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REDKON

🌐 Nikon buys RED, Lensrentals buys BorrowLenses

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Quite a week (aka Thursday) for acquisitions. Nikon buying RED wasn’t on my bingo card. Nor was Lensrentals buying BorrowLenses.

We’ve also got some virtual production guides, crazy fast drones, and Snake Plissken.

Let’s break it down…

STAGE A

Nikon Buys RED

In news that shocked just about everyone, Nikon announced yesterday that they are acquiring RED.

Details of the deal are slim with no mention of a purchase price. Nikon’s press release notes that RED will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon.

Nikon’s Missing Cinema Line

Even though Nikon was the first to introduce a DSLR that could record video (the D90 in 2008, though it was only 720p), they’ve been pretty slow to push additional video integrations compared to Canon, Sony, and Panasonic.

It wasn’t until 2018, a full 10 years after Canon kicked off the DSLR video revolution with the 5D mkII, that they introduced their Z series mirrorless line which included a lot of serious video recording features, including RAW video output and eventually RAW internal recording (which led to some legal clashes….with RED).

Despite the Z series launch, Nikon was still behind Canon and Sony, which each have their own cinema camera line.

RED gives Nikon that cinema line. And Nikon brings their optics expertise.

From the press release:

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.

What does this mean for RED? And for Nikon? Will we see more accessible cinema cameras, like a Nikon version of an FX3? And what does this mean for the future of RAW video?

Lots of questions. Maybe we’ll get some answers at NAB, which is right around the corner.

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SECOND UNIT

Nikon & RED wasn’t the only big acquisition news: online rental house Lensrentals is acquiring BorrowLenses. New rentals on BL are being redirected to Lensrentals website.

Focus on Virtual Production Volume 2 - British Cinematographer

British Cinematographer released a virtual production guide.

britishcinematographer.co.uk/focus-on-virtual-production-volume-2

The computer readouts of New York inside Snake Plissken's glider were shot practically with various sized models outlined with 3M reflective tape.
— Will McCrabb (@mccrabb_will)
Feb 29, 2024