Nikon announced today that it has agreed to acquire RED Digital Cinema, the renowned manufacturer of high-end digital cinema cameras, for an undisclosed price, making this its largest acquisition to date.
Founded in 2005 by Oakley founder Jim Jannard, RED Digital Cinema has established itself as a pioneer in digital cinema cameras. Headquartered in California, the company employs approximately 220 people and has made a name for itself with high-end cameras such as the RED One 4K and V-Raptor X.
These sensors and their cinematic gamma profiles have won fans among Hollywood"s top cinematographers. RED cameras have been used for countless feature films and television shows, such as The Killer, Rebel Moon, and Queen"s Gambit.
The acquisition will allow Nikon to tap into RED"s expertise in digital cinema technologies like image processing and color science. It also ends a patent dispute between the two companies over video compression technology from last year.
In a statement, RED President Jarred Land said this is a "significant milestone" that combines Nikon"s optical heritage with RED"s innovation.
Together, Nikon and RED are poised to redefine the professional digital cinema camera market, promising an exciting future of product development that will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in film and video production.
Nikon expressed its goal to expand into the professional digital cinema camera market with RED"s experience and talent. The company wrote in an official blog post;
Nikon will leverage this acquisition to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market, building on both companies" business foundations and networks, promising an exciting future of product development that will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in film and video production.
Over the past few years, consumer imaging has been growing. The acquisition of RED gives Nikon a foothold in the higher-margin digital cinema business.