RED Ranger is so expensive no one can buy it

Through a single picture, RED has announced the Ranger. The camera won’t be for sale, however? Why? Because it’s too expensive to purchase.

RED’s CEO Jarred Land posts a picture to their reduser.net forum. Not much is known about this camera, but we do know that it will be for rental only. Land explained:

“these cameras as you can imagine are pretty expensive to make in low quantities. It doesn’t really make sense unless you buy at least 10 of them. The rental houses were smart and after a discussion I had with them as a group at CineGear, this is the result.”

From Land’s statement, it seems that anyone could ask about getting a custom camera, but they would have to order a ton of them.

What we know about the RED Ranger at this time

The RED Ranger seems to have a lot of similarities to the Panavision DXL2. Its overall design seems to be a slimmer version of the DXL2. Plus, it has the same sensor — that being a sensor featuring over 16 stops of dynamic range. It able to shoot 16-bit RAW footage, has a native ISO setting 0f 1600 and records in up to 60 fps in 8K (12:1 Redcode RAW). The Ranger’s sensor is 40.96mm wide and 21.6 millimeters tall and can capture images nearly twice the area of standard S35 sensors.

Are rental cameras in the future for RED?

Many don’t like the idea of not being able to own the camera they are using, but offering more rental cameras might be a good step for RED. RED’s cameras are already super expensive — some reaching $80,000. By allowing filmmakers to rent their cameras, they could become more accessible.

Sean Berry
Sean Berry
Sean Berry is Videomaker's managing editor.

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