Taimoor Salahuddin]

Take your time guys. I've become a Red loyalist. We are with you all the way. Society doesn't help us though they look at us as communists at times, but we struggle on.

[PaulClements]

My birthday :)

later,
Jason

Mine too Jason :)

Paul