Why do Red batteries cost so much when they don't work?

[James T Mather]

so chill out folks.:chillpill:

Take a look in the mirror.

and....

If you don't know about the many issues with the Red One you are one of the people I'm talking about that is proclaiming it's undeserved greatness.

This is unsound logic - I am neither. I am a cameraman who has worked for two decades who is hardware agnostic - I have shot on cameras by Mitchell, Photosonics, Arri, Panavision, Aaton, Beaulieu, Eclair, Moviecam, Grass Valley, Phantom, Tornado, Sony, Panasonic, Bolex, Bell and Howell etc. To me the camera is a box which pulls in an image. Nothing more, I am unemotional about such things.

Firstly. The camera came at a price point unheard of at the time, it is a prototype - Secondly, its not like Panaflexes, Sonys or Arris were without their headaches for years (uncomfortable ergonomics on the 435, impossible-to-lock extension eyepieces, lubricant from the mechanics getting on gelatin filters in the back on the panaflex, loosening mirrors when shooting at high-speed resulting in out of focus eyepieces on the 435, sheared film at high-speed when looking vertically down on the 435, impossibly complex loop-back wiring system on the d20, constant recalibration of lens back focus on the 900s, mismatched sensors and moiring issues on the f900s, intermittent digital scratching on the first-generation Genesis and D20, overheating and impossible-to-shut-down fans on the 900 stalling interior shooting, electric current coming back from video assist electrifying the body of the 435/sr3 .... etc etc etc).

Despite all the above stumbling blocks these cameras are terrific. All systems have their issues - most professionals deal with it. This year I have shot over 100 commercials on the Red camera - it has performed well throughout. There were some teething problems, which is expected but nothing that prevented us shooting or compromised the shot. Not bad for a prototype at this price point.

I am not disputing that the camera (like all products) could be evolved to eradicate weak points but bawling unpleasantly, accusing dissenters of empty-headed complicity and stamping your feet is not the best way to go IMVHO.

In short, it is not the issues I am disputing but rather your delivery of them. Politeness and professionalism cost nothing. You might get a better reaction.

 

[jae ahn]

James, i like your work and but I respect your attitude more. And I love your set of gear too. Thanks for your comment.

Blaire your comments are valid and noted. We do need people like you demanding perfection and constant improvement. However like James has suggested, there are other pleasant ways of conveying your message but then brother I feel your frustrations.

 

[James T Mather]

I think Jae has struck a nice balance between all views.

If gear has let people down - as it sometimes does for we live in an imperfect world - then that is unfortunate and public venting is, I guess, cathartic.

The most valuable thing I have learned is have a backup of everything (to that end I bring minimum 2 camera bodies to all shoots).

Thx Jae for the nice words.

 

[RivaiC]

Of course Blaire comments are valid, i understand his frustration and having the same problem. The only problem is the way he brought this to attention with some words that is not easy for weak ears.

And it's not like RED doesnt notice this, they notice and fix it as Stuart said. Time to move on...

 

[hans de vries]

:incazzato: I don't think anyone needs more ranting, but last week I had the brilliant idea of using my camera to film the wedding of two friends of ours; there was more intensity in everything than with the usual wedding because the couple knows that one of them is dying, which made the recording more important; first the battery died on me when it wasn't really a problem, though for obvious reasons it got me nervous; 5 minutes before the couple would come in for the wedding ceremony I turned on the camera and the image had lost all colour but green; that freaked me out. It had happened before and the advice then was to reinstall the software, which worked, but this time I didn't have it with me nor did I have the time to reinstall. To my great relief I rebooted the camera and the problem was gone. I'm happy my work can usually be done over and over again; ofcourse I knew that the Red isn't particularly the right camera for something like a wedding

 

[hans de vries]

I must add that I just saw the footage and it looks great; on top of that, I can easily distract a couple of hundred photos, tiffs of 48mb! Long live Red and Leica!