Retro-8 introductory price extended

[MovieStuff]

Wow. We posted the Retro-8 scanner a little over two weeks ago and I figured I might get, maybe, 3-5 orders since we had not yet advertised it. As of the end of January, we have received over 40 orders! With this kind of response, I have decided to extend the introductory price for another 30 days. Basically, it gets down to volume. If the volume is too low, then I really lose money at $2495 because there are not enough orders to get any kind of vendor discounts and not enough units to warrant setting up for mass production, so material costs and bench time per unit are too long at that price. But with this many orders, I can afford to set up for a more efficient production line and, as long as I can sustain this volume, my vendors will give me enough of a discount that I can keep the price at $2495.00. So we'll see where this goes and whether I'll need to raise the price later or not. Depends on demand.

Thanks to everyone here that placed an order and/or helped spread the word. This is turning out to be very exciting!

Roger

[Tscan]

I know i'm excited! I hope you guys keep plugging away on a negative film feature for the upgrade... So us DIY film makers can work with those awsome V3 stocks!

[nikonr10]

Wow. We posted the Retro-8 scanner a little over two weeks ago and I figured I might get, maybe, 3-5 orders since we had not yet advertised it. As of the end of January, we have received over 40 orders! With this kind of response, I have decided to extend the introductory price for another 30 days. Basically, it gets down to volume. If the volume is too low, then I really lose money at $2495 because there are not enough orders to get any kind of vendor discounts and not enough units to warrant setting up for mass production, so material costs and bench time per unit are too long at that price. But with this many orders, I can afford to set up for a more efficient production line and, as long as I can sustain this volume, my vendors will give me enough of a discount that I can keep the price at $2495.00. So we'll see where this goes and whether I'll need to raise the price later or not. Depends on demand.

Thanks to everyone here that placed an order and/or helped spread the word. This is turning out to be very exciting!

Roger

Hello Roger ,
I am All for DIY film Making ,in all stage"s , I am sure you would get more orders if you had a Agent / or Dealer here in Europe, can you also make software so it runs on a Mac ?
Keep up the good work" and happy that this Baby of your is growing fast"

[MovieStuff]

I am All for DIY film Making ,in all stage"s , I am sure you would get more orders if you had a Agent / or Dealer here in Europe,

Having a dealer in Europe is more complicated than just having an agreement with someone. If an American company, say, Maytag that makes washing machines, has a dealer or business presence in Europe, then Maytag has to also have a way to dispose of materials within their washers and dryers that are considered landfill hazards and non-biodegradable. Also, if we have an actual dealer in Europe, then anything we ship is considered a business item and is subject to all kinds of inspections and regulations. However, if we produce the unit here and ship to the end user, then we bypass all of those problems.

But, realistically, even without those issues, having a larger company only means an increase in price because of the larger overhead. So any increase in sales by having a dealer in Europe would be negated by the higher cost of doing business. I'd probably end up making less money or even losing money along the way.

can you also make software so it runs on a Mac ?

Most likely it will work on a Mac running windows, though we have not yet tried it. But there will never be an actual "Mac" version of the software because the drivers for the camera from the manufacturer are PC only. Nothing we can do about that.

Keep up the good work" and happy that this Baby of your is growing fast"

Thanks. We are likely to add a variable light source feature before shipping the first units. While the exposure range on the unit is really good, the biggest problem most home movies have is underexposure. So being able to compensate for a roll that you know is dark will be handy. Also, the "AutoStop" feature is always on, now. The take up on this unit is powerfully strong so it really needs something that is always "on duty" to shut it down in the unlikely event of a snag or jam. We'll replace the AutoStop switch with a set up switch where users can turn on the backlight without the motor running. The software has been designed to start scanning automatically when the unit gets up to sync speed. So all you have to do is start the capture software, and then turn on the unit. Once it gets to the right speed, the backlight comes on and that gives the software its cue to start capturing. Likewise, when the unit stops, the light goes off and the capture software stops capturing automatically. Stupid easy.

[Roster]

Can't wait to get my Retro 8!

Congratulations Roger on the high volume for early order program.

Wooda

[MovieStuff]

Thanks! It's been interesting. I haven't seen this kind of reaction since I first released the WorkPrinter back at the end of '01.

Roger