Executing a RED.

[Robert Hart]

I know that sounds a bit sinister. Could someone point me in the direction of the "rules" relating to RED cams and this execution thing and costs involved. They are probably here somewhere right in front of me, just that I am too dumb and blind to find them. Thanks.

 

[Jake Bastian]

I know that sounds a bit sinister. Could someone point me in the direction of the "rules" relating to RED cams and this execution thing and costs involved. They are probably here somewhere right in front of me, just that I am too dumb and blind to find them. Thanks.

If you haven't done so already, you're not ever going to. "Execution" option is over.

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

Going back a few years, RED turned the industry on it's side when they announced development of a 4K camera at a price point that was unheard of. Many called it a scam. Still, RED pushed out a mantra that referred to their camera technology as making obsolescence obsolete. When it became apparent that the R1 form factor needed to change to support this vision, Jim Jannard made a decision that changed everything. Instead of just designing a new camera, he rewarded RED's early adopters (customers) with options to upgrade their original RED One cameras.
Those upgrade paths were referred to as Stage 2 and Stage 3. If you chose to upgrade, you made a choice - and once that choice was made, the serial number of that specific RED One camera was labeled as "executed".

The cut off time was well publicized and is now a part of history.

If you hear of anyone selling an "unexecuted camera" at this point in time, it only means they did not take advantage of the offer when it was on the table.



Edit / comment: Jake types faster!

 

[Robert Hart]

Brian. Thanks for your explanation. So if I am interpreting correctly, the "unexecuted" RED is basically the "beta" camera. Execution was a means of access to promised product improvements in some sort of discount scheme.

Does this mean that an unexecuted RED camera cannot accommodate firmware/software updates and physical revisions and that any physical revisions are either no longer available or at a different cost?

Could you perhaps define what is missing from an unexecuted RED, what cannot be improved or updated and in what form the image is inferior to the final version?

Alternatively, could you point me to a source of that information. Your assistance is much appreciated.

 

[JS Fendelander]

Red made the Red One cameras first.

When they released the Epic, they had a generous trade in program for those who had bought Red Ones up until a certain date. Those that participated in the program had their Red ones termed as "executed" in a list maintained by Red.

That program is over so the term doesn't mean anything now.

An "executed" or "unexecuted" Red One is just a normal Red One and should work just like if you bought one in the store today (except of course it is used)

 

[Andy White]

Unexecuted means it was not 'signed up' by the owner for one of the Stage 2. 3 or 3.5 schemes.

Basically, the camera you're trading in wasn't a 'beta' camera - it was a RED or RED-MX (pre Epic version). Because Jim promised that buying a RED would mean that you would not get screwed if a new camera came out (and be forced to dump your old one - like Sony et al expect you to do)... so, this scheme was created as an act if good faith for RED owners. It meant, within a certain time frame, RED owners could trade-in their camera for an EPIC or purchase an EPIC and keep their RED (at varying levels of discount).

This scheme is over now, as RED fulfils their promise and is takes back lots of RED cameras under the Stage 3/3.5 process - which means the owner sends the camera back and then, depending on it's functionality, RED is giving the user the value of the original RED body as a discount against an Epic.

So, the process was to move as many people as wanted to the new format camera (Epic) that is more up to date and easier (one [presumes) for RED to update with new sensors etc.

RED have said that there is life in the original RED camera... but there hasn't been any word on this for a while.

An unexecuted RED camera is simply a an old style RED (or MX) that has not been put through the 'upgrade to Epic' process. Cameras that are 'unexecuted' at this point in time, cannot be part of this scheme, as it's over.

Execution isn't about the inwards of the camera or what it can/will/does do.

An unexecuted RED-MX is exactly the same as a RED-MX from teh RED store.

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

RED have said that there is life in the original RED camera... but there hasn't been any word on this for a while.

Execution isn't about the inwards of the camera or what it can/will/does do.

.

Just highlighting a part of Andy's quote to comment:

The "life in the original RED camera" that he is referring to is a tease that Jim broadcast a while back about it being a good idea to hold onto your R1... He is really good at that.

In my opinion, there remains plenty of life left in the RED One today and for some time to come.
It is still 4K. It still records RAW files. The imagery captured is still spectacular - and it gets better every time the color chemistry is upgraded.


Although I now have added both the EPIC-X and a Scarlet to my inventory, the RED One still has a place in the toolkit.


As far as the other info that both Andy and JS contributed to this discussion, they helped fill in some details - thanks to both for adding clarity.

 

[Andy White]

Just highlighting a part of Andy's quote to comment:

The "life in the original RED camera" that he is referring to is a tease that Jim broadcast a while back about it being a good idea to hold onto your R1... He is really good at that.

In my opinion, there remains plenty of life left in the RED One today and for some time to come.
It is still 4K. It still records RAW files. The imagery captured is still spectacular - and it gets better every time the color chemistry is upgraded.


Although I now have added both the EPIC-X and a Scarlet to my inventory, the RED One still has a place in the toolkit.


As far as the other info that both Andy and JS contributed to this discussion, they helped fill in some details - thanks to both for adding clarity.

Fully agree on the MX still being great. Look at the movies and materials shot on it

Personally, I'm awaiting 2K ana, 3K ana & 4K ana on the Epic... I'd like to shoot more 'native' ana at higher speeds and differing resolutions... and 5K ana playback would be nice too. The original RED has been through a big development lifespan, so it's very feature rich.

On Jim's tease... yes, he's the master of that... wonder what he was in a previous life? LOL

I think we've all cleared up Robert's initial question...

 

[Robert Hart]

Gentlemen.


Thanks very much for your informative and helpful responses.

The background to this enquiry is that I am a SI2K owner-operator. ( A hush falls upon the room. Ohmigod, he said the "S" word. He actually went ahead and said the "S" word. Actually the SI2K and the RED developments have a little bit in common.)

It is a camera system I have been happy with, albeit a 2/3" sensor. I bought a used specimen. It had been the demonstrator camera and on the surface at least had put in some hard yards. The docking recorder unit has become flakey.

Whilst the camera head ( AKA "Brain" in Redspeak ) is fine, to restore assuredness, quite a bit would have to be spent on the recorder unit or I move to a tethered PC setup. That is not as convenient an arrangement as the all-in-one camera, which when in good health, just turned on, booted up and went, businesslike without any fuss.

With the REDs appearing on the used marketplace, whilst previously outpriced for my means, they are now becoming competitively attractive to restoring my existiong camera to assured reliability. Another prompt is that I still have a comprehensive set of Nikon primes from 35mm groundglass relay days. Whilst they are not professional motion picture production lenses, they fulfill my requirements.

I have been advised that I should contemplate the Scarlet and that it less of a handful to manage than an original RED. My problem as always, is accurately defined as - relatively broke, skint, blunt, cheap, impecunious, impoverished or by any other got-no-money words.

It is fascinating how in such a short timeframe, what started off as wishlisting SI2K and RED concepts on dvinfo.net became real hardware and have in turn begun to become obsoleted tech as the big players have scrambled to catch up. Then there are the other aftermarket vision and sound recording systems which gained impetus via that website.


Regards to you all.