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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… the good, the bad and the ugly.

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Great post, Jim. I directed my second short film outside of film school on our Scarlet back in September and we go to camera on my feature directorial debut on the 27th on our Epic. I'm so impressed with the images that come from the MX sensor and I can't wait to see what kind of stuff the Dragon is capable of once we get our hands on the upgrade.
 
Think of it this way Jim. When a girl says, "I'm late." usually that means there's an exciting bundle of joy on the way. So we're all just expecting right now. And based on what I've seen so far I'm really quite excited about what's about to be born. So it's just life, and that's nothing to hang your head about. In fact if I were you I'd have a cigar right about now as you're about to become a proud Papa- again and again and again and... (you get the picture).
 
Just finished up a 4 Red shoot today. 2x Scarlet, 1X Epic, 1X Red One M.

Good times.
 
Jannard said:
In my biggest hype-monster voice… I shout, we are just beginning. We have dreams that cannot be imagined. Once we deliver what you know about… there is more. Much more… only this time, we aren't going to tell you until they are done.

Jim
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Fantastic, Looking forward seeing your dreams that cannot be Imagined take shape.
The dreams you imagined and made real still blow my mind, both in terms of how good they are, and how they keep getting better and better with major feature upgrades for free, or supper hardware upgrades for a reasonable percentage of the camera cost.

Thanks again of both your vision and your hard work.
 
Jarred Land said:
That begins tomorrow.
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I emailed Nar, my rep, today about this but wanted to ask you too: I took out a loan for the Scarlet to Epic Dragon trade in early last month when they first went on sale to be one of the first in line, but a few disconcerning progressions have come about since. For 1, I was told by a RED employee when I called that the Scarlet to Epic Dragon route would receive their Epic Dragons last of the preorders, even before the Scarlet to Scarlet Dragons. This alone defeated the purpose of me getting in line early to get the camera and consign it / shoot with it early before the market dilutes. Secondly, this announcement here doesn't assuage my concerns that the camera is no longer going to come out relatively soon like Iw as told it was when I originally took out my loan and signed on...

Now my question is this: can I please, please, pretty please keep my space in line but trade in my Scarlet for an Epic NOW and pay the 9500 dollars immediately and then once it's my turn for the Dragon trade in my newly bought Epic to get modified (and of course pay the other 9,500 then) without losing my space I already have in the presale list for the Dragon? This would be a win-win for RED and me, as you guys get 9,500 now and I'm at the forefront of the camera industry right now until the Dragon comes out and I get first dibs at that too. This would do wonders in helping me pay back this loan in the meantime before the Dragon comes...

Please, please, please give us this option...
 
James_Mills said:
I emailed Nar, my rep, today about this but wanted to ask you too: I took out a loan for the Scarlet to Epic Dragon trade in early last month when they first went on sale to be one of the first in line, but a few disconcerning progressions have come about since. For 1, I was told by a RED employee when I called that the Scarlet to Epic Dragon route would receive their Epic Dragons last of the preorders, even before the Scarlet to Scarlet Dragons. This alone defeated the purpose of me getting in line early to get the camera and consign it / shoot with it early before the market dilutes. Secondly, this announcement here doesn't assuage my concerns that the camera is no longer going to come out relatively soon like Iw as told it was when I originally took out my loan and signed on...

Now my question is this: can I please, please, pretty please keep my space in line but trade in my Scarlet for an Epic NOW and pay the 9500 dollars immediately and then once it's my turn for the Dragon trade in my newly bought Epic to get modified (and of course pay the other 9,500 then) without losing my space I already have in the presale list for the Dragon? This would be a win-win for RED and me, as you guys get 9,500 now and I'm at the forefront of the camera industry right now until the Dragon comes out and I get first dibs at that too. This would do wonders in helping me pay back this loan in the meantime before the Dragon comes...

Please, please, please give us this option...
Click to expand...

ok.
 
