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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Nikon to Acquire US Cinema Camera Manufacturer RED.com, LLC

Ep03 | RED/Nikon - deep dive | Industry in turmoil? | CineD at NAB | Libec Factory Tour​



BY CINED


 
Patrick Tresch said:
nikonrumors.com

Here are some rumors on what to expect from the Nikon acquisition of RED - Nikon Rumors

Here are some rumors on what to expect from the recent Nikon acquisition of RED: Future Nikon sensors will be co-developed with RED and mass-produced for lower prices. Nikon will start making cinema lenses for Z mount with T stops – I assume the next RED camera will be with Z-mount. Nikon will...
nikonrumors.com nikonrumors.com
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Cinema versions of the 58mm 0.95 and 85mm 1.2 would be mighty interesting!
 
Aaron Lochert said:
I wonder if they'll make the focus barrels turn the Nikon way or if they'll adhere to the industry standard direction.
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Before all of our time here on Earth is where the chaos was born. And strangely the two companies to blame, and I say that lovingly, are Zeiss and Leica in this specific case. The first Zeiss and Leica rangefinders were the source of this discordance across the land. Zeiss Contax going what became the Nikon way, Leica Rangefinders going the way most of us know in the film industry.

Remember when you go back to the point of origin, there was no right or wrong. But there is what became popular and more standard across the motion picture and photographic industries.

But yeah, I would like one answer at this point. But I'm also in the school of thought that it doesn't actually matter. I have glass from everybody that does go both ways. I just load a new memory cartridge into my 2-bit brain computer and flip the bits :) It is fun to see 3rd party glass manufacturers though literally making versions of the lenses for both focus directions.

I'm just happy we don't actually have to push/pull focus with a slide mechanism. That happened too.

Gears, Cams, and Helicals are the way for physical interaction of such things. Electronic focus, whole different thing.
 
Andrew Dease said:
Do you think there is any chance Red will keep making their raptors and new cameras, and DROP the prices because of this acq?
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Andrew, I hope so. That would bring a lot more future cinematographers into the RED Family than there are now for sure.
 
Aaron Lochert said:
If NIkon ventures into the cinema glass world, I wonder if they'll make the focus barrels turn the Nikon way or if they'll adhere to the industry standard direction.
Click to expand...
Great question. I know you can change the direction in the follow focus. So "reverse" lenses shouldn't be too much of an issue. I really hope they don't try a switchable approach. Getting that gearing right is so difficult that adding a change direction switch just sounds like a problem.
 
Nikon Completes Acquisition of US Cinema Camera Manufacturer RED.com, LLC
April 12, 2024
Nikon Corporation (Nikon) hereby announces that as of April 8th, it has successfully acquired 100% of the outstanding membership interests of RED.com, LLC (RED), which offers revolutionary digital cinema cameras and award-winning technologies.

Upon RED becoming a wholly owned subsidiary, RED's President Jarred Land became a close Advisor to the company, along with RED's founder James Jannard. Keiji Oishi, of Nikon's Imaging Business Unit, assumed the role of CEO and Tommy Rios, Executive Vice President of RED, moved into the role of Co-CEO.

"Welcoming RED, a company that has been at the forefront of innovative technology, to the Nikon family is sure to expand the possibilities of imaging expression, and further delight the market with its innovation," comments Hiroyuki Ikegami, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Nikon's Imaging Business Unit. "Combining the best of both companies and working together to develop new, distinctive products, is our goal and for the brand to remain the choice for fans of Nikon and RED, and possibly reach out to an even wider audience."

"I believe it is my mission as the representative of RED to develop the market in a way that will pay respect to the corporate cultures of RED and Nikon," says RED CEO Keiji Oishi. "You can look forward to RED's future product development which will aim to meet and exceed the expectations of cinematographers around the world."

"We are the pioneer in digital cinematography, and the synergy with Nikon will only help us to continue to evolve," says RED Co-CEO Tommy Rios. "We'll continue to deliver cutting-edge technology that no one has ever seen before. We remain committed to working together with the RED dealers around the world."

Newly appointed RED Advisor James Jannard comments, "It is a proud moment for me to see RED, a brand that I have nurtured with passion for over 20 years, gain the opportunity to achieve new heights with the help of Nikon, a company that I also love."

RED Advisor Jarred Land shared his excitement, stating, "By joining the Nikon family, a company that is known for the advanced technology that it has been cultivated over many years, I am confident that RED will bring a new era to the professional digital cinema camera market. It is an honor to be a part of this new chapter."

There will be no changes to RED's current product lineup, partners, and relationship with the dealers. RED will continue to support its policies with warranties, repair services, customer services, and overall product support.

Nikon and RED will merge the strengths of both companies to develop distinctive products, while leveraging the business foundations and networks of both companies to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market.
 
RED is in good hands. Keiji Oishi has been a principal executive centrally involved in the Z System success.

