This is a big win for both companies, and the one significant change is switching from the RF to the Z-mount. This has to happen for Nikon to have a 'filmmaker pathway' from the Z6III/Z8/Z9 to the RED cameras. A Z-mount lens cannot be used on an RF-mount camera. A very important benefit for Nikon is getting access to RED filmmakers, to see if some would be interested in using and promoting Nikon's mirrorless cameras for some of their work. Instant street cred. It is relatively easy for a company like Zeiss to make their lens with a Z-mount if they've already done the E and RF-mounts.
Great for Nikon shooters, anxious times ahead for Red shooters I think. I know a few people who dropped tens of thousands of dollars on Raptor Xs and they're not happy right now!
This is one of the slickest moves I've seen in a while. Remember that Nikon and RED were involved a lawsuit over RED'S raw patent before. Nikon gets the rights to the tech and a mature market share of the high end cinema market. And none of their products compete. Brilliant.
That’s a good question. Kofi made a good point in his video that Nikon is the oldest out of all of them, so they probably had a lot of cash reserves to make the bid.
We don’t know if Red offered to sell to anyone else that’s your assumption . I have a feeling the merger deal started last year when Red sued Nikon and then the mutually dropped the case but let Nikon continue to use their raw compression algorithms. I think that was when the deal was struck . It’s really insane that nothing leaked out about this .
Canon and Sony have little need for RED except for the patents. The camera lineup would quickly fade, with a few being absorbed. Apple would also only want the patent. Nikon actually wants everything RED has, and they can keep it almost entirely intact and separate. Companies which complement each other make much better merger partners than those which almost entirely overlap, unless the only goal is "economy of scale". But since RED is less than 1% the size of either Canon or Sony, that is irrelevant.
@@michaelmalodrums9674 Yes, I agree that the possibility of this merger was probably part of getting the lawsuit dismissed. The lawsuit was dismissed "without prejudice", so if the merger fell through, the lawsuit could pick up where it left off. Nikon did not use RED's raw compression algorithms, they used the algorithms developed by another company. RED sued because their patent covers all algorithms within certain parameters, beyond just theirs.
Remember red was strong due to R3d but apparently based on Nikon the internal raw patent should not have been granted. RAW in cameras may now change for the better in all cameras. Lets get 16bit raw video in all cams and push away from 12bit
@@JamesJacksonFilmz One can only hope. competition among these corps pushes the industry through incremental innovation. This type of update would be amazing. I also saw Atomos put out a presser congratulating Nikon and thanking them for their continued support in this space while also hinting at new wares coming to NAB. What an amazing year
Hi I moved out of Nikon when I started to film more...but love their DSLR line and have still 3 lens from them...I moved to Panasonic and BM. For me RED and Nikon are out of my price range...but Z8,Z9 are already great cameras and I can't wait to see what they will create together... I hope Panasonic Leica BM will wake up and produce a true pro L mount optional cinéma camera un a FX6 Kommodo price range...
I think the sale is a good thing. I don’t think Nikon will put all of Red’s tech in a Nikon body because you have to have a way of differentiation between the consumer and professional lines, other wise why would anyone spend the money. Canon and Sony do this. I also don’t think Nikon would do anything stupid like change Reds name, because people are familiar with the Red name, just like when DJI bought Hasselblad. What I’m excited about is the possibility of Nikon consumer cameras getting a hold of that Global shutter technology and hopefully stop relying on Sony’s sensors. This which would make Nikon as independent as Canon and Sony for sensors. Nikon will be able to make a boat load of cash with Reds patents and licensing fees to Canon, Sony, Fuji and others, just like Red was doing before. Nikon also doesn’t have to develop a cinema line in the professional space because they have hit the ground running. I do see a Nikon z mount or adapter as such coming. I don’t think that Nikon should be short sited by cutting of Canon Lens RF owners from Red and certainly not PL mount because it brings these existing owners back to the table for future purchases, keeping them in the Red family.
PL mount lenses will still work. Canon only has a half-dozen RF cinema lenses. It seems that Nikon could match that within two years, using the Z-mount. They know a thing or two about designing lenses.
Nikon has been making their own glass in house since 1917 . Canon doesn’t make glass they source it out . Look what Nikon did to rebuild their new Z glass . They have some serious great new glass and I can totally see them jumping in on dedicated cine line lenses . Nikon isn’t going anywhere so I guess the potato haters will have to get used to it . Thanks for the great video bro , btw I love Simon’s videos too 👌🏼
First you’re wrong Canon is one of the few that makes its own glass as well as their own sensors. Nikon doesn’t even do that, but I guess they will now. There glass has been great for photography but Canon’s and Sony’s lenses ecosystem are far superior in terms of video. Even to this day Nikon is way behind in that category.
@@JamesJacksonFilmzI agree. The Nikon ecosystem of glass is great but not there yet. This deal won’t be full circle for a year or two. By then the glass will be there. Nikon thinking long term. R&D however takes a very long time. Which they just shortened by atleast 80% with this buy out. I know for a fact that Sony wanted to put eye AF in the a7. It was not ready. They put it in the a7ii. Still not ready. It was ready in the a7iii. That’s 5-7 years working on it for the a7 and it was not really ready until the a7iii. What’s that 10-15 years of R&D just for eye AF. Wow. You better off buying it.
@@JamesJacksonFilmz It kind of seems like a tie, the announcements coming two weeks apart. There were probably other factors making the Canon mount the better option. The EF-to-RF adapter is seamless, so those already using EF lenses could continue using them with the RED RF-mount cameras. More people also choose Canon over Nikon mirrorless cameras if they want better video than their smartphones for under $5k. Those people would have RF or EF lenses which would work with the RED.
IMHO Nikon should fear vSony more than Canon. Since there is already an E-mount lens to Z mount camera adapter they should make an RF-mount lens to Z mount camera adapter. Unfortunately, I think they would rather just screw over Canon.