Dear Jim and team Red,
First off, before going any further, THANK YOU, for pushing the limits, for pushing the industry, for dreaming big. I've jumped on board in september 2006 and placed a deposit for Red One #500 and never regretted it for one second.

Jannard said:
...

Obsolescence Obsolete. That was my idea. I was tired of buying a new digital camera every time a new feature was added. While a new camera every 9 months keeps a camera company healthy, it is a curse to the customer. Technology advances rapidly. It does and it will. Just how much should the customer be punished for this? In my eyes… less than the industry was dictating. We have sincerely tried to fix this. Buy a RED ONE. Full credit for an EPIC. Upgrade your EPIC to Dragon. And on. A film camera lasted decades. Why should a digital camera only last 9 months?
...
So… are we late with Dragon? Yes. And Meizler. And REDRAY. And our Projector. Of course we are. This stuff is not easy. In fact it is groundbreaking and extremely difficult. Sometimes I want to strangle our engineers for their optimistic schedule. In the end… I embrace them for working on the hardest stuff… the impossible goals. They are the ones that brought you the RED ONE and the EPIC.

In my biggest hype-monster voice… I shout, we are just beginning. We have dreams that cannot be imagined. Once we deliver what you know about… there is more. Much more… only this time, we aren't going to tell you until they are done.

Jim
Click to expand...

While I obviously like the idea of "Obsolescence Obsolete", and you have delivered, with trade in programs and special deals. You obviously are running a business and have developed another way to keep your customers buying. I'm not complaining, on the one hand, it is the nature of business; and on the other, imaging technology is evolving fast (a lot faster since Red is around), and this has a cost. So no, we don't need to buy a new camera every 9, 12 or 18 months, but we are offered to make our cameras evolve with new sensors, additional modules, new lens mounts, etc. Again, I'm not complaining, you are like no other company and I am a happy customer ; and if I had more cash, I would buy everything you offer: Monochrome, Meizler, Dragon, Motion Mount, Rocket-X, etc. You developed a different business model, and I'm behind it 100%

What I really want to say, and where I see the real difference, is although you are late delivering, we KNOW what's coming, and that is what no other company does. That allows us to make choices. Look at Canon, they came out with the 300, which has some very interesting qualities, some people jumped that wagon, and six months later they come out with the 100 and the 500. For some, the 100 would have been a better option, and for others, the 500. Had they known, they could have chosen accordingly. That is one example, and all the companies, except Red, are doing that: coming out with new products, with no warning, competing with previous products. So my plea is, please do not stay silent. Of course, you have to beware of your competition and not give them too much warning. Of course, you have to beware of yourselves, and not announce deadlines you cannot keep, but please don't leave us in the dark. Allow us to plan, many of your customers have changed or built their business model according to your offerings.

Speaking of myself, and my colleagues, we are a small company, Red has allowed us to raise our expectations, results and offering. We are a Red house, we remain small and modest and have decided not to take out loans and not invest in other cameras. We invest according to our revenues and try to stay up to date with what Red offers (which is generally ahead of the competition...). Knowing what's to come, allows us to plan accordingly. Thank you for this infinitely useful way of doing things and please don't change everything.

Best regards,
Damien Molineaux
 
I fully agree that Red should stay open with product pipeline (if they so chose) but I also fully understand why companies like Apple or Canon don't. When there is a large inventory of product, announcing what is coming down the pipeline may stagnate current product sales. I know the economics are more complicated than that, but that at least is a factor. Since Red stays mean and lean, I think their inventory issues are less of a concern, allowing them to discuss pipeline a bit more freely. But of course, I'm probably completely wrong.
 
I would wager that secrecy is more about competition. At NAB I checked out the Kineraw, and was pretty impressed at how far they have come with the mini. They're team is ridiculously small which also makes them pretty nimble. I hate to say it, but they reminded me of early prototype RED days of 2006.
 
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