Nikon and Red just changed video cameras forever.
Or at least they might have to explain this, though.
I need you to imagine something with me.
Imagine a world
where diesel cars and mirrorless cameras could only take photos in JPEG.
In this world, raw photography was never invented,
so photographers have to always make sure they get their shots right.
In-camera
because their ability to edit their photos afterwards is severely limited.
This world would suck, right?
Well, I'm sorry to tell you that this world does exist,
but instead it exists in the world of video, not photo.
See, while photographers can buy
pretty much any mirrorless or DSLR camera today and know that
it will take raw photos that they can then manipulate extensively in Lightroom,
things are very different in the world of video.
While there are some video cameras
that can record raw video internally, the vast majority of them require you
to purchase an external raw recorder, like an atomos,
which greatly adds to the bulk of your filmmaking setup.
Now, why is this?
Why have we not seen greater innovation in the space of internal raw video
with most cameras?
Well, it all comes down to a little camera company called Red
and how they completely disrupted the filmmaking market in the early 2000s.
In short, Red was one of the first companies
to create a digital cinema camera that was capable of recording raw video.
But what they and their engineers realized was that unlike raw photos
where you are taking a few frames at a time recording
24 frames per second of raw video means that the file sizes
are going to get out of hand very quickly.
To avoid this, Red created a compressed raw video format which essentially makes
the file sizes dramatically smaller while not losing any of the video quality.
This was revolutionary because at a time when raw video was in its infancy,
Red had created a way to make it viable for essentially any camera to record high
quality raw video in a relatively small file size.
This was also the turning point, the moment where the world of video
as we know it was created.
Because instead of the world of video, following the world of photo where
every single DSLR
and mirrorless camera that you buy these days can take raw photos.
Red instead chose to patent this compressed raw video capability
and make it so that their cameras are the only cameras
capable of recording compressed internal raw video.
This was huge
and it has had massive repercussions for the video industry as a whole.
Red essentially blocked the rest of the camera industry from doing
something as basic as video compression.
But I also can't really blame Red for it.
They saw the opportunity to create a major differentiating factor for their cameras
and they took it and the patent office said, That looks good to us.
Here's where me and other people have a problem though,
and that is with the patent that Red chose to file.
To be clear, I'm not a patent lawyer, so this is just the best of my understanding.
And red fanboys, please don't kill me either.
Anyways, Red's patent that they received for their compressed internal raw video
has been called overly broad, and this is something that I completely agree with.
See, the way that the patent is worded doesn't just protect the specific way
that red compressed thereof video.
It basically precludes any other camera manufacturer from implementing compressed
internal raw video in even a remotely similar way in their cameras.
This is why your Sony camera, like the one that I'm using
to record this video right now, cannot record Internal Raw.
Instead, it needs to use an external recorder.
This is also why Canon was able to implement raw internal video
in something like the R5.
But the file sizes are truly ginormous
because they are not allowed to compress that internal raw video.
In short, if a camera manufacturer implements compressed raw video
internally in their camera, Red's lawyers will very quickly act to sue them.
Today, Red has sued Sony for trying to implement compressed
internal raw with their cinema cameras.
They have sued canned affinity.
They are rumored to have threatened DJI for planning
to include compressed internal raw in their Ronin 4D.
And they've even sued Apple.
Yes, Apple, the mega company that you know, can afford good lawyers.
It doesn't matter.
All of these companies have lost a thread and been forced
to not include compressed raw video in their cameras.
Now, I'm sure you're thinking that.
What about Blackmagic?
They have compressed raw video in their cameras,
and you are correct, but they didn't initially.
The original Black
Magic Cinema camera recorded uncompressed raw to avoid Red's patent.
And it wasn't until Blackmagic created Blackmagic raw, which is compressed raw.
But it's not true raw.
It's actually partially de Bayard and this is getting way too complicated.
Just know that it's a different enough raw to get around Red
suing them, but just barely.
Anyways, here we are the year 2023 at the time of making this video, and up
until this point, Red has been suing essentially any company
that implements compressed raw video into oblivion.
But hold up because the story ain't over yet.
We have one last camera company to talk about, a little company
that's been around for almost 100 years longer than Red called Nikon.
In 2022, Nikon released the Z9 camera, which is fantastic,
and which I also reviewed
and I will link to Up in the corner and down in the video description.
A few months after releasing this camera, Nikon released a firmware update for it
that added the ability for the camera to record compressed internal raw,
almost as if they were daring red to sue them and sue them at red dead.
But instead of rolling over Nikon chose to fight red in court.
And in April 2023, a very surprising thing happened,
something that if you asked me to predict, I never would have guessed.
Nikon one kind of
or at least they essentially one see one of Red's
biggest strengths as a camera company is their patent on raw video recording.
And I really think that they don't want to have that patent invalidated in court.
And while I don't know exactly what happened between Nikon and Red,
I'm betting that Nikon got really close to invalidating Red's patent.
And so instead of letting that happen, Red and Nikon
essentially decided to settle specifically in legal terms.
Red case against Nikon was dismissed.
And this means two big things.
First, Nikon gets to continue using compressed internal raw recording
in their current cameras, as well as, I assume, all of their future cameras,
like the Nikon Z eight, which also has raw recording
as well as more cameras in the future as well.
This is huge.
But on the flip side, because the case was dismissed
and no official ruling was made,
Red still gets to keep their internal compressed raw recording patents.
So what does all this mean for the future?
Well, as I said at the start of this video, I believe that
Nikon and Red may have just changed video cameras forever, because I believe
that this is the first sign of a crack appearing in reds armor.
And the first of what I hope is a larger shift
toward the world of video, looking more like the world of photo
where compressed internal raw video recording is available in every camera.
Red still holds their patent, but clearly Nikon got them to blink in court.
And I really hope that all the other camera companies
the Red sued and won against in the past are taking notice.
I would love to see Sony Canon and others discover what Nikon did
and work to relitigate things with Red, where they will be able to implement
compressed internal raw recording in all of their cameras in the future.
Is that going to happen?
I don't know.
But for the first time in literally decades,
we have the potential to be seeing a lot of innovation
in the internal compressed, raw recording space.
And I can't help but feel that if all these camera manufacturers
were working on Compressed raw, we would see dramatically smaller file
sizes and filming in raw wouldn't be some novelty
that you only do if you're filming a feature length film or documentary.
But people could be filming
and raw for any video because the file sizes are so small.
If you want to watch more about Nikon, what they're doing with Compressed Raw,
I will link to my Nikon camera views below
and I will also link down below to my color Presets.
Who is Matt Lutz that will enable you to get amazing colors in your video
regardless of whether you are filming in raw or not.
Also down below you will find a link to my free guide to edit videos.
Like a pro.
This guy is going to walk you
some of the most important steps that you can take
to edit your videos better and it is completely free.
Thanks so much for watching and have a great day.