Internal Raw shouldn’t be just an exotic flagship feature any more ith the new Sony FX5 we test this issue finally marking the last major manufacturer to offer compressed internal Raw recording, it’s a major milestone moment for serious cameras, heralding a huge leap forward in image quality and control. And now comes news that the patent that kept lots of manufacturers away from Raw has been thrown out by a Japanese court. Few patents have had such a profound effect on cameras as Red’s protection around its compressed internal Raw recording technology. For almost two decades, it influenced what manufacturers could put inside their cameras and forced others to fork out for licences or move towards alternative codecs or external recorders. Ultimately, it became part of the intellectual-property empire Nikon acquired when it bought Red, which makes recent events in Japan deliciously ironic. Panasonic successfully challenged key claims in Red’s compressed Raw patent, with Japan’s Intellectual Property High Court upholding the invalidation. Nikon therefore found itself defending a patent it had once fought against before buying Red. You really couldn’t make it up. Before we declare Raw independence, however, there’s an important reality check. This ruling concerns Japan, not Red’s entire international patent portfolio, and other rights and licensing agreements don’t suddenly disappear. The patent was heading towards expiry in 2028 anyway. But the significance goes beyond one courtroom decision. Red transformed digital cinema, making compressed Raw practical at a time when uncompressed alternatives created enormous headaches. Yet its patents also shaped – and therefore restricted - what its competitors could offer in their own camera ranges. That’s why I hope this decision represents the beginning of a more open era and a step forward in the control filmmakers have over how their images look. Modern mirrorless and cinema cameras have processing power and storage speeds unimaginable when the Red One arrived in 2007. Internal Raw shouldn’t be just an exotic flagship feature any more. For filmmakers who want maximum flexibility, it now looks like it will become another recording choice alongside efficient, high-quality conventional codecs. And that’s something to celebrate.
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Adam Duckworth
Adam Duckworth Editor in chief
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