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

[Alex Zeder]

Within the last ten years, Nikon aquired six other companies, apart from RED that was Avonix Imaging, Mark Roberts Motion Control, Morf3D, Optos, and SLM Solutions. Looking at them today, they have all retained their own brand and continued making their products in line with what they were producing before the aquisition.

 

[Daniel Villiers]

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.

You are so out of it. Nikon needs the RED brand as it gives its whole line of cameras credibility in the video world, that they never were able to establish. In a decade it might be different and you might have to buy a Nikon Red cinema line of camera. But look at what you are getting, one of the leaders in imaging and semi conductor steppers. They are the one who design and manufacture the machine that do those Sony sensors etc. Currently in the z8/z9 their is a processor that can do Full Frame 8k 60 fps compressed RAW, in a photo camera form factor!!! That same processor also has blistering autofocus, industry leading IBIS (8 stop on the ZF)viewfinder and IO. The z9 is literally more powerful that the Burano!!! Tomorrow they could put out a Burano competitor with their tech, but who would buy it??? While put a red badge on it and RED global shutter sensor tech, redraw etc. and its a big bib threat to Sony and even ARRI.

But this will take some time. But what Nikon is very reputable is reliability and they have a global professional service. Just training some technician in each of them to service red cameras around the world would be huge. They have been catering for pro photographers for decades, from sport, news or war and even latest Nasa mission to the moon. Tell me when do you think you could get service like this with a small boutique company

This is Nikon's Massive Camera Arsenal at the Tokyo Olympics

Photographer Vincent Kalut captured inside photos showing the camera equipment room run by Nikon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

petapixel.com

 

[Han Vogen]

Within the last ten years, Nikon aquired six other companies, apart from RED that was Avonix Imaging, Mark Roberts Motion Control, Morf3D, Optos, and SLM Solutions. Looking at them today, they have all retained their own brand and continued making their products in line with what they were producing before the aquisition.

The difference is Nikon was not in the motion control business prior to that acquisition… that purchase and the others you mentioned were new fields for Nikon. However, you may have heard… Nikon has been making cameras for a little bit now. They have a substantial reputation and are well respected.

 

[M.Halsell]

Will REDuser.net continue to be a vehicle for RED camera discussion? Any news on the future of this site.

 

[Han Vogen]

You are so out of it. Nikon needs the RED brand as it gives its whole line of cameras credibility in the video world, that they never were able to establish. In a decade it might be different and you might have to buy a Nikon Red cinema line of camera. But look at what you are getting, one of the leaders in imaging and semi conductor steppers. They are the one who design and manufacture the machine that do those Sony sensors etc. Currently in the z8/z9 their is a processor that can do Full Frame 8k 60 fps compressed RAW, in a photo camera form factor!!! That same processor also has blistering autofocus, industry leading IBIS (8 stop on the ZF)viewfinder and IO. The z9 is literally more powerful that the Burano!!! Tomorrow they could put out a Burano competitor with their tech, but who would buy it??? While put a red badge on it and RED global shutter sensor tech, redraw etc. and its a big bib threat to Sony and even ARRI.

But this will take some time. But what Nikon is very reputable is reliability and they have a global professional service. Just training some technician in each of them to service red cameras around the world would be huge. They have been catering for pro photographers for decades, from sport, news or war and even latest Nasa mission to the moon. Tell me when do you think you could get service like this with a small boutique company

This is Nikon's Massive Camera Arsenal at the Tokyo Olympics

Photographer Vincent Kalut captured inside photos showing the camera equipment room run by Nikon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

petapixel.com

Nikon buys their sensors from Sony. The Burano is crippled because Sony wanted it that way. The same sensor is in the A1 and has better performance than in Burano.

 

[fgonz031]

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.

Well did you say new RED products now on NAB 2024?

 

[fgonz031]

Nikon buys their sensors from Sony. The Burano is crippled because Sony wanted it that way. The same sensor is in the A1 and has better performance than in Burano.

Nikon has a sensor research and development team and Sony part is to manufacture them.

 

[M.Halsell]

We really will not know the value proposition Nikon will bring to the cinema space for some time. In truth their consumer camera revenue was in a decline prior to the acquisition. They were not on the come up or steam rolling in the cinema space. Nikon was not rolling off the tongue in production meetings. These initiative probably cannot be gauged until after several years. The Jannard salesmanship and swag will be missed. That was such and incredible part of the RED DNA. Jarred did an absolutely outstanding job getting industry penetration and brand awareness. These qualities will be missed. As long as Nikon doesn't fold up shop, everything should be okay.

