In a surprise announcement, Nikon has acquired U.S.-based cinema camera company RED which will become of a subsidiary of the Japanese photography giant. RED Digital Cinema was founded in 2005 by Jim Jannard and the company is best known for the RED One 4K and V-Raptor X along with its proprietary RAW compression technology.
Less than 12 months ago, Nikon and RED were embroiled in a lawsuit with RED accusing the Japanese company of infringing on its video compression patents in a firmware update for the Nikon Z9. However, The deal means that Nikon, a company best known for stills cameras, will be launching itself into the cinema camera market via a popular brand. Marques Brownlee, for example, uses RED cameras for his YouTube videos. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Captain Marvel, The Queen’s Gambit, Peaky Blinders, Frozen Planet II, Squid Game, and Mindhunter. RED is headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, and has around 220 employees. RED president Jarred Land took to Instagram and Facebook to announce the shock news. In a landmark move, RED Digital Cinema (RE