Nikon global shutter holy grail closer than ever after RED acquisition

Nikon just announced that it would be acquiring cinema camera maker RED in order to "expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market," giving us little to go by on what to expect from the pair for now.

In Nikon's press release announcing the acquisition, it noted, however, that RED will act as a subsidiary under Nikon, so it's safe to assume that RED cameras will continue to get support for the time being. It's also worth noting that Nikon is now one of two mainstream camera manufacturers that has access to professional- and consumer-grade global shutter tech after Sony announced the A9 III (curr. $5,998 on Amazon) in late 2023.

In addition to global shutter, RED brings with it its famous Redcode RAW compression, which does an impressive job of balancing fidelity and file size when filming on RED cameras.

Nikon has not yet offered any hints as to which of these technologies it plans to bring to its own line-up of hybrid and photography company, and it will obviously take a while before it does so, anyway, since the deal hasn't even completely closed just yet.

It is clear, however, that faster shutter read-out is a goal for Nikon, especially given that recent models, like the Nikon Z9 (curr. $5,496.95 on Amazon) and Nikon Z8 (curr. $3,696.95 on Amazon) completely forego a mechanical shutter, leaving photographers and videographers at the mercy of whatever rolling shutter effects are still present. Global shutter is almost clearly the next step for Nikon and the camera industry as a whole, especially with regard to high-end sports and wildlife photography.