As the new owner of RED, Nikon now has a fleet of digital cinema cameras and proprietary REDCODE RAW Codec.
One can either work for years to build a business, establish a reputation and eventually find oneself with a seat at the big person’s table. Or, you can do what Nikon just did, and pay some money for a seat. RED was established in 2005 and it has worked hard to make its cameras the first choice for cinematic productions. Cameras from RED have been used to film the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Squid Game and Peaky Blinders. Granted, these cameras will usually be used alongside other brands but being good enough to be placed in that bracket isn’t something to scoff at.
With RED under its wing, Nikon plans to expand the digital cinema camera market. That signals that even without a line of cinema cameras, Nikon is hoping to hit the ground running.Nikon is getting all of RED’s software and its proprietary REDCODE RAW Codec with this deal. Of course, the acquisition is subject to certain closing conditions so it could all come undone, unlikely as that may be.