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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 :)

Contemplating selling my red.

Good story Ben, though I don't think it necessarily typifies the Red experience. Then again, most of the frequent posters here are the "happy ones" (with the exception of a few complain threads here and there) so it's good to hear the other side sometimes.

I WILL say one thing that's different about Red -- because of the Epic upgrade, you might actually be able to MAKE money on a camera body that's 2-3 years old ... which is TOTALLY UNHEARD OF in the industry.

And that's because as an Epic trade-in during Stage 3 your Red is worth exactly what you paid for it + you'll probably get a little extra because it's upgradable and a reasonably low serial number. (Btw, I highly recommend Ketch, he's the man when it comes to helping with this stuff.)

Now obviously, many of your accessories have depreciated and some are totally worthless -- but you can sell some of them too. Maybe not for the price of an Aston Martin, but hey ...

And yah, shoot on something cheaper until it's time for the Scarlet and then get in line for that. It will be the ultimate "starving artist's" camera and an amazing deal.

Anyway, I'm glad you shared and wish things could be different in the industry -- but as Mark said, it would pretty much be the case with most other high-end cameras ... the difference is that you would have probably spent even more money, and you would not be able to trade it in or resell for anywhere near what you originally paid.
 
Hi Ben,

I loved your story, if you write anywhere on the net, or in print I would love to know. I've read your posts over and over, and I can tell you that was two hours that have not been wasted.

Can it be said that having your RED has inspired you? Can you walk away from your experience and say that it has brought you many things to talk about; a used Aston Martin, and all the tail you should shake the wrong end of a stick at... because surely life is all about gathering the anecdotes you can talk about down the pub later on. For example, I had saved up and up and up to take my girlfriend to Santorini for her 30th birthday, I'd managed to get the funds together through working like a dog, becoming crotchety, and very nearly making her an ex girlfriend! I booked the holiday, readied the surprise, only to notice the day before we were due to go that I'd booked it for May the 3rd, not March the 3rd - which meant the two weeks she'd booked off from work were now a waste, and she'd have to take MORE time off. The week beginning May the 3rd I had three jobs booked for me to work with my RED camera, which meant losing more money than I had made in all of April and the rest of May put together. However, my pal down the road took hold of my RED and gallantly provided services beyond friendship, and I effectively worked when I was away with Nicola. One of the jobs was with a documentary filmmaker from Denmark who had travelled all the way to Manchester to pick up my gear to travel to Scarborough (MILES away) in order to make an interview with a scary and wanted arms dealer. I'd been off the plane at Manchester airport for about half an hour (at 1.30 in the morning) when the messages started landing from my pal down the road. Most concerning was the one that said "call the Dane, no matter how late". So I did, and the guys in Denmark, emailing me in Greece, had sent the wrong kit list to me, which I had then sent to my pal in Manchester. The Dane in Scarborough needed a RED Drive by 9 am otherwise the arms dealer would do something pretty bad (I imagine). I called one person from this forum, who then passed me on to someone else called Conrad. Conrad lived in Leeds - a fair drive to Scarborough. By the time I spoke to him, he was ALREADY in his car to drop off a drive, BEFORE he had even spoken to me. I was amazed. Now that is truly great.

I met the Dane the following day after his shoot. He walked over, handing my RED, 6 foot plus, blonde tidy hair, and wearing sunglasses in rainy Manchester. He said "You shayved oure asshesh yeshterday". You can only begin to imagine how many times I've told that story. All this happened because of RED - maybe it works for some and not others, but take the positives away from it Ben. Tell your stories as you take your girlfriend's tail somewhere cool! Then put it all down on paper in a way I can only aspire to…

J
 
Welp, if you wanna try to give it to another starving artist for the low, low price of favors for the rest of your life, I'm always here.

But seriously (okay, more seriously) you took a risk, and it didn't pay off how you wanted. It sucks, but it's always a fun ride. I'm the same way; do something now, figure it out later.
 
Hey Mark,
Thanks for the response! I have to say I do have a Love/Hate relationship with RED. For the sake of drama I didn't really touch on all the wonderful things that this camera has done and that this company is sure to do. I agree that
my ignorance definitely added to my problems - but as you said I never looked deep enough - I swear I've spent a thousand hours scouring this forum for information. I find information hard to come by if you don't know what to ask or look for.
Anyway, thanks so much for enjoying my post - I was half ready to have my head bitten off. I've seen some angry and defensive posters on this forum before. Anyway, I might message you some time soon to ask YOU some workflow questions lol.
Cheers,
Ben.
 
Hello All,
Whoa - I was really expecting to have a thousand people bite my head off. I've seen people post angry posts on this site before and get a plethora of vicious "redheads' jump to poor Jim's defense. I'll say here for everyone to see - just in case
my last post was a little Michael Moor-esque in its being one sided. Red has changed my life. The camera is absolutely a godsend and has allowed myself and many others to create images that were light-years beyond our means. Hell, my grad film
cost as much as the camera body alone, and my cinematographer underexposed a scene so badly that it came out black rendering the film was useless. I just couldn't help responding when asked why I was contemplating selling.
So thank you all for being understanding rather than defensive - Red doesn't need to defend themselves. The "REDvolution" is here and its happening - I was not intending on bad-mouthing red but simply telling my story! lol Anyway,
I am glad so many of you appreciated my writing, at least that gives me something to be happy about on set tomorrow - and no, John, I'm not really published anywhere, but if any of you know of someone looking...
Thanks again,
Ben.

and a great quote to brighten your day (I think from John Luc Goddard)
"There's no point in having sharp images when you've fuzzy ideas."
 
YES! LOL

By the way thanks for putting all those thoughts down. It was like going down memory lane as I read each point.
I think you are a great writer too.
 
Ben, would you be willing to sell the cam, separate from the accessories, or did you want to keep everything together? If so, how much were you looking to get for the basic kit (cam, battery, CFmodule, nikon mount, 5" monitor)?

Also, it's MXed right? I couldn't tell if you actually went through with the upgrade or not.
 
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