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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

How did YOU afford your RED One?...

Dave Draper

Dave Draper

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To those of you who own a RED One, but weren't able to afford it outright, how exactly did you procure the funds to purchase it? Credit card? Bank loan? Selling your sister? Interested to hear people's stories...

DD.
 
ouch, 37months = how many gallons she had to take?

now that's real torture....unless of course you enjoy this sort of thing.:sosp:
 
Ponzi schemes seem to be all the rage these days. :willy_nilly:

Ok, in all seriousness, there isn't much mystery to buying gear, so why do you ask?

Are you trying to find ways to finance a RED One? Write an article about how to "creatively" fund a movie/gear/dream..?

Ask a better question, get a better answer.
 
Robert Frank said:
Are you trying to find ways to finance a RED One?
Click to expand...

Exactly that, yes. I'm interested to hear how other people in less-than-desirable financial situations managed to afford a RED One, as I've wanted one since they became available, and would like to how, realistically, if I could make that a reality.

DD.
 
Dave Draper said:
Exactly that, yes. I'm interested to hear how other people in less-than-desirable financial situations managed to afford a RED One, as I've wanted one since they became available, and would like to how, realistically, if I could make that a reality.

DD.
Click to expand...

Other than a secured loan from a bank or perhaps a leasing company, credit cards (ugh!) or very understanding relatives, I don't know, so I'm not going to be able to help with alternative financing solutions.

But perhaps someone with more experience and/or expertise in this area can chime in.
 
I had been saving for Scarlet after selling my Sony Z1u kit and stumbled into a conversation here on Reduser about used prices for R1.
I said I would pay $10,000 (almost how much I had reserved for Scarlet) for a used R1 body.
Along came an awesome R1 owner that sold me his complete setup for cheap. I ended up paying more than $10,000, but got the whole ready-to-shoot setup.
I ended up having to sell a few mics, my Mac Pro and part of my Protools rig... but I made it.
Just upgraded to MX.
Best camera ever!
 
Start small. Get work with the camera you own now, or rent. Do good work and impress people, so that they'll give you bigger budgets, or so that you can move on to clients with bigger budgets. At some point, you will not only have the money to buy a R1, you'll be working so much you'll absolutely need to buy one. And then another. After a while, you'll forget what it felt like to be dreaming of owning a great camera, because you'll be far too busy shooting with it!
 
US military pays well.... after two deployments I've enough for an epic:-P Better question is how much are you willing to sacrifice?
 
The best answer for this in my mind is if u can't afford one, can't acquire one off the back of a bank or financier then you have a few options:

Rent one when u need it
Befriend someone with access
Wait and buy a scarlet. If u can't afford a Scarlet either then the best option is the one least talked about...a co-operative. Join together with other like minded people and front a portion of it. Set up a company and shoot some films. Just choose the right people.

Otherwise do what everyone else does, start small and work up the food chain.
 
Working my ass off with a Canon camera for 2 years.
 
In all seriousness, I spent almost two years saving for it. I worked my 9-5, and freelanced post work nights and weekends... And then worked more. I finally bought a minimal kit, and added to it over time. I've always believed that if you work hard, you'll get ahead. That was the American dream that I was sold. Do good work at a reasonable price and exceed the clients expectations... Then you will get more work.
 
I don't have a red one but I got financing for one by going to the bank and getting an SBA loan. 6.25% 3 years interest only payments, 4 years to pay off after that.

I might add that if I can't pay the camera off under those terms I'm probably not a craftsman worthy of the tool.
 
Tom Lowe said:
Working my ass off with a Canon camera for 2 years.
Click to expand...

After I added up my Canon upgrades over a 5-year period and realized that I had already spent nearly $12K on camera upgrades, the $17.5K RED body started looking pretty competitive.

So you could say, Canon talked me into it, as well....working with lesser cameras and dropping a good chunk of change to do it, along the way, was quite motivating.
 
Well first you have to figure out what you want to do with your Red. Are you a filmmaker, music video creator, promo producer, cinematographer, rental house, enthusiast, or just a die hard fanboy who absolutely has to have one to shoot youtube video.

Go through my list above you will notice there are few professions that family, friends and investors take seriously and will gladly partner with you on a Red.
 
We put 20% aside for a while, the rest came from banks.

It paid for itself faily quickly, directly, but also indirectly. If you are serious about cinematography you will not regret it.
 
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