Investment advice

[andrewbi]

Hey everyone,
just out of college and wanna invest in my first proper cinema camera to start building my portfolio. i found this listing:

Link

i’m wondering if:

thats a fair price compared to what’s on the market now?

is dragon still a solid cam to start with in 2025?

any gotchas with old reds (media cost, workflow, reliability)?

for someone fresh out of school wanting to shoot shorts + reel, is this a smart first buy or should i look at something else in that range?


any advice from ppl who’ve used/owned this cam would help a ton

thanks!

 

[owlbetter]

Hey everyone,
just out of college and wanna invest in my first proper cinema camera to start building my portfolio. i found this listing:

Link escape road

i’m wondering if:

thats a fair price compared to what’s on the market now?

is dragon still a solid cam to start with in 2025?

any gotchas with old reds (media cost, workflow, reliability)?

for someone fresh out of school wanting to shoot shorts + reel, is this a smart first buy or should i look at something else in that range?


any advice from ppl who’ve used/owned this cam would help a ton

thanks!

For shorts + reel, it could definitely make sense—plenty of indie projects have been shot on older REDs. But if you’re just starting out, don’t underestimate how flexible something like a FX6 or even a Blackmagic 6K Pro could be. Less hassle, cheaper workflow, more forgiving in run-and-gun situations.

 

[Erwin Vanderhoydonks]

Just a few months ago I got my first RED camera. A RED Dragon 6K DSMC1 version.
I love it. No regrets so far. But it is indeed a hole different way of working.
I still use my Sony FS100 but it's a complete other world.
But if you don't mind the extra efforts and the extra work/storage/accessories/... compared to other camera's like the FX6/FX3...GO4IT.
I learned a lot upfront. I follow RED since 2008 (I think) and played with all kind of R3D files and NLE's.
But in the end you have to see if you really need 6K and a RAW workflow.
I don't need 6K for the moment but it is nice to have it ;-).
A RAW workflow compared to out-of-the-box mp4 like files with little room to work with...
My current camera is FullHD 8-bit I think. And if you know what you are doing, it's fine.
But shooting LOG or even better shooting RAW is so nice to have.
Perhaps a new FX3/FX6 with autofoce is nice, but if you need all these features...
...a secondhand RED camera is nice...
Don't buy it because your clients want it. I got mine because I wanted it. The clients don't care.
And just for me, with this camera I fell back in love with 'Creating Images'.
Love the joy of creation...with or without a RED camera. It just a toy, but a wonderful toy.
Have fun.

 

[Neil Abeynayake]

Hey everyone,
just out of college and wanna invest in my first proper cinema camera to start building my portfolio. i found this listing:

Link

i’m wondering if:

thats a fair price compared to what’s on the market now?

is dragon still a solid cam to start with in 2025?

any gotchas with old reds (media cost, workflow, reliability)?

for someone fresh out of school wanting to shoot shorts + reel, is this a smart first buy or should i look at something else in that range?


any advice from ppl who’ve used/owned this cam would help a ton

thanks!

You asked too much of an open-ended question to answer on a forum. We can spend years talking about how, what, if and when type scenarios within this spectrum. Remember, that the camera or anything that you select to use is just another tool at your disposal to tell a visual and a moving story.

Before you do anything, you may want to figure out what you really want to be. How do you want to tell a compelling and a memorable story whether it be an action skit, commercial, documentary, drama, feature or anything else. Do you want to be a know-it-all? (You may want to quit while you can). Do you want to create content for your own interests or work with others (feature movie creators, independent moviemakers, business clients, marketing professionals, Advertising Agencies, creating event based content (wedding videos, Bar mitzvah, birthday, types)), or with Mom-and-Pop joints to advertise their businesses, etc.)? This is important because each of these categories have their own needs, terms and budgets to work with. You have to find time to learn as much as you can on how to create a scene that'll blow the minds of your clients. This part is easier said than done. You have to learn how to use light to augment, enhance and how to make cinematic imagery in different lighting conditions, locations, situations, and skin tones of your talent, etc. Once you start learning these and more that your college course never taught you in real life scenarios, you'd be surprised how you would divert your resources to your advantage. Sometimes, owning a key component in your desired field may give you the added advantage of learning how to use that device properly. Other times, it may save few buckeroos by renting that equipment and try to wing it or hope that it would save your tush just with luck. There are a ton of articles, experiences, posts about many answers to your questions in this forum. Start reading posts in "SHOT ON RED", "Cinematography" and other areas of interests.

Other than that, try to focus on what your end goals are in a given time period. Any pro-camera would give you decent to mind-blowing imagery to work within your budget and workflow. I'd stay away from 8 bit moving image captures or devices if you are serious and like to have a wide array of options to work with. It is up to you to lean how to use it affectively. There's a reason why Amazon Studios, BBC, Nat Geo (Disney), Netflix and others have limitations in acceptance of content created using their recommended list of cameras, image depths (12 or 16 bits). and compression algorithms of their data streams, etc.


Good luck.