(Credit: Red Digital Cinema.)
Nikon has announced plans to acquire American cinema camera company Red, which specializes in high-resolution movie and television cameras.
As part of the deal, Red will become a Nikon subsidiary fully owned by the Japanese firm, Nikon said in a Thursday post. Both companies are aligned on their vision for future products and cited that as a reason for the acquisition. Nikon also says its Red purchase will allow it to expand into the cinema camera market with new innovations.
Red currently has about 220 employees, according to Nikon's announcement, but it's unclear whether that might change as a result of the acquisition.
Nikon buying Red notably marks the photography camera company's push into the digital cinema camera market. Red was founded in 2005 by billionaire James Jannard, and Red's first cinema camera, the 4K Red One camera, was released in 2007.
Since then, Red has been known for its unique RAW footage compression capabilities as well as for offering very high-resolution cameras. Red was also among the first camera companies to offer an 8K cinema camera. New Red cameras start in the four to five-figure range, typically costing anywhere from about $6,000 to over $45,000 not including accessories like lenses. But this is on the more affordable end of the price spectrum for high-end cinema cameras compared to new Arri cameras, which typically cost over $50,000.
Nikon's Red acquisition may help it better compete with Sony and Canon, which are already established in the digital cinema market. But Nikon will also have to compete with Blackmagic, which is known for its high-resolution, smaller cinema cameras at lower price points.