There has been so much mentioned about RED in the last week that we don't have to rehash it all here. The only thing you need to know is that Nikon owns RED Digital Cinema and no one besides employees of the company knows what is going to happen next.
Since the Komodo came out in 2020, RED has has expanded their DSMC3 series of cameras which some people love and others are not too excited about because it diminishes the resale value of the cameras they have purchased.
However, if you are an up and coming DP, YouTuber or cinematographer - you can take advantage of the current FUD and score yourself one of the best cameras on the market in any price range.
The change actually started with the announcement of the Komodo-X which made a lot of Komodo owners that were using the OG Komodo (as it is officially unofficially called now) as a primary camera - offload their kit for the KX (as before) to have the A-Cam they always wanted from RED in the first place.
Now with the change in ownership, there already is a slight increase of more OG owners putting their cameras up for sale, with prices ranging from at least 20-40% cheaper than a brand-new boxed model.
That means for about $4,000USD you have access to a Netflix camera that shoots compressed RAW internally with a global shutter for not much more than brand new mirrorless camera counterparts.
As always there are some things to be aware of before you grab the camera beyond the typical wear and tear you need to check whenever you are buying second-hand kit:
- You will need to record audio externally - the preamps are good but definitely not great.
- The Canon batteries aren't great and you will probably want a V-mount adapter to make sure you can get through a whole day of shooting.
- Don't expect great re-sale later on because it is already dropping value quickly.
These are by no means deal breakers because you will have a camera now that is a part of cinema history - once production stops and ours eventually in another 5-10 years stops working, you will have an awesome studio prop and story to tell the next generation about the history of this near-perfect cube camera.
So double check your budget and work out the numbers because if you are in the market for a new video camera - you might actually realise this camera right now is the most affordable it has ever been.