This specifically includes Nikon's aggressive Firmware update strategy for it's Z MILCs since 2019

www.dpreview.com

CP+ 2023: Nikon interview - 'Everybody can become a content creator'

After the recent CP+ expo in Japan, we traveled to Nikon headquarters in Tokyo to learn more about the design process for its Z9 flagship camera, how its transition to mirrorless is progressing, and why video is vital to Nikon's future.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com

www.dpreview.com

Interview: Nikon - "A flagship Nikon Z series mirrorless camera can be expected within the year"

In the latest in our series of socially distanced interviews, we spoke to Keiji Oishi of Nikon. In an exclusive announcement to DPReview, he revealed that Nikon is working on a professional Z-mount camera. Click through to read more.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com

www.dpreview.com

Interview: Keiji Oishi of Nikon – "It’s time to get excited"

As 2020 draws to a close and Nikon gears up for its final product releases of the year, we caught up with Keiji Oishi, Satoshi Yamazaki and Takeshi Suzuki to talk about the upcoming Z 6/7 II, and where the Z system goes from here.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com
 
Well that's an interesting development.

Thanks for the info.

Congrats to everyone moving in, up and out.

A new era for sure.

On the RED side of things, apart from a V-Raptor S35-X with global shutter, I can't think of anything RED would possibly already have lined up for DSMC3. Which could leave the way clear for dropping or adapting everything previously planned and working immediately towards something new that can be developed leveraging Nikon's expertise and resources.

Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
 
Make no mistake, this marks the end of Red as a brand. Central to this is the fact that the first thing Nikon did was to remove Jarred Land as CEO.
Also, Nikon promised no changes to Reds product lineup… which sounds like no new Red products will be developed… as new products would be a change. They do promise to maintain support… which was expected; but honestly it sounds like Red as a brand is history.
 
Phil Holland said:
I don't mean to be the one pointing out the obvious, but it's in the press release that they well be a subsidiary and still operating separating as Nikon and RED. From our side of things, RED will continue, just with ownership under Nikon.

There are huge advantages to having a US based camera manufacturer from a business perspective. I think Nikon is very aware of that. It actually opens up new business corridors for their scitech imaging as well. I think strongly one of the main reasons to buy a company like RED is down to the engineers, image scientists, and various assets related to manufacturing and production outside of several of the obvious technology related interests.

RED has a strong brand presence in the motion picture industry being one of the main 3 systems used for major production work, with the main cameras in that specific category being the top selling while the others retain top renting, though much few units. Which has been the seesaw thing to watch as Sony entered the arena. RED and Arri own the production world that I particularly float in with Sony in there as well. Canon is around, but usually in other markets and market segments, but I expect Canon to jump hard and aggressively back in shortly. Politics aside, even Arri Rental has a fleet of various RED cameras as the industry is dynamic in that way and some of those reasons are for specific features that RED cameras have that no others currently have.

Nikon in particular hasn't exactly diluted any of their acquisitions that have any foothold in specific fields. Historically they build on it. Which is why I'm more enticed by all of this.

Perhaps too much of a deep dive, but if you're curious, Nikon does list their various companies worldwide:

Nikon Group Companies | Corporate Information | Nikon About Us

Introducing Nikon group companies in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Middle East.
www.nikon.com

And the only thing I see here is potential that didn't exist yesterday for both companies.
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You see now, this is going exactly as I said… Nikon’s first action was to replace Jarred Land with Keiji Oishi… a former department manager. Either Keiji got a massive promotion or he is just there to help with the dismantling of Red. In any case, if Red was really going to operate as a subsidiary of Nikon they wouldn’t have removed Jarred.

Now the job will be to size up what Nikon can assimilate and axe the rest.
 
A quiet hush fills the room. Wow. The deal is complete. New players. I know it business. Just hits a little different.
 
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Han Vogen said:
Make no mistake, this marks the end of Red as a brand. Central to this is the fact that the first thing Nikon did was to remove Jarred Land as CEO.
Also, Nikon promised no changes to Reds product lineup… which sounds like no new Red products will be developed… as new products would be a change. They do promise to maintain support… which was expected; but honestly it sounds like Red as a brand is history.
Click to expand...
You conveniently leave out the big note that has been stated multiple times in every press release regarding both companies future efforts. And they emphasize in each, both companies. That isn't by accident. And if you are appointing things like RED CO-CEO, that is clearly ensuring the company will exist. The only difference from our side is now RED is a Nikon company and brand.

And spoiler alert, I've already seen at least one new RED product that will be at NAB. And if you're real curious, I've seen every new camera at the show during the last 3 months. That's about all I can say about that. I truly don't think there will be any major impact on products that are likely 8-18 months away either.

I think the people at Nikon are smart people. I also think the people at RED are smart people. The very literal worse decision would be to dissolve RED's brand into Nikon only. You then have to start a steep uphill battle into many corners of the motion picture industry where RED is deeply established. And I won't even get into the higher value of military, aerospace, and air force contracts that rely on RED as a USA based manufacturer. If this was me in this situation, part of the "deal" would be to maintain the RED brand and company for many years to come. Nikon, Jim, Jarred, and others like Tommy probably put a bit of thought into all of this.

We will see impact on products and future products from this acquisition. Those are things I'm excited about actually. But this doom and gloom mentality is getting silly. Even if that worse case scenario occurs, you still get cameras with a different brand name on them.
 
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