- Posts: 79
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 1:50 am
From Hot Rod Cameras
Dear Customer,
Greetings everyone, I hope this message finds you all enjoying your summer!
This past week we attended the Blackmagic “demo” event here in Los Angeles and while there was a lot of buzz still about the initial announcements surrounding their Pocket Cinema Camera and the 4K Production Camera, we went in search of more concrete information.
As stated by Blackmagic the Pocket Cinema Camera was scheduled to ship this month, however, July is almost over and, well, Blackmagic is not exactly going to meet their target date. Blackmagic will, go so far as to say that Pocket Cinema Cameras will begin shipping in a few days, however, exactly where and how many units that will ship is up for debate.
To be blunt, dealers who don't talk to the right people at Blackmagic or ask the hard questions I believe are currently mistaken in their belief that a number of cameras are arriving at all the dealers in the next few days. I can't blame them, this has been widely purported on the Internet. However, from a trusted source at Blackmagic we've learned that the “limted run” of Pocket Cinema Cameras that will ship in the next few days is as follows:
Pocket cameras will ship to select dealers (first ordered, first received) and “limited” not only means a small number, the limited quantity for early order dealers is exactly one Pocket Camera. This is what Blackmagic did for their original EF mount Cinema Camera and it appears that history will repeat itself with the Pocket Cinema Camera as well.
Thankfully, Hot Rod Camera's has been one of Blackmagic's "select" dealers in the past, and we ordered within just minutes of the Pocket Cinema and 4K cameras were announced at the Blackmagic announcement event. So we expect to receive our single Pocket Cinema Camera as soon as anyone else!
We've already spoken to our customer #1, and in exchange for store credit and washing their car for a year (don't ask) our customer #1 has agreed to allow us to keep our first Pocket Cinema Camera in our showroom until pocket cameras start shipping. We will use camera number 1 for demonstrations on the DEFY G2 camera gimbal and the new View Factory Pocket Cinema Cage (coming very soon!) Some short term (weekend) rentals on the demo camera will also be made available to any our pre-order customers at a extremely special discounted rate while you are waiting for your pocket camera to arrive.
Once these initial few cameras make their way into select hands, we've been told production on the camera will begin in earnest, which if we had to put a date on it, would be sometime in the next three to four weeks. That would traslate to dealers receiving the second round allocation of stock mid to late August.
As for the 4K Production Camera, the news isn't as quite as "positive". Based on what we were told, production is likely to begin in four to six weeks, with a final production model likely to be unveiled around the time of IBC in mid-September. Rumors swirling around the Internet about the 4K Production Camera shipping without true RAW capability look to be proving true, with ProRes 4K being the only option at launch. Blackmagic reps claim that 4K RAW recording will be available shortly after launch and likely come via a user firmware update.
What all this information means for you is rather straightforward. If you had your heart set on one of Blackmagic's new Pocket Cinema Cameras your wait, while maybe slightly prolonged, is going to be coming to an end sooner than later -hopefully.
If you've been holding out for a 4K Production Camera, well, signs point to maybe a September (or later) release date. In order to ensure that we fulfill all your orders just as soon as possible we're going to be implementing a new program whereby we'll be asking those who are truly serious about getting their hands on one of these great cameras first, to place an additional deposit above and beyond the $1.00 many of you have spent with us.
For our would be buyers of the Pocket Cinema Camera, we are requesting an additional deposit of $49 whereas the 4K Production Camera is $249. We're doing this neither to penalize you or to pad our wallets, but rather to streamline the waiting list in order to ensure that those who are truly serious about acquiring one of these great cameras are given first crack at doing so. We suspect a lot of customers likely got caught up in the excitement over the news of either camera and simply threw down a buck because, well, it's a buck. Now we want to make sure those who are on the list, truly wish to stay there and have their order fulfilled. Detailed instructions on what your place is currently in our pre-order line and how to upgrade their $1 deposit to our round-2 deposit is located at the end of this email. Keep in mind that we suspect that many people will bail out now, and it is likely you will get moved up our pre-order list. Should you change your mind anytime between now and when your camera ships from the factory we can still refund your deposit minus a 5% cancellation fee.
Those who fulfill their round 2 deposits for the Pocket camera by August 12, you will receive a free bonus when taking delivery of your new Blackmagic camera. For pre-order Pocket Cinema Camera customers, you will receive an additional EN-EL20 battery for your camera for free, this is a value of $24.95! For 4K Cinema camera customers, you will receive a Powerbank 10K battery, a value of $79.99.
So that is the update for now. Sorry some of it isn't the most exciting (or maybe positive) but we wanted to make sure we gave it to you straight. If you have any questions regarding your pending order, or simply wish to speak to us regarding any Blackmagic product then please email us or give us a call at (323)230-3589.
