Alexa vs. EPIC...

[Gunleik Groven]

@ Anders, that sounds recogniseable from the other side of the Scandinavian pond...

 

[Paul J Steinberg]

+1 for Russell's points. Well spoken and from a professionals point of view.

As to Jim's point that Alexa is a rental while Red is a purchase, my experience as a Red owner would be the total opposite because of supply chain and support. Alexa may cost more up front but Arri are able to put the product in your hands and you're making your investment back right away. This isn't hypothetical, I have two friends who are Alexa owners so I've witnesses two Alexa purchases from order-to-deliver-to-support. As a Red owner I'm living in the world of Mad Max where I have to salvage parts and gas to keep my supercharged Mustang rolling. It's the worst case scenario for Red owners, tie up capital to pay for critical components that don't ship while either renting camera packages just to get the components you need or buying up used components to bridge the gap and effectively doubling the price you pay for each component you want. That's not rhetoric, it's the real-world consequence of owning Red.

Make no mistake, I have a huge admiration for Jim Jannard for changing the path of the film / video production world & risking his own personal finances & health over all of this. Jim is like Richard Branson risking huge amounts of personal wealth to take on a fairly monopolized industry. Ultimately delivering a much better product.

My points, comments & time in all of this is, is that I want RED to be a stronger more trusted company that insures confidence to the Arri mindset & appeals to the greater masses as a whole. We will all certainly benefit from this.

...I can't close it better than Russel,

 

[Nick Hagen]

Well said.

 

[sergio arguello]

amazing post Russel, and just as you said the banter continues with regard to the benign system vs our system babble. People your missing the whole point! its NOT about what technology is better or worse anymore. Its
NIKE vs any other tennis shoe...BRANDING. The point that was being made was that inherently the industry, and especially, the Camera dept is a conservative bunch therefore feel more comfortable with the old German
guys, than say with the young hip tatoo crew. Very legit observation in my opinion.

 

[Philip Lima]

Very well said Jim.

As someone who works with both the RED MX and Alexa on a regular basis, I can say they each have their pros and cons. From an AC point of view, the Alexa is simple and easy to use, which is why a lot of ACs I've worked with love it. So many people say it doesn't fail, this just isn't true. I was 1st AC on a shoot on Friday with an Alexa and it crashed on us. Had to wait a minute for it to power back on while the client was asking us what the heck happened. As someone who has never worked with an Epic, I won't speak to that comparison, though I will say that I am greatly looking forward to using one in the near future. In my humble opinion, the only advantage Alexa has on any RED camera at this point is the ease of taking home ProRES files. Which, can be a curse or a blessing, depending on how good your DP/AC is.

 

[Jannard]

There are some very thoughtful posts here with some valid points we need to consider. So I'm glad to have pushed some buttons. We are still learning.

This thread is certainly questionable and was made as a response to misinformation that is driving our team crazy. We'll find a better way to deal...

I have modified my original post a bit... before closing the thread.

Jim