RED cuts prices of Komodo and Komodo-X by up to 30%

[IronFilm]

I wonder if Nikon/RED got leaked advanced word about the Canon C80 and wanted to make as many Komodo sales as possible before the announcement? 

On 9/9/2024 at 11:56 PM, ntblowz said:

There definitely seem to have lots of komodo for sale lately on my local auction site, one guy list the reason is less cinema and more social video 😂

To be fair, a FX6/C70 (or now, a C80) is "better" for Social Media shooting than a Komodo is. 

Edit: oh damn, I just saw there are four Komodos listed on TradeMe:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/electronics-photography/video-cameras/search?search_string=komodo

That's far more than I'd have expected. 

(by comparison not even one Sony FS5/FS7/FX30/FX3/FX6/FX9 is listed for sale)

[MrSMW]

8 hours ago, inde said:

That is, the razor is the camera body and the blades are the oversized, overproduced, heavy, overpriced lenses

Are they?

My perception and experience of Sony lenses is that like their cameras, they are more on the compact size?

Not actually ‘compact’ as such, but generally slightly smaller than other brand counterparts?

Although I own a Sony camera, I don’t own any actual Sony lenses, only Tamron and I specifically bought into the whole system because they offered the lightest and most compact full frame combinations for my needs.

[MrSMW]

9 hours ago, inde said:

Double post deleted 

[ntblowz]

11 hours ago, IronFilm said:

 

(by comparison not even one Sony FS5/FS7/FX30/FX3/FX6/FX9 is listed for sale)

That for this week lol, there was fx3 sold last week and at one stage 3 fx30 for sale (including my one) up there

[IronFilm]

19 hours ago, ntblowz said:

and at one stage 3 fx30 for sale (including my one) up there

Bad timing for you to be selling a FX30!

Why were you selling it? 

[ntblowz]

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

Bad timing for you to be selling a FX30!

Why were you selling it? 

End up selling to a friend so all good.

Found a full time job but they use Canon there.. so back to team Canon 😅

[IronFilm]

23 hours ago, ntblowz said:

Found a full time job but they use Canon there.. so back to team Canon 😅

Ah, an in house videographer for a marketing / production house? 

[Kino]

On 9/5/2024 at 9:57 AM, MrSMW said:

That’s what I think.

Did Nikon just buy it so a competitor did not, or do they actually have a plan?

Because if they do have a plan and don’t get the fuck on with it, that ship won’t just have sailed, but most likely be sinking fast.

Time will tell, but I suspect the former owners of RED who cashed in are breathing great sighs of relief when Nikon signed and then actually gave them money.

RED sued Nikon for patent infringement and Nikon decided simply to buy RED in response instead of paying a fee. They settled outside of court and filed a joint dismissal to avoid litigation. Considering the circumstances, it was a smart move by Nikon. They now have RED's brand name, industry presence, sensor R&D, and control of the REDCODE patent along with any variations they want to implement in their cameras, as intoPIX's TicoRAW was simply too close in implementation to escape the REDCODE patent once placed into a camera.

[MrSMW]

So either way, RED’s shareholders came out on top.

Unless Nikon actually have a viable plan, they just spent a ton of money on possibly a pipe dream?

[Kino]

Although we don't know the financials of the deal, I'm sure Nikon has overpaid. But they were facing a disastrous lawsuit. They were also far behind Sony, Canon, and even Panasonic in the digital cinema field. That is no longer the case.

[D Verco]

We do. It was 85mil. Bargain.

[MrSMW]

So reading between the lines, Nikon were being sued and rather than paying 85+ mil, they spent 85 mil on buying out RED and have spun it as a buy out for the tech.

Or the media have spun it out as a buy out for the tech.

And we have all been assuming some juicy RED Nikon stuff is imminent.

The likelihood is nothing is imminent and may never happen at all as these things do tend to take a few years to develop.

Ah well, I wasn't getting too excited anyway because as I have been saying lately, I have actually reached the point where I am passed the point of 'needs' now and any future purchases will be based on no other factor than I fancy it. And then, only if I can afford it.

[Kino]

8 hours ago, D Verco said:

We do. It was 85mil. Bargain.

The $85 million for RED was taken from Nikon's financial filing and likely doesn't represent the full price. RED generated nearly $160 million in revenue for 2023 and there is no way that Nikon could purchase them for $85 million. Typically, there will be stock transfers involved in such large deals that are not listed in the year-end financials. You should expect that Jannard and others at RED received a significant amount of Nikon stock (NINOY) or some other bonus as part of the deal.

[Kino]

5 hours ago, MrSMW said:

So reading between the lines, Nikon were being sued and rather than paying 85+ mil, they spent 85 mil on buying out RED and have spun it as a buy out for the tech.

Or the media have spun it out as a buy out for the tech.

And we have all been assuming some juicy RED Nikon stuff is imminent.

The likelihood is nothing is imminent and may never happen at all as these things do tend to take a few years to develop.

Ah well, I wasn't getting too excited anyway because as I have been saying lately, I have actually reached the point where I am passed the point of 'needs' now and any future purchases will be based on no other factor than I fancy it. And then, only if I can afford it.

Tim Daust is under an NDA with Nikon/RED, but he has hinted that RED and Nikon are actively working on camera projects together. My guess is that this involves getting a version of REDCODE into a Nikon camera or releasing a Komodo replacement with Z mount within the next 1-2 years. They have already released a RED LUT pack for Nikon cameras, so that is only the first step. By the time of the Z9 II, Nikon could probably include REDCODE RAW in the camera instead of licensing TicoRAW.

[Kino]

I was thinking of Scott Balkum, not Tim Daust:

 

[MrSMW]

On 9/21/2024 at 11:38 AM, MrSMW said:

The likelihood is nothing is imminent and may never happen at all as these things do tend to take a few years to develop.

To qualify, I mean an actual proper collab camera, ie, RED lut yes, ✅ Z Mount for Komodo camera, maybe… but an actual RED/Nikon cinema camera which is what some hope for? Dunno about that…

[Kino]

11 hours ago, MrSMW said:

To qualify, I mean an actual proper collab camera, ie, RED lut yes, ✅ Z Mount for Komodo camera, maybe… but an actual RED/Nikon cinema camera which is what some hope for? Dunno about that…

You will have to wait for DSMC4, which could happen in 2025-26. Aside from high-end cinema cameras, I think the next logical step for RED after DSMC3 is to push into the mirrorless market, which is where all the action is. I would expect more RED features and branding on Nikon mirrorless cameras.

[Andrew Reid]

I can see a Canon C80 type thing from RED / Nikon.

I expect they'll follow the Cinema EOS playbook more closely than the past RED script.

Being a corporate Japanese company now, and all that.

Which means yes, mirrorless Z mount cinema cameras and hybrids.

[ND64]

15 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

I can see a Canon C80 type thing from RED / Nikon

They have to answer a lot of questions if thats the target. What sensor? Super35 or full frame? Regular Sony made full frame or RED developed Vista Vision full frame? Should it be 6k or 8k? How far should it go in frame rate? What kind of battery? And what should be the price? Let it cannibalize Komodo?

[independent]

Red will likely remain as Nikon’s cinema line, just like Sony and Canon have theirs. But can’t imagine why they wouldn’t adopt red raw in their mirrorless cameras from this point forward. 
 

Also, I think it’s likely the Komodo and raptors are all end of line with the rf mount. I imagine new red cameras will be released with PL and Nikon mounts to integrate the hybrid/cine lines.