Nikon buys Red?

[JulioD]

News today

 

https://www.nikon.com/company/news/2024/0307_01.html

[Emanuel]

WOW

[kye]

WOW indeed!

Let the speculation commence!!

Payday for Jarred.....

[Snowfun]

Astonishing. 

Interesting times ahead…
Have Nikon ever made sunglasses?

[BTM_Pix]

It’s certainly a plot twist in the “how can Nikon get round RED’s patent for internal RAW” story.

And likely not good news for Canon extending their current arrangement for it with RED either.

28 minutes ago, Snowfun said:

Have Nikon ever made sunglasses

 

Funnily enough they do.

https://www.nikonlenswear.com/in/sunglasses/
 

 

[ac6000cw]

49 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

And likely not good news for Canon extending their current arrangement for it with RED either.

IIRC, that included RED being able to use the Canon RF-mount on their cameras - so I guess in theory a Nikon-branded RED camera could have a Canon lens mount on it... but the Canon-RED agreement might not allow that if RED were taken over by another camera company.

So are we going to see some Nikon Z-mount cinema/video lenses eventually to go with a RED-designed camera, or is this takeover primarily about REDs IP/patents and high-end video processing knowledge?

[Snowfun]

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

Funnily enough they do.

https://www.nikonlenswear.com/in/sunglasses/
 

A perfect fit then.

Although hipsters have already moved onto Jim’s new venture…

https://m-experiment.com/pages/brand

Will Nikon keep RED separate or will RED technology creep into the consumer offerings? 

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, ac6000cw said:

IIRC, that included RED being able to use the Canon RF-mount on their cameras - so I guess in theory a Nikon-branded RED camera could have a Canon lens mount on it... but the Canon-RED agreement might not allow that if RED were taken over by another camera company.

Its definitely a puzzler about what will happen there.

I'm guessing Canon has a veto/sign off on new models that use it which would mean they could carry on as is but who knows really as I don't think it has ever been confirmed what the actual agreement is between RED and Canon.

From the outside it would seem obvious its swapping compressed internal RAW for mount and AF technology but who knows if that is the extent of it and what the fine print is.

Well, I'm guessing Nikon must know by now though !

1 hour ago, ac6000cw said:

So are we going to see some Nikon Z-mount cinema/video lenses eventually to go with a RED-designed camera, or is this takeover primarily about REDs IP/patents and high-end video processing knowledge?

Could be sensor tech as well to free Nikon up from Sony.

The presumption is that nothing will change at RED in terms of them being an ongoing concern doing what they do now.

A few days ago RED released a mini EVF that is $4.5K dollars so there is definitely some scope for Nikon to make RED cameras a LOT more affordable.

1 hour ago, Snowfun said:

Although hipsters have already moved onto Jim’s new venture…

Nice to see he's named his son after a Bob Marley record.

1 hour ago, Snowfun said:

Will Nikon keep RED separate or will RED technology creep into the consumer offerings? 

Maybe they want to do with the Z8/9 what Canon did with the R5 and bring out a cine version of it like the R5C.

I could certainly see a Z8C turning a few heads.

If they ran those products through the RED brand (a Toyota/Lexus style) then I could see it turning even more heads.

Its a bit of wild cultural disconnect between Nikon and RED though in terms of keeping RED going as is with that, erm, "style" of theirs so maybe it just is for the IP.

Can't really see Nikon releasing a new camera called the Nikon BASTARD or Nikon CRUSHER or some such.

[sanveer]

Wonder if it would make Nikon create super affordable filmmaking cameras, Not Branded as Red 😉

[Marcio Kabke Pinheiro]

That was unexpected. And yes, besides Ip and tech exchange, the corporate culture and pricing could not be more different.

And a lot of RED users are in the brand because of "the brand". With Nikon on board...dunno.

[MrSMW]

All I know is I want a Nikon BASTARD now.

[Andrew Reid]

Nikon Z9 Mark II with REDCODE

RED Komodo Z - with Nikon Z mount

Nikon refusing to renew patent / tech transfer for compressed Canon-RAW!

This is a big move on Canon, against Canon.

Fascinating.

Just don't mention a certain yellow jersey cyclist.

[Video Hummus]

Big moves against Canon. This has to be related in someway to the settlement as it was extremely hush-hush.

The corporate culture couldn’t be more different between the companies. Very interesting. I think they will be run separate with some co-branding happening here and there and of course technology sharing.

Red fanboy panties will be twisted hard if Nikon is slapped on their camera. 

[eatstoomuchjam]

My guess is that the core RED stuff will remain largely unchanged for a time.  It'd be hard for any business not to love those margins.  I think the writing's been on the wall for a little while now, though, that aside from patent IP, RED's time as a viable company is limited.  Competition from cameras that cost 1/4 of their prices gets stiffer every year.

Otherwise, as others have said, I'd guess that Nikon will now roll out compressed raw to a bunch of their bodies and as soon as they can, end Canon's ability to add compressed raw to any new bodies (is it too late for the R5 II?).

Guess I'll start paying more attention to Nikon now...

[ND64]

Nikon owns The Bolt robot, and now RED. Next should be Aputure 🙂

[kye]

I'm reminded of the pattern in automobile manufacturers where the fancy sportscar brand that isn't profitable is purchased by the mass-market manufacturer that is profitable, and then in exchange for the sports brand being propped up the high-powered engineers get sent on excursions to the parent company to talk about how to tune the suspension and tweak the engine for a new hot-hatch variant.

But, in this case, I'm really not sure who is profitable and who isn't...

Simultaneously I'm optimistic about the RED tech trickling down to Nikon, but also pessimistic about that because now Nikon has a cine line their first job will be to protect it with a cripple hammer.

[FHDcrew]

Glad I stayed in the Nikon system 😂 

[Tim Sewell]

31 minutes ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Otherwise, as others have said, I'd guess that Nikon will now roll out compressed raw to a bunch of their bodies and as soon as they can

Will they though? I guess I could see them doing so with a couple of top-end models, but why would they buy a company then dilute one of the major USPs that attract people to that company's products?

[eatstoomuchjam]

5 minutes ago, Tim Sewell said:

Will they though? I guess I could see them doing so with a couple of top-end models, but why would they buy a company then dilute one of the major USPs that attract people to that company's products?

Fair point.  There could be an asterisk on "a bunch of"

[andjo]

This was unexpected. Quite intrigued to see where this leads, both camera and pantent wise.