Current EPIC rental rates in LA and elsewhere.

[James Brundige]

if you don't want the price of the Epic to plummet then don't heat up the market by charging an arm and a leg. Exorbitantly high rates attract competitors who in turn drive the price down pure and simple. You can't just lay blame on the under-cutters....ask yourself what brought them to market in the first place...

There is no logic in this statement. Charging too much does not encourage anyone to enter the market and charge too little.

That said, the price and limited availability of Epics will create a seller's market for a short time, but it will no doubt follow the Red One into cheapness when there are lots, especially when Epic S becomes available. There will be two things determining rates - quality of the complete package and, more importantly, quality of the operator. Skill and relationship building will become much more important than just having the gear. That's a direct result of Red's stated objective to put great quality gear in the hands of many.

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

My advice and it is based on research - buy one (an EPIC M) if you have an actual project where rental rates would eat up the difference between purchasing and renting. That is why I am buying my M - because I need it for a feature film this month. The difference between ownership and rental, it became clear, made owning only slightly more expensive than renting would have been...and I could use it for the entirety of the project, not just a week or two.

(And it would be mine, all mine mwahahahahaha!)

Don't try to build a rental business on the basis of M ownership - have something you really, really want or need to shoot, instead - because deflationary pricing will kick in much faster than it did with RED ONE. The M program, hand-machined, etc., is already kicking cameras out the door faster than the early RED ONE program did. Keep in mind that there are already over 500 M cams out there already, not just the handful that we see in the M owners forum. Not to mention all of those RED ONES competing for the low(er) budget business now. That is a lot of cameras in the rental market. Even without the X program ramping up. The window on high-priced rentals is already beginning to close.

 

[Greg Clark]

I have a RED Epic Package I rent in South Florida. But we price according to the package that a client needs. We're not really a rental house, but more of a boutique production house that owns a Epic. We also process RED footage for dailys etc.

Greg
www.5kproductions.com