Atomos has reacted to the recent announcement that Nikon Corporation is to acquire RED.com, LLC, hailing it as great news for the industry, and defining it as an “explosion of innovation”. Read the press release below.

I am particularly pleased for Nikon, as they were one of the first companies to listen to us and go out of their way to give us a clean HDMI feed from their DSLRs, helping us to give birth to the Ninja monitor recorder. It is thanks to their belief and cooperation that Atomos has become the strong brand it is today.

Jeromy Young, Co-founder and CEO of Atomos

Atomos Welcomes Nikon’s Acquisition of RED

Atomos has reacted to the recent announcement that Nikon Corporation is to acquire RED.com, LLC, hailing it as great news for the industry. Jeromy Young, Co-founder of Atomos, who returned to the business as Managing Director and CEO at the start of the year, commented: “We have already collaborated with both famous brands, and I’m absolutely convinced that this new move will result in an explosion of innovation. I am particularly pleased for Nikon, as they were one of the first companies to listen to us and go out of their way to give us a clean HDMI feed from their DSLRs, helping us to give birth to the Ninja monitor recorder. It is thanks to their belief and co-operation that Atomos has become the strong brand it is today”.

Nikon’s expertise in image processing and optical technology, along with RED’s understanding of compression technology and color science, can only be good news for digital cinematography. I’m sure this acquisition will create an entity that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Jeromy Young, Co-founder and CEO of Atomos

Nikon (image processing) + RED (compression-color science)

Atomos already has a history of cooperating with RED, helping to establish the incredible creative potential of RAW video as a new standard in digital production workflows. “I can’t wait to see what the combined talents of the two teams come up with,” added Young. “Nikon’s expertise in image processing and optical technology, along with RED’s understanding of compression technology and color science, can only be good news for digital cinematography. I’m sure this acquisition will create an entity that is greater than the sum of its parts. NAB will be an extremely exciting event this year. Of course, we hope to play a small part in generating that excitement too”.

RED & Atomos: The court saga

A few years ago, these two companies fought against each other in court. At the end of 2018, Atomos went public and revealed its financial and legal data. The documents warn of a patent dispute with RED. The company’s IPO prospectus revealed that RED has alleged that some Atomos products infringe on four RED patents related to recording and playback of video codecs. Atomos said it has so far declined to license the patents, meaning the dispute could end up in court if the camera company decided to sue. However, later on, Atomos said: “In the process of negotiating Atomos’ license to use RED’s intellectual property, the companies recognized that there is significant opportunity for them to enhance the integration of their product lines to produce what they both expect to be trail-blazing new camera recording systems. While the two companies have for many years worked together, this next phase of the relationship will be one to watch out for”. Since then Atomos has developed the ability to output ProRes RAW from tens of cameras. Anyway, now Atomos has announced that it welcomes the acquisition.