Best Regards,
Illya Friedman
President, Hot Rod Cameras
Dear Customer,
Greetings everyone, I hope this message finds you all enjoying your summer!
This past week we attended the Blackmagic “demo” event here in Los Angeles and while there was a lot of buzz still about the initial announcements surrounding their Pocket Cinema Camera and the 4K Production Camera, we went in search of more concrete information.
As stated by Blackmagic the Pocket Cinema Camera was scheduled to ship this month, however, July is almost over and, well, Blackmagic is not exactly going to meet their target date. Blackmagic will, go so far as to say that Pocket Cinema Cameras will begin shipping in a few days, however, exactly where and how many units that will ship is up for debate.
To be blunt, dealers who don't talk to the right people at Blackmagic or ask the hard questions I believe are currently mistaken in their belief that a number of cameras are arriving at all the dealers in the next few days. I can't blame them, this has been widely purported on the Internet. However, from a trusted source at Blackmagic we've learned that the “limted run” of Pocket Cinema Cameras that will ship in the next few days is as follows:
Pocket cameras will ship to select dealers (first ordered, first received) and “limited” not only means a small number, the limited quantity for early order dealers is exactly one Pocket Camera. This is what Blackmagic did for their original EF mount Cinema Camera and it appears that history will repeat itself with the Pocket Cinema Camera as well.
Thankfully, Hot Rod Camera's has been one of Blackmagic's "select" dealers in the past, and we ordered within just minutes of the Pocket Cinema and 4K cameras were announced at the Blackmagic announcement event. So we expect to receive our single Pocket Cinema Camera as soon as anyone else!
We've already spoken to our customer #1, and in exchange for store credit and washing their car for a year (don't ask) our customer #1 has agreed to allow us to keep our first Pocket Cinema Camera in our showroom until pocket cameras start shipping. We will use camera number 1 for demonstrations on the DEFY G2 camera gimbal and the new View Factory Pocket Cinema Cage (coming very soon!) Some short term (weekend) rentals on the demo camera will also be made available to any our pre-order customers at a extremely special discounted rate while you are waiting for your pocket camera to arrive.
Once these initial few cameras make their way into select hands, we've been told production on the camera will begin in earnest, which if we had to put a date on it, would be sometime in the next three to four weeks. That would traslate to dealers receiving the second round allocation of stock mid to late August.
As for the 4K Production Camera, the news isn't as quite as "positive". Based on what we were told, production is likely to begin in four to six weeks, with a final production model likely to be unveiled around the time of IBC in mid-September. Rumors swirling around the Internet about the 4K Production Camera shipping without true RAW capability look to be proving true, with ProRes 4K being the only option at launch. Blackmagic reps claim that 4K RAW recording will be available shortly after launch and likely come via a user firmware update.
What all this information means for you is rather straightforward. If you had your heart set on one of Blackmagic's new Pocket Cinema Cameras your wait, while maybe slightly prolonged, is going to be coming to an end sooner than later -hopefully.
If you've been holding out for a 4K Production Camera, well, signs point to maybe a September (or later) release date. In order to ensure that we fulfill all your orders just as soon as possible we're going to be implementing a new program whereby we'll be asking those who are truly serious about getting their hands on one of these great cameras first, to place an additional deposit above and beyond the $1.00 many of you have spent with us.
For our would be buyers of the Pocket Cinema Camera, we are requesting an additional deposit of $49 whereas the 4K Production Camera is $249. We're doing this neither to penalize you or to pad our wallets, but rather to streamline the waiting list in order to ensure that those who are truly serious about acquiring one of these great cameras are given first crack at doing so. We suspect a lot of customers likely got caught up in the excitement over the news of either camera and simply threw down a buck because, well, it's a buck. Now we want to make sure those who are on the list, truly wish to stay there and have their order fulfilled. Detailed instructions on what your place is currently in our pre-order line and how to upgrade their $1 deposit to our round-2 deposit is located at the end of this email. Keep in mind that we suspect that many people will bail out now, and it is likely you will get moved up our pre-order list. Should you change your mind anytime between now and when your camera ships from the factory we can still refund your deposit minus a 5% cancellation fee.
Those who fulfill their round 2 deposits for the Pocket camera by August 12, you will receive a free bonus when taking delivery of your new Blackmagic camera. For pre-order Pocket Cinema Camera customers, you will receive an additional EN-EL20 battery for your camera for free, this is a value of $24.95! For 4K Cinema camera customers, you will receive a Powerbank 10K battery, a value of $79.99.
So that is the update for now. Sorry some of it isn't the most exciting (or maybe positive) but we wanted to make sure we gave it to you straight. If you have any questions regarding your pending order, or simply wish to speak to us regarding any Blackmagic product then please email us or give us a call at (323)230-3589.
Best Regards,
Illya Friedman
President, Hot Rod Cameras