EPIC-W dilemma, upgrade from Epic MX to rent?

[Benjamin May]

I have an Epic MX, and have been notified that my Epic-W upgrade is ready.

Would you upgrade from Epic-MX to Epic W for the sole purpose of rental business?

I am not a shooter, so wouldn't benefit from a DP gig- only rentals in the New York area.

I directed a doc we shot on the EPIC-MX, and we'll probably do another film so I could just keep it. I am stressed about missing an opportunity to get the Epic W however.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Nawaf Alsabhan]

In my situation, yes I upgraded from Epic Dragon to Epic-W mainly for 2 reasons, first is for rental, and second is because of the noise free footage in high ISO's.

In my experience, usually the Epic-W, Epic Dragon, and MX would be around the same price in rental per day, that would usually make the renter go for the latest or best in their opinion.
The professionals would go for Epic Dragon or Weapon Dragon now, but in the near future when the new color science is out, I think lots of people will switch to Epic-W and Weapon Helium.

 

[Randall Brown]

How much do you rent your Epic -MX now? Let's assume your MX is paid for, and you are going to just move up to a Epic-W via the trade in. Let's say you spend $25,000 total to get a small modest shootable kit. Based on your current contacts do you see 25,000 of rentals?

This isn't the old days when Red couldn't make a lot of cameras fast. We just got our Epic-W and it's serial number 3000 something. There are a lot of these cameras out there. So the market will be as competitive as it is now, if not even more so with the cheaper options of Scarlet-W and Raven becoming available. Now I don't know what market you are in. Maybe supply is more limited there and you can command healthy rental rates?

If you are spending $25k purely for rental income, that's a big investment and I am not sure, unless you have extensive contacts now, that it's going to pay back on its own. Your Epic-MX shoots lovely images and can still make you a lot of money yet. Also it has high speed full frame advantages that the Epic-W can't match. For $25,000 how else could you improve your shooting kit? Do you have a great tripod you love? What about a Movi? Drone? Solid Audio kit? Lots of things that you can buy for $25,000 to get a return on in your business and/or craft.

I don't want to seem like I am down on the idea of a purchase for just rental, but a lot has changed in the rental market from Epic-MX days.

 

[Rodrigo Violante]

I upgraded from the MX and it was just amazing in quality. Worth it 100%

 

[Gene Sung]

I am not a shooter, so wouldn't benefit from a DP gig- only rentals in the New York area.

Since you're in New York (this applies to LA as well), there's already Epic-Ws going for super low prices on Sharegrid. Just saw a ready to shoot package valued at $45K renting for $550 or so. Since Sharegrid charges a 12% fee, you would have to rent for 93 days just to break even. Renting to strangers, by then your camera will probably be pretty wrecked.

My friends who are not living in LA or NYC, seem like they get much better Epic-W rates nearing / around $1000.

However, since you mention you're not a DP, it might not be as big of an issue since if something breaks / stolen, you're not so much on the hook. For me, since I have regular DP jobs and if my camera goes down / stolen on a rental, I'm screwed so I don't rent unless I go out with it as a DP or even an AC.

Personally, if you live in LA or NYC, I would not buy it solely for the purpose of rentals as it's so saturated and peer-to-peer renting is a time consuming part-time job in itself

I would get the upgrade because you want a kick-ass camera that you plan on using! Which is the reason I just confirmed my Scarlet-W to Epic-W upgrade 30 minutes ago. I can't wait! Woot!