If you own a RED camera, you may or may not welcome this news, especially if you only recently acquired your camera.
Today, RED announced that it will be simplifying it’s camera options to three sensor options, MONSTRO 8K VV, HELIUM 8K S35 and GEMINI 5K S35. All of the sensor options will come with Weapon boards which offer faster data rates and lower compression rates. This is now simplified to just DSMC2.
All of these cameras have had price cuts. The Weapon Monstro 8K VV used to cost around $80K, Weapon Helium $50K and the Gemini at $25K. That’s price cuts of $25K for the Monstro & Helium and $5K for the Gemini! The Gemini was only released a month ago too. If you were looking to buy a new RED camera, now seems to be a good time to get in with the new pricing.
“RED was founded with the desire to democratize the digital cinema camera industry by making trailblazing technology accessible to shooters everywhere. And that mission has never changed. With that in mind, we have been working tirelessly to become more efficient, as well as align with strategic manufacturing partners to optimize our supply chain. As a result, today I am happy to announce a simplification of our lineup with a single DSMC2 brain with multiple sensor options, as well as an overall reduction on our pricing.” – Jarred Land, President of RED Digital Cinema
With all of the previous combinations of sensors and bodies, you can understand why RED has finally decided to simplify the camera line up.
EPIC-W and WEAPON camera BRAINS have all been discontinued, but in typical fashion, they do provide upgrade paths.
Epic-W Gemini owners, for example, can upgrade to DSMC2 Gemini for free, softening the $5K hit they just took.
On REDUSER, Jarred Land has mentioned that more news is on the way for existing owners of CF & MG Weapon cameras.
More information on the new cameras and upgrade options is available on this RED Support Page.
Do you own a RED? what will you be doing going forward?
