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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED failed me again

Overall I have been pretty happy with my camera's reliability. I've had problems but have never had a complete showstopper. It still hangs (doesn't boot) about a third of the time, which is excessive by any measure, but at least it does boot eventually. Haven't tried build 16 yet because I just sent the camera to Kazakhstan for 9 weeks with no back up. :blink: Hopefully my luck continues...
 
I once lived in "Kits" in Vancouver, Canada, and there was a BMW dealership down the road. One day I was shocked to see a 500 series parked on the busy road of Burrard Street with a big banner on it stating that it was a certified "LEMON"!! and that the buyer was so pissed off that they would do anything to get their money back. "Don't buy a BMW!" On and on it seemed to go until one day as I went to get my Subway sandwich, the offending vehicle was gone....

What's my point? You tell me! ....Maybe you got a lemon!?

The cool thing is, you'll be okay, because Jim is investing his life here; well at least his time. So here is the place to be, man. Duds won't last long, but why has yours been F'd from the beginning? That bites! If you lose faith, which is already based on almost nothing, not much is left....
 
davecw said:
Colin,

I really think the best thing to do is to have a spare body at all times (a lot of owners have two cameras for a very good reason - it's not a very reliable camera right now but having a back-up body is worth its weight in gold IMHO.
Click to expand...

Uhhh ? talking serious : not reliable camera ? two bodies required ? How many people exactly have had this dead camera problem... ? And 500 $ each time for a returned camera that's still not working ? Is it what we should all understand ? Kind of frightening... when I just wired some 23.000 usd:waaa:
 
Buhot. That's one of the big issues with Red and owning your own system. On a 35mm shoot you usually have multiple bodies for different specialty applications. They also work as a backup and that's for an established system, not to mention the rental house has other backup bodies to send you if one isn't working. If I were you, I would find all the other Red owners around you and get to know them and their rental rates so that you can give them a call if your camera has issues or gets damaged. You'll need this support, in my opinion, if you want to convince a producer to rent from you.
 
it's all depends on the camera batch actually. For example, batch 3 cameras is much more solid than batch 1 or 2. there is a rumor that the earlier batch have some issues in the chips, that would only show up with certain firmware loads.

i strongly suggest we put a stickies on 'On set quick workaround if red fail to boot" on General, News, section.


anyway, if the camera operates without any problem, you'll be having the time of your life.

Good luck;
for good shoot,
 
Guys, aren't you painting rather dark clouds on the sky. The camera is not that unreliable as you let Buhot to understand. If one can't get the camera to boot with the simple tricks, there's a failure which RED will repair.
 
I'm not trying to scare anybody. I'm just posting about what I think is a safety net that should be an option for any owner/operator regardless of camera. I made sure i put damaged in there as well, which has nothing to do with the reliability of the camera.
 
Actually forgot about the boot up failures. Figured out that when the boot up fails, unplug the LCD and it boots successfully every time. I didn't block of the vents in the dusty conditions as it was pretty hot at times. A large part of the shoot took place in one of the slums in Nairobi, Kenya in very tight places. Lots of texture, smoke, color and contrasting lighting shot mostly at 500 asa. The first 2 days were shot on build 15 and we took the chance to update to 16 because of the cleaner shadows and it really paid off. Build 16's 1000 asa images looked as good if not better than build 15's 500 asa ones.
 
Thanks Russ.. yes, there are a few things to try if the camera doesn't boot from what appears to be a power issue...

- try booting with the AC adapter to eliminate it being a battery/plate issue.

- Unplug everything that draws power from the camera (LCD, drives etc) unplug the power source, wait 30 seconds and plug the power back in , and try booting.

The RED ONE is at a point where it is really stable for most people... Most people are flying fine out there... and our QA is getting better everyday to screen most issues... and when something goes wrong, and it's our fault, we will fix it.
 
the money is in front of the camera, not the camera, not the people behind the camera.
yes have two bodies

mark de blok
 
weirdcrew said:
I feel you having problem right now. Did the foolish thing of upgrading ahahahaha..... Client is cool were still pulling through even though I'm getting codec error in almost every shot.

But I don't know... I'm not going to give up on my little baby yet.

Fredrik
Click to expand...

Have you tried posting an emergency request with fellow Red owners who may be near Orange County, who may be able to test their Red side by side on your shoot to see if theirs has the same problems? We're a helpful bunch. Wouldn't be surprised if someone came out.
 
a thought

a thought

I dont post much, But here is what I have found out about red. The camera is amazing when it works. Ive had my reds in the hands of some great DPs and Directors and had it fail. I just had my red at a wedding yesterday and had it fail. You cannot trust the red camera yet stand alone out of the box. You must have body backups and a solid understanding of the camera. Ive used a total of 25 different reds and from my "PERSONAL" take on things each camera is its own monster. Ive had my last two cameras number 298 and 1845 both show up and work for two days then have to be returned causing me thousands of dollars in rentals due to FAN issues. I was asked 7 months ago to shoot tests for a film and told them the camera was not ready, That was build 14, Only since build 15 have I felt the ability to trust the camera on big budget features without the on set support of red. But always needing backup bodys and the ability to trouble shoot fast I.E. always having another body standing by ready to go. In the end I tell everyone from the bond company to the producers that we are beta testers and there will be problems but here are my fixes to these problems that the camera has. EVERY camera has their own problems and red has more then others but the pay off is worth it. I just watched the screening of Beyond a Resonable Doubt and it made the 8 weeks of trouble shooting and crossing my fingers each time we rolled worth it. There are some bad cameras out there no doubt and I hope this time next year we have a solid network of users and techs to streamline workflow both on set and off. Hope this provides some insight and understanding about the camera.

JSTL
 
SF Geek said:
You'll need this support, in my opinion, if you want to convince a producer to rent from you.
Click to expand...

Christ, SF Geek, no way I wish to convince a producer to rent from me. I just want MYcamera to work when I need it !! And now, I hear of a possible lemon that has not been simply replaced, reminding me...of car business ! All this badly shakes my confidence... Which part of which iceberg is that ??
 
ERGO:

1. If you want to be a pioneer, don't count on a easy life. Is has never been.
2. Never go to a commercial shoot with one body without a plan B. Simple as that.
 
PS. I think RED should have (at least for the moment) back up bodies to send out to people with a failing body. DS.
 
Are all these issues with the new build 16 or what? We're getting codec errors every day now. I'm on B15 at the moment as we're only days away from wrapping...

Agree this camera needs to get reliable fast. Defending the camera seems to be a full time job.
 
Kjetil

You and I had our fair share of trouble with the camera.

Even so; what is a reasonable percentage of trouble/major errors with a new groundbreaking camera.


50%: BAD

25%: not good enough (and it's not).

10%: Maybe a reasonable standard for a new camera system.

5%: OK, let us wait about for four to five years for the camera, and let us pay the price for the development costs. It will not be 17.500!

0%: will never happen in any system what so ever.


As long as RED is responding to the issues swift and rapidly, I must say, the curent way, is the way.
 
there seem to be 3 problems.
1.booting--batteryplate
2.Codec Errors
3.user errors

ok number one can be troubleshooted, but how to react at codec errors (i am asking for workarounds)

would be really nice to have a sticky with troubleshooting
1. user errors : this....problem is an user error, do it this way to solve it.
2. codec errors:this codec error can arise under following...1...2...3..circumtances. do it this way to solve/avoid it.
3. etc.
4. etc.
 
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