DJI has just announced that its cinema flagship, the Ronin 4D, will not be able to output ProRes RAW which was supposed to be one of the main features of the camera. The patent war goes on as stated by DJI: “Ronin 4D will not support internal compressed RAW (Apple ProRes RAW) recording at launch”. Read the full update below.
DJI Ronin 4D: No ProRes RAW
Well, here the melody returns. No internal ProRes RAW for the Ronin 4D as well. Just like in the case of Kinefinity MAVO Edge, the ProRes RAW codec was dropped just before the launch. As stated by DJI in their recent announcement: “Ronin 4D will not support internal compressed RAW (Apple ProRes RAW) recording at launch, but Apple ProRes 4444XQ will be made available through a firmware update later in 2022”.
Ronin 4D will not support internal compressed RAW (Apple ProRes RAW) recording at launch, but Apple ProRes 4444XQ will be made available through a firmware update later in 2022.
DJI
Price drop of $400
Due to the elimination of the ProRes RAW, which was supposed to be one of the main features of the Ronin 4D as a cinema flagship, DJI has also announced that the price of the Ronin 4D will be reduced. As stated: “To reflect this change in specifications, the list price of the Ronin 4D 6K combo is being lowered to $6,800”. Furthermore, DJI adds that: “Users who pre-ordered Ronin 4D at the original price, should contact their dealers to receive a refund of the difference”. It’s interesting that there’s no price reduction regarding the 8K model. Here is the full announcement (explore the slide below):
To reflect this change in specifications, the list price of the Ronin 4D 6K combo is being lowered to $6,800.
DJI
It was not supposed to happen
Although we all remember the case of Kinefinity MAVO Edge, this was not supposed to be the same with DJI. The camera of the Ronin 4D (Zenmuse X9) is the only camera that shoots ProRes RAW internally without the help of an Atomos recorder. In fact, it’s not quite internally, but the recording is done via CineCore 3.0 to bypass the patent’s limitations. However, we see that this ‘patent bypass’ doesn’t solve the legal issue regarding the Ronin 4D. Or, it’s also possible that this ProRes RAW elimination is due to technical limitations. What are your thoughts about that?
Product List
Here’re the products mentioned in the article, and the links to purchase them from authorized dealers.
- DJI Ronin 4D 4-Axis Cinema Camera 6K Combo Kit
- DJI Ronin 4D 4-Axis Cinema Camera 8K Combo Kit
Damn you, RED.
6 years to go: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/party?p0=840&iso=20280411T00&year=2028&month=4&day=11&hour=0&min=0&sec=0&msg=RED.com%20RAW%20patents%20expire&ud=2&csz=1
This is a HUGE disappointment. I wonder how certain it is that the camera will get an update to support it in the future?
Unbelievable!! I guess I will just stick with my z-cam and Ronin s2.
So they will limit it to the 8K
Still $6000 more.