As you may have heard, Nikon acquired 100% of the outstanding membership interests of RED.com. This is a move nobody has anticipated. In our opinion, we don’t get it. It seems like a solid exit for Land and Jannard. We can’t see how RED continues to exist. Is this the end of RED?
RED is now 100% belongs to Nikon
Nikon has acquired RED Digital Cinema. All of it! Two companies have published a press release. RED’s press release was way more exaggerated: “In a landmark move, RED Digital Cinema (RED.com, LLC), is excited to announce being acquired by Nikon Corporation (Nikon). The agreement with Nikon, reached with RED’s founder Jim Jannard and President Jarred Land, signifies a new era of innovation and excellence in the professional filmmaking sector”. Nikon on the other hand, sounds more formal: “Nikon Corporation (Nikon) hereby announces its entry into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding membership interests of RED.com, LLC (RED) whereby RED will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon, pursuant to a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement with Mr. James Jannard, its founder, and Mr. Jarred Land, its current President, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions thereunder”. It looks like the Goliath just swallowed David. The company that was bought tries to sound optimistic, and the buyer sounds like….OK, I just bought you. Shut up and sign here and there. At first glance, it doesn’t look like Nikon is going to develop the next DSMC4 lineup. We believe that Nikon just wants to purchase the compressed RAW patents. And that is it.
RED vs. Nikon: Tough fight that belongs to the past
A reminder — RED Digital Cinema (RED.com) has sued Nikon for the implementation of compressed raw recording capabilities in the Z9 flagship camera. In return, Nikon has denied all RED’s claims and fought back. As a result, the jury trial was set for January 2024. Eventually, the California Central District Court published the JOINT MOTION FOR DISMISSAL. The case was dismissed. As stated: Plaintiff Red.com, LLC and Defendants Nikon Corporation and Nikon Inc. hereby stipulate and move pursuant to this joint motion, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(ii), that this action be dismissed without prejudice as to all claims, counterclaims, causes of action, defenses, and parties, with each party bearing their own attorney’s fees and costs. The case was dismissed. Nikon kept its N-RAW on the Z 9. However, this is even more confusing. If Nikon wins, N-RAW stays, so why is there a need to buy RED.com patents?
RED releases cameras like hotcakes
RED didn’t show any signs of crisis or reduction in the capacity of R&D. The contrary! Just recently RED announced a partnership with ARRI to develop a custom V-Raptor XL camera to use with ARRI DNA glass on the upcoming Tron: Ares movie. Even CEO Jarred Land said that this is just the beginning of working together with ARRI. Immediately after this partnership was announced, RED introduced a new flagship camera that is armed with a mighty 8K VV global shutter sensor (Raptor [X]). Consumers are still waiting for the [X] to be shipped, and then this bombshell came from the sky.
Does Nikon want to be a cinema camera company?
The next question we should ask is if Nikon has the desire to be defined as a cinema camera company. The cinema camera market is a micro niche, and not so profitable. Will Nikon start to manufacture cinema cameras that cost tens of thousands of dollars? We doubt about that. Will the next DSMC4 models be marked as Nikon with the Nikon logo? Hardly believe that! Yes, we can see a Z 9 that is capable of shooting R3D. But this is it. RED and Nikon don’t fit each other…it’s not a logical match (as our eyes see it). Moreover, the design of RED cameras, their functionality, interfaces, user experience, and technical destiny are far away from Nikon’s culture and tech implementation. One is a cool, fast-paced, small American company, and the other is a Japanese giant whose image division constitutes a small portion of its products and business. Most probably, Nikon is not going to compete with ARRI or Sony. The acquisition of RED can grant Nikon a solid advantage over Canon. That’s for sure. But not on Sony or ARRI.
Did AI affect it?
Here’s a thought. The main destiny of RED cameras is to shoot high-end commercials. This is one of the segments that will be negatively significantly affected by AI. You don’t need a cinema camera to shoot a few seconds of ultra-cool commercial. You can do it by writing a piece of text (prompt) within the upcoming Sora interface. Is it possible that RED’s founder, Jim Jannard is afraid of AI? Is it possible that he’s anticipating the end of stock footage and high-end commercials, which are RED’s bread and butter? It’s worth mentioning that RED has failed to gain traction in the prestige festivals and awards (Oscars, Cannes, Sundance) as this field is dominated by ARRI ALEXA and Sony VENICE cameras. Will Nikon Z 9 Mark II will be used by the 97th Academy Awards’ Best Cinematography nominees? We doubt that.
