Why Buy a New Camera Now!

By Mike Thomas Assuming the camera is good to start with here are a few of the things to contemplate. 1) Am I an influencer? That is are you able to talk production into using this camera instead of another? 2) How long will this camera do what I need it to do and not be superseded? 3) Will the camera be profitable during it’s lifetime? Now it’s not easy to answer this line by line as there is a lot of crossover. In the 20+ years I’ve been selling cameras I’ve seen most scenarios, so here are my thoughts. You sort of get a feel in the first few months whether a camera is well received and what it’s shortcomings are. Now a camera can be well received even if it has shortcomings, take RED 1 for example. RED had amazing marketing; so many people bought into the hype they forgave it where they would of slammed a similar camera from say Sony or Canon. So lesson 1, cameras don’t necessarily have to be great to be well received, but it helps. So we now have a camera that has been well received into the market but there’s still not that many out there so is not that common. This can be a good thing! When a camera comes to market in limited numbers the day rate stays high. By high I actually mean realistic and nobody’s cut it in half yet. That means you can return a greater amount of money on the camera in a shorter period of time the earlier you adopt. Production haven’t really heard about this new camera. Ok, this is where it can be tricky but you need to be able to sell yourself and the camera. If it can do what the previous model did and offer a bit more that helps. The upside of this is you can show production a comfortable way of improving the image. The newer cameras can still shoot HD but using a full frame sensor and give it that extra look. Alternatively you can offer production exactly what they’re asking for along with 10 other people. Will the camera be superseded? Generally you will know at least 6 months ahead if a camera is going to be superseded but this happens less with higher end equipment and at the moment we’re on a bit of a format plateau. Firmware roadmaps are all the rage now so you’ll probably know what the camera is doing for at least 3 Years. If you take the F5 and the F55 they’re 5 years old and can still do the job very well. Rule of thumb, try and pay off the camera in the first 3 Years ( normal finance period ) then year 4 onwards is bunce. The camera should be profitable in this period so strictly you’ve paid it off earlier but if financed you’ll still have payments. Why finance? It makes it easier to work out a business plan for the purchase. The monthly payment lets you know how many days a month you need it to work before you’re making money. As above the earlier you adopt the likelihood is the day rate will be higher the first 6 months and the return will be quicker. So in the perfect storm you adopt the new camera after about 3 months, the initial niggles have been ironed out, you know the market thinks the camera is ok and there’s not a huge number of them out there yet. You pitch the new camera to production showing them the benefits, you get a better than usual rate and have less competition. Three years on the camera’s all paid for and still making a good return. It’s not certain, but you want to be early or late to the party. In the middle and the good rates have gone and the competition greater. Late, you can probably pick up a second hand unit at a good price which reflects the day rate. The title of this was a bit misleading. What it should have said is “ Why buy a Venice now!”