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Nikon Acquires RED Digital Cinema: A Major Shift in the Camera Industry
If you think you just fell victim to a clickbait headline, trust me, you haven’t. Indeed, in an official press release, Nikon Corporation announced that they are entering into an agreement to acquire 100% of RED.com, LLC. Surprised? Me too.
Background of the Acquisition
Lately, RED Digital Cinema has been at the center of a series of plot twists within our industry. Just a few weeks ago, RED announced a partnership with ARRI to develop a custom V-RAPTOR XL camera to use with ARRI DNA glass on the upcoming Tron: Ares movie. Soon after that, they launched the V-RAPTOR [X] – the first cinema camera to feature an 8K Vista Vision sensor with global shutter technology. And now, straight out of the blue, we find out that yellow is taking over red.
This may be even more surprising considering that two years ago the two companies were fighting in court over in-camera compressed RAW patents. Now, without any further ado, let’s take a look at Nikon’s press release.
Details of the Agreement
TOKYO – Nikon Corporation (Nikon) hereby announces its entry into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding membership interests of RED.com, LLC (RED) whereby RED will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon, pursuant to a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement with Mr. James Jannard, its founder, and Mr. Jarred Land, its current President, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions thereunder.
Since its establishment in 2005, RED has been at the forefront of digital cinema cameras, introducing industry-defining products such as the original RED ONE 4K to the cutting-edge V-RAPTOR [X] with its proprietary RAW compression technology. RED’s contributions to the film industry have not only earned it an Academy Award but have also made it the camera of choice for numerous Hollywood productions, celebrated by directors and cinematographers worldwide for its commitment to innovation and image quality optimized for the highest levels of filmmaking and video production.
What This Means for the Future
This agreement was reached as a result of the mutual desires of Nikon and RED to meet the customers’ needs and offer exceptional user experiences that exceed expectations, merging the strengths of both companies. Nikon’s expertise in product development, exceptional reliability, and know-how in image processing, as well as optical technology and user interface along with RED’s knowledge in cinema cameras, including unique image compression technology and color science, will enable the development of distinctive products in the professional digital cinema camera market.
Nikon will leverage this acquisition to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market, building on both companies’ business foundations and networks, promising an exciting future of product development that will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in film and video production.
Implications and Future Questions
In some of the most surprising camera news we can remember – and we can remember a lot – Nikon today announced that it is acquiring 100% of RED. We’ll type that again, Nikon is acquiring RED.
Suffice to say, we double checked the date on the calendar when we first read the press release that Nikon issued this morning. It wasn’t April 1, so that was out. Then we headed over to Jarred Land’s Instagram and got the confirmation in true Jarred Land style.
So, it’s legit. How on earth they kept that secret is anyone’s guess.
We’ll have more later as there are some huge and very interesting implications here. What does it mean for the rest of the industry? What about the consumer crossover? REDCODE in mirrorless, anyone? And what about the various issues surrounding patents? Simon Wyndham has written a detailed piece that looks at all the implications of the deal.
But for now, here’s that original Nikon press release in full. RED issued one too a few hours later, but it didn’t add anything further.
What do you think of this acquisition? Are you excited or scared for the future of RED Digital Cinema products? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
