Invite only upgrade to those deserving few?

[Peter Noble]

I’ve opened a ticket and talked to Red about the one week seemingly invite only upgrade for the Raven. I’m really impressed at Red destroying the rational for a no upgrade policy. Why should anyone trust Red. All products come to an end of life. I accepted the no upgrade even though when I bought from Apple I do not recall it being prominently mentioned.. However, now it seems if you are known there is an upgrade. If or when it’s only offered to a few. This would be fine if we never knew. Are we meant to applaud the few who win the Price is Right? Red really put there foot in it. A PR nightmare just when they disappeared the Raven, creating confusion resolved by B&H: discontinued.

The Raven is now gone. This happens but the invite, limited at the discretion of the one, is not right. It sets a bad precedence and I cannot recall another company catering to creative content makers who have announced something like this.

I’m sure Nikon, Sony, Canon and others have, in private. It’s odd behavior to decide to announce here and on Facebook. A senior customer care from Red sent me a reply confirming this. This should not be personal but has been made so. Officially it has not happened yet.

The Raven is still a good entry level Red. However, if I had bought near the end of last year I would be extremely annoyed rather than bemused by such a bad move.. It’s not a good time for stunts like this.

The Raven is either upgradable for all or not at all. What senior officers at Red choose to do in private is fine but to make it public.....we playing the lottery now? Are our dollars worth less?

Anyway, I suggest anyone who bought should call Red and open a ticket. You never know....really it’s a discount and it may still be too expensive.Though it would be nice to have it offered. FOMO is not a good business plan.

 

[Wil Wong]

Not sure your rant is justified. Folks on RedUser (and those perhaps doing their research) have known for a long time that RAVEN was an extremely good value AND RED made it clear that they'd lose money offering upgrades due to the low price for a year.

Even if a person doesn't read Reduser forums OR bought a Raven the day before it was discontinued, what other company gives you an opportunity to upgrade? Sony? Ask them to trade your a7s for an A7iii or the path to get a Venice? Canon or Panasonic offering folks trade-ins? You can buy a Discontinued Alexa from Arri. Sony is about to charge those who want slow motion feature 120fps on Venice. Their flagship customers are getting charged for what a Raven can do.

People can always sell their Raven for more if they want. That's like any other camera. I did that with my Scarlet-X. Sold it myself and bought an Epic-X.

As for RED not offering upgrades to the public (versus only certain folks), I think you misspoke or misread somewhere. Red said they would offer a small window for upgrades, 1 week. They even gave folks 2 months notice saying it back around the New Year (so people would know it's coming and hopefully can save).

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?173780-Limited-Raven-upgrade-to-Dragon-X

Anyhow, it is open to all Raven owners and always was and for a very limited time as RED warned with lots of time. They may not be making a big advertising for the upgrade and why should they since they'd lose money. Owners who do their due diligence and will know of the upcoming upgrade. And if not, it was an option that was never originally promised to begin with.

 

[Peter Noble]

Sorry but I was not the only one confused. It took a senior Red support a bit of time to find this out and even then details like date and place, and what we get for $8500....I’m okay with this now this news is at the top and you kindly put in the link.

I certainly never expected the swap to be much cheaper.

At least I know that I cannot afford this swap. Again, I am not upset by the price and I think the Raven kit was and is a great deal. Red cannot please everyone. I’m amazed that it took this long to find out. I accepted the zero upgrade and the thread regarding this most certainly confused me. Senior support and your link helped.

Red took my agitation with kindness and worked hard to find the information. I was not alone in this confusion. I suggested to make any offer public. Apparently it had been. FYI I was helped to find info by h4vuser.net

Clarity is always the best balm. Anyway, Red will not lose too much as any losses will allow for Tax Harvesting. Meaning they can shelter profits.

As for being a pain, unfair, it should be noted I’d not have kicked up a fuss if the new Reds were not exciting. The Raven is a great camera too! Let’s not get like Apple Forums.
Thanks again for the link.

 

[David Peterson]

Not sure your rant is justified. Folks on RedUser (and those perhaps doing their research) have known for a long time that RAVEN was an extremely good value AND RED made it clear that they'd lose money offering upgrades due to the low price for a year.

Even if a person doesn't read Reduser forums OR bought a Raven the day before it was discontinued, what other company gives you an opportunity to upgrade? Sony? Ask them to trade your a7s for an A7iii or the path to get a Venice? Canon or Panasonic offering folks trade-ins? You can buy a Discontinued Alexa from Arri.

It is extremely normal in the stills cameras world to see upgrade / trade in deals offered.

Heck, Nikon is running one right now that you can trade in any digital camera for a discount on a Nikon Z6 (a Vistavision camera, with 4K raw output and IBIS!).