 

[Brian Timmons]

The Jannard salesmanship and swag will be missed.

I really do miss those crazy yet passionate 3am posts even if most of them ended up getting deleted by sunrise.
One of those posts is what convinced me to invest in the RED One shortly after NAB 2007. By far the best gear investment
I ever made.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[chambeshi]

We really will not know the value proposition Nikon will bring to the cinema space for some time. In truth their consumer camera revenue was in a decline prior to the acquisition.

Nikon is highly profitable. Its Imaging Division is the largest. It's steaming full blast ahead since the pandemic and restructuring away from relying on collapsing revenue from entry DSLRs and especially Point& Shoot cameras.

Nikon's Financial Results Show Better Than Expected Performance

As Nikon works to reduce its reliance on its imaging business, camera sales performance proves impressive.

petapixel.com

Their mirrorless Z system is their future. Production has been restructured in its highly automated factories, thanks to less publicized investments in their R&D and acquisitions advancing their robotic products and solutions in their Instrument Division.... the precision benefits feed back in high quality manufacturing I'm its factories.

They were not on the come up or steam rolling in the cinema space.

The Z System continues to change this popular misconception. Particularly the Z9 flagship with 8K RAW without overheating, superior Autofocus etc
Times have changed

Nikon was not rolling off the tongue in production meetings. These initiative probably cannot be gauged until after several years.

Besides it's very well known and obvious Consumer ILC products, they have high-end Mirrorless cameras for industry, including their own sensor announced in early 2021.

 

[chambeshi]

Nikon is primarily an optics company (unique in owning Hikari Glass) with integrated imaging applications in imaging and precision engineering.... They have big investments in R&D.

Hence their parallel strengths in engineering Precision Instruments, including Lithography solutions for ICU fabs.

There's also their Medical division which invests increasingly in integrated digital solutions with high speed imaging etc

In summary, there many solid reasons why RED's very fortunate to now be part of the Nikon Corporation

 

[M.Halsell]

Time will tell.

 

[chambeshi]

Soon after announcing its new Z System (August 2018) Nikon released the 58mm f0.95 Noct to showcase the optical design potential of the Z Mount.

Thanks to their unique situation in being able to design bespoke products from Hikari Glass, the engineers designed and specified no less than 3 new types of optical glass for the Noct: to optimize the requisite optical properties to correct dispersion etc.

Never underestimate Nikon engineering

https://www.nocsensei.com/camera/te...095-s-noct-e-i-segreti-del-suo-schema-ottico/

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[Mark Phelan]

Exciting times for both companies. RED is in good hands and has a very promising future.

 

[Daniel Meador]

Jannard cashed out of Red just like Oakley. Big Time. Congradulations. Hope there is another enterprise in the works. Maybe just retirement.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The Z System continues to change this popular misconception. Particularly the Z9 flagship with 8K RAW without overheating, superior Autofocus etc
Times have changed

I've owned the Z9 since its launch. It is my most-used camera and, IMO, the best SLR form-factor camera currently available. I don't spend much of any time shooting professionally these days. Maybe one small paid gig each month and it's usually sports. My personal photography is some sports still but mostly wildlife as I've gone back to my roots there. Z9 and Komodo are my workhorses. As for real work and the daily grind, I'm still a software engineer as always and it's all robotics and AI now and for the foreseeable future. and now I'm drifting off topic...

 

[M.Halsell]

Nikon has a solid following with wildlife and sports photography.

 

[Phil Holland]

Just some inside baseball chatter. Spoke with Tommy for about an hour today. Will likely collect more thoughts as a certain other power hitter will be around as well. But yeah, I'm real excited about this at the end of the day.

For those not at NAB. Nikon, MRMC, and RED are sharing a booth and RED has a private booth with some enticing things elsewhere. Some real nice things happening at this point.

 

[M.Halsell]

Perhaps Nikon will offer more broadcast and live event solutions similar to their Sony & Canon brethren.

 

[M.Halsell]

Also, is there a possibility Nikon will revisit the the r3d as a delivery format? With VR & AR rapidly advancing, Nikon could also revisit the Hydrogen One holographic display technology.