How much should we charge if shooting on New Epic-W coming out or comparable camera?

[Joseph Cook]

Question for the masses. I know there can be several factors based on experience, location, complexity of shoot and so on. Does anyone have a rough idea of what as a company should charge for a 30 second commercial if shooting on the new RED Epic-W coming out or any comparable camera at that? We are currently shooting in 4K on the Nikon D500 with Zeiss CP.2 lenses. We want to go after bigger clients and just feel like if we don't have a RED we will miss out on the chance to land these bigger clients. We don't have any idea where to start with price though because we know shooting on a RED is a completely new beast. We want to be fair with our prices but also don't want to rip ourselves off.

Also, what would you charge if it were just you and your RED being hired for a shoot?

Thanks so much and we really appreciate the help.

 

[Martin Ubilluz]

If you want bigger clients the equipments has little to do with that . If you sell your selves as people with equipment then that means you can be easily replaced with anyone who has better equipment . Sell your self and charge for your talents and equipment separate .if all your doing is replacing your current camera with a new camera and nothing else changes your productions will still be the same .

Charge what your worth don't let the camera be the deciding point on why to hire you .
Also don't charge by the length of the commercials .

Your camera should be a different line item. Depending on what you have in your camera package red cameras can be 800 -1000 per day or 1500 or more just depends what comes with it .

I've seen red cameras go for 500 a day but hats basically a body ,monitor , small cards , and some batts.

 

[Anton Shavlik]

It's not something that can be really answered precisely. $930 for a 30 second spot on Epic-W is too low, you should be able to charge $1500/day for a competent DP and that camera at least, let alone write direct and edit.

The first question to ask yourself is if your clients would see the enough value for the epic-w over your nikon d500, and the second is would you be able to make back your investment?

 

[Kurtis Imel]

This is a question I've been wondering myself.... Especially curious how much a day rate with this camera might go for.
For commercial work, I honestly think it depends on the client. If the clients you currently have are happy with the products you produce, then I probably wouldn't charge any extra just because you have a more expensive camera. But as you said, you want bigger clients, so having an Epic could very well land you some larger gigs.

 

[Anton Shavlik]

I almost never tell clients what camera I own before I'm in a meeting discussing prices. My reel and good reputation get me hired, I'd be worried to take a gig that hired me as a way to rent a red. For owner/operator gigs it's different, of course, since you're specifically hired for the camera.

 

[Marc Wielage]

Some very good advice above.

I recall when our company changed from standard-def to HD in 1999, we told our clients we were going to have to raise our post-production rates. They shrugged and said, "we'll give you 25% more, but not a penny further." We tried to explain to them that we had to spend about $20 million in infrastructure -- every SD monitor was scrapped, the entire building's digital router had to be replaced, all the switchers were replaced with HD models, all the film scanners were replaced -- but they didn't care. Even getting another 25% more was tough.

I know of many post companies today that charge less for 4K than we did for HD 15 years ago. The point is: you can basically only charge what the client is willing to pay. They are absolutely not going to pay more merely based on resolution.