Nikon buys high-end cinema camera company RED

Nikon has announced that it is buying RED, a high-end motion picture camera company, for an undisclosed sum. In a statement, the camera giant, which has suffered along with much of the imaging industry in recent years, said that RED will become a wholly owned subsidiary, as established by On the edge. RED currently has about 220 employees and no layoff plans have been announced in response to the sale.

RED was founded in 2005 and since then its cameras have been used in popular productions including Squid game, Peaky Blinders and Captain Marvel — a market Nikon plans to expand into with this acquisition. Nikon has retreated from less profitable areas of the camera market in recent years, including ceasing development of new DSLRs

The move could benefit both parties, according to RED president Jared Lang shared on Facebook: “This strategic partnership brings together Nikon’s extensive history and experience in product development, image processing know-how, and optical technology and user interface with RED’s revolutionary digital cinema cameras and award-winning technologies.” RED Experience in 2018 to expand on its own (into smartphones, no less) didn’t last long, and the products were soon discontinued.

Interestingly, RED sued its new owner in 2022, alleging that Nikon knowingly used RED’s proprietary data compression technology in its Z9 camera. Nikon, for its part, argued the legitimacy of RED’s patents before the two companies agreed to a dismissal.