![RED V-Raptor [X]: Picture by B&H](https://ymcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/RED-V-Raptor-X-Extended-Highlights-Explained.007.jpeg)
What about RED customers?
DSMC3 is characterized by the RF mount. New RED shooters bought tons of RF Canon lenses to be paired with their Komodo and DSMC3. Nikon (which is RED now) will stop that. If so, the DSMC3 will probably undergo facelifting, by changing the mount to Nikon’s mount. However, Nikon will have to find solutions for all Komodo and DSMC3 shooters.
ARRI and SonyCine are smiling
We are pretty sure ARRI and Sony Cine are pleased with the acquisition of RED, as there’s no choice to be made. ARRI, RED, or Sony, just turned ARRI or Sony. From now on, when talking about high-end cinema cameras, there’s the ARRI ALEXA and Sony VENICE. There’s no RED Monstro/Raptor anymore. Nikon will be going to cannibalize RED cameras into its lineup or keep only the R3D codec (our assumption). Moreover, Nikon fans can be pleased, and expect their Z 9 to shoot R3D in the next firmware update.
Hola. Sinceramente está noticia me dejo un poco atónito y triste. Mucho de lo que dice Yosy tiene un fondo duro de verdad. Nikon no tiene relación con RED. Son culturas distintas, usuarios diferentes. Creo que RED abandonó a sus usuarios. Los dejó al abandono de una trasnacional distinta y poderosa como Nikon. Con una gran historia pero NO con el espíritu estadounidense de RED. Yo no soy propietario aún de una cámara RED pero lo seré muy pronto, una usada de las que ahora a los años son accesibles. Me gusta la imagen, el codec, lo amigable y el alto perfil de RED pero lo que más me agrada de RED, es el alma rebelde, que de la nada entro al juego con Arri, Panavisión y Sony. Me encanta su espíritu norteamericano y californiano. Ahora creo que eso se perderá. Soy de México y lamento la venta de RED. Me gusta Nikon, pero yo siempre uso Canon y antes hace años Pentax y Canon. No sé, es cuestión de gustos, pero hay algo en Nikon que nunca me ha convencido. De cualquier manera muchas gracias RED por todo lo que haz hecho por el cine. Vivimos en un mundo altamente globalizado donde el pez grande se está comiendo al pequeño, por muchas y diversas razones. Pero prefiero a RED como RED y no como RED de Nikon.
It is great that it is a reputable company like Nikon with a long tradition of good cameras and lenses that has bought RED, instead of a profit-oriented investment fund. One can imagine that this means that Nikon is interested in the hi-end video market, which to me looks like a positive move considering the qualities of Nikon’s old and new products.
It’s possible that though there maybe be some cross-pollination (raw codec, lens mounts), RED remains a semiautonomous entity, a comparatively small but profitable division.
This doomer framing is over-the-top. Red just got access to an entire manufacturing and sales network that it was previously too small to reach. The days of waiting weeks or months for inventory are now over. Welcome to the big boys table.
apocalyptic click bait title … go watch Jarred live chat with Scott Balkum and Phil Holland more true infos there than anywhere else on the internet
“From now on, when talking about high-end cinema cameras, there’s the ARRI ALEXA and Sony VENICE. There’s no RED Monstro/Raptor anymore.”
Y.M.- your blog is among the camera oriented sites I tend to follow and I excused some of the earlier political theatrics from late last year but the above is false.
RED cameras are still available for purchase are still in use (including the new Superman film) and no one can say as fact how an acquisition will affect the current or future RED lineup.
Jarred Land from RED already mentioned that the current models are still being developed.
It’s your blog, write what you want but this level of distortion does not help the credibility of your site.
I agree with this sentiment. Nikon now gets to leverage their expansive international relationships to challenge Sony and Canon in other markets, especially with them having the 16-bit codec, global shutter, and large sensors. Nikon will bring their large-scale manufacturing capabilities to reduce production cost and bring efficiency to the market.
It was time to dismiss this parody of camera. Ite only PR noise based, don’t dedicated to deep amateurs considering themselves professionals .Serious peoples DPs use to t by mistake ,only one time. Manufacturer of sunglasses CANNOT make professional cameras.Period. So RIP RED,finally we escaped from annoying noise made by RED PR.
PR based DEDICATED to deep amateurs (without don’t )