Why never a price drop on the old 1080p cams?

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Greg Lee

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Why never a price drop on the old 1080p cams?

PostThu Nov 23, 2017 10:10 pm

I’m a proud pocket owner, and now that we know there won’t be a Pocket V2 for a long while, i’ve thought maybe i’d shell out $500 for a micro, but no way would I pay original list price for 3-year old tech (or in the Pocket’s case, 5-year old tech).

I’ll just pick up a used one, but I wonder how many sales Blackmagic would get of their old cams if they just lowered those prices to something more, eh, age-appropriate?
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Chris Chiasson

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Re: Why never a price drop on the old 1080p cams?

PostFri Nov 24, 2017 2:41 am

I agree. Both the Pocket and the Micro cameras should've gotten a price drop by now. Especially the Pocket since it's been 5 years for tech to get cheaper. But instead, you're more likely to see the cameras get discontinued like the 2.5 Cine and Production camera. Which is sad. I'm sure people would love the buy the Pocket still today, but for $999 still? Especially with cheaper 4k AND HD cameras available? It doesn't matter if the Pocket's HD footage looks more cinematic, people shooting in hd still are not looking for a Cinema Camera. They're looking for a camera that looks good enough for weddings and Docs, which honestly doesn't require Cine quality (plus all the needed accessories a Pocket and Micro needs). And the Cine and Media market in general are more focus on 4k. All you gotta do is go to B&H, and look up the Micro Camera. The 4K studio version is listed as a #1 best seller. While the cine version is not. It's not even listed as a top seller. Same with the Pocket. It doesn't matter if the Pocket and Cine Micro "look" better then the studio, the Studio is selling more because small 4k camera matters more then a HD CINE. Especially for the price. And people who want cine cameras, are more interested in the Ursa Mini anyways, then a small HD camera.

Which is why it matters for them to lower the price. The Pocket still has an market for young filmmakers wanting to make short films and local music videos. But for $999 US (that's $1,265 for Canadians like me), why spend that much when I can get a Sony, Panasonic, or Canon Mirrorless that's close enough for half the price, or got 4K for just a little more? If they were $800 Canadian, I'd rebuy a Micro no problem. Maybe even get another Pocket. but $1,265? And not even a Blackfriday discount? Really?
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Steve Holmlund

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Re: Why never a price drop on the old 1080p cams?

PostFri Nov 24, 2017 4:13 am

BM left money on the table when they launched the BMPCC. They could have sold out for a year at least at $1299, maybe higher. For a brief period of time they “gave” it away at $499 (what was that about???). 4+ years after shipping there still is nothing like it. IMHO it exists 1) as a B cam and special-purpose cam for the pros and 2) to increase the number of Resolve users, which BM gives away and keeps making the full version cheaper.

If you don’t want to learn how to grade raw footage, my assumption is almost any other camera makes more sense. But if you do, BM continues to offer good value for the money.

Just my 2 cents.
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Greg Lee

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Re: Why never a price drop on the old 1080p cams?

PostFri Nov 24, 2017 5:01 am

There must be a warehouse full of them somewhere, right? You'd think Blackmagic would like to turn that dead stock into $$. I'm ready to give them $500 (well, $1,000 once I buy the VA too).

Take my money!!
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Timothy Cook

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Re: Why never a price drop on the old 1080p cams?

PostFri Nov 24, 2017 5:33 am

Really?

The irony of this post being on Thanksgiving isn't lost on me. lol
Vimeo.com/dropbars
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Chris Chiasson

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Re: Why never a price drop on the old 1080p cams?

PostFri Nov 24, 2017 6:01 am

Steve Holmlund wrote:BM left money on the table when they launched the BMPCC. They could have sold out for a year at least at $1299, maybe higher. For a brief period of time they “gave” it away at $499 (what was that about???). 4+ years after shipping there still is nothing like it. IMHO it exists 1) as a B cam and special-purpose cam for the pros and 2) to increase the number of Resolve users, which BM gives away and keeps making the full version cheaper.

If you don’t want to learn how to grade raw footage, my assumption is almost any other camera makes more sense. But if you do, BM continues to offer good value for the money.

Just my 2 cents.


It doesn't matter if they left money on the table before. That was then.

This is now. 5 years after launch.

Times have changed. Tech has changed. And Resolve doesn't need a camera to sell it. It's now at a very reasonable price stand alone. And people don't need a Pocket to learn how to grade raw footage, since there's plenty of free samples around the web to play with. No one wants to buy a $999 camera just to play around. And I doubt many professionals wants a HD B camera with special needs in this day in age if they can avoid it.

So no, as of right now, I don't consider Pocket camera at it's current price to be worth it. Not unless you're renting it (but even then, you might consider renting something else). If it was back to $500, or even $600 US, I'd say, yeah. Very worth it to buy one brand new. But $999 US still? No. I don't consider that worth it still. Especially with all the special needs it needs, raising it up to $2000 depending on how much you're willing to spend on it (External Monitor/View Finder, Speed booster, external power, cage, external audio recorder/amp booster, anti-aliasing filter, etc). But if you think Blackmagic should never lower the price, then I'm afraid it's gonna suffer the same fate at the 2.5 Cine and Production Camera, and just get discontinued. Which I never wanted. I was hoping the Production Camera would drop in price, so I could pick it up for $3000 Canadian instead of $4000 plus tax (especially since the Ursa Mini was the same price, but more features. I figured they'd drop the price for the Production in order to compete with it). And now it's just gone. :(

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