Following the recent acquisition of American camera manufacturer RED by the Japanese master Nikon, it is time to start analyzing and thinking about what this could mean for our industry. What is the future of RED cinema cameras? How might Nikon’s mirrorless cameras benefit from the technical knowledge and multiple patents RED developed over the years? What can we expect in the near future regarding RAW recording? Let’s talk about it in this opinion piece. Most of us did not see this coming: Nikon acquired RED. As of today, the American cinema camera manufacturer RED will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon. But before diving deeper, let’s rewind a bit and talk about the history. A brief RED history – from innovation to patent mastering RED was founded in 2005 by James Jannard, who had previously founded the successful eyewear company Oakley. The company launched their first camera, the RED One, in 2007. The rest is, as we say, history, with a galaxy of cinema cameras introduced over the years. What set RED apart from their competitors is that cinema cameras finally became “affordable” – or at least theoretically possible to purchase or rent without having to sell a kidney – for independent filmmakers and small/medium production companies. Listing all the camera models RED launched over the years would be too long, but we can name a couple of the legendary models that changed our industry, including: DSMC1: RED Scarlet-X with its Mysterium X image sensor, followed by the RED...
Published By: CineD - Thursday, 7 March, 2024