AGENDA NEWS
Nikon has bought out Red in a move that has rocked the filmmaking industry. The agreement with Nikon to buy 100% of the company was reached with Red’s founder Jim Jannard and president Jarred Land. The partnership blends Nikon’s expertise in product development, image processing, optical technology and user interface, with Red’s digital cinema cameras know-how and award-winning Raw technologies. It’s therefore likely the Red brand will continue as a stand- alone but wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon, opening the door for the Japanese company to expand into the high-end cinema market. Red has always been at the forefront of digital cinema, introducing industry-defining cameras such as the original Red One 4K to the latest 8K V-Raptor X, all powered by its patented Redcode Raw – a compressed Raw format. Recently, Nikon and Red ended up in litigation after the Nikon Z 9 included an internal compressed Raw codec. While details remain undisclosed, this development may stem from a settlement following the litigation. Both companies have remained tight-lipped about the implications for their respective brands, but Nikon’s statement said: “Nikon will leverage this acquisition to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market, building on both companies’ business foundations and networks, promising an exciting future of product development.” Nikon goes Red!
RED NOT DEAD Nikon is the new owner of Red but the brand is set to continue as a wholly-owned subsidiary
The current Red Komodo and V-Raptor come with Canon RF mounts and phase detection AF believed to be part of a deal, allowing Canon to use compressed Canon Raw Light in its high-end cameras. The next generation of Red cameras could come with a Nikon Z mount and Nikon AF technology – and Nikon mirrorless cameras with a version of Redcode Raw. Of course, it could open a new cinema line of Nikon cameras to bring it on track with rival Canon, which has high-end cinema cameras as well as more affordable Cinema EOS options. While Canon offers a huge range of cinema prime and zoom lenses in RF and even PL mounts, Nikon only offers its latest Z mount glass in photo-style AF housings. It would make sense for Nikon to branch into the world of cinema lenses. red.com nikon.com
With a vested interest in Raw output technology as its monitors convert the signal to Apple ProRes Raw, Aussie firm Atomos is hailing Nikon’s acquisition of Red as great news for the industry. CEO Jeromy Young expressed: “I am absolutely convinced this new move will result in an explosion of innovation. “Nikon were one of the first companies to give 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.” Atomos already has a history of co-operating with Red on establishing Raw video as a new standard in digital production workflows. “I can’t wait to see what the combined talents of the two teams comes up with. Nikon’s expertise, along with Red’s understanding of compression technology and colour science, can only be good news for digital cinematography.” ATOMOS PRAISES NEW DEAL
The full-frame mirrorless Z 9 and Z 8 are giving Nikon a major foothold in filmmaking, having received major free firmware upgrades. The Z 8 gets many upgraded features already found in the Z 9 and new Z f retro camera. For improved skin tones, both Z 8 and Z 9 models get the new Skin Softening and Portrait Impression Balance functions, plus the Rich Tone Portrait Picture Control. Auto Capture allows you to specify the start date, time and duration of a shoot – reducing battery consumption. A lower-speed option has been added to High-Speed Frame Capture+ for continuous shooting. Manual focusing is also possible with maximum aperture live view in manual focus mode. UPGRADES FOR Z FLAGSHIPS
OLD GUARD Jeromy Young is back in charge at Atomos and welcomes the Nikon/Red deal
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