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RED slammed for “DESTROYING the camera industry” with patent trolling

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RED seems to have been fraught with controversy pretty much since they first launched way back in 2005. The big issue at the moment – and for most of the last few years – has been their patents covering raw video. It’s a long drawn out topic that’s currently being fought out between RED and Nikon after Nikon’s inclusion of N-RAW in the Nikon Z9. Nikon’s disputing it, seemingly arguing that RED shouldn’t have been granted in the first place.

Well, now another voice has entered the fray, Theo Browne from t3.gg, with his opinion on what’s going on. He posted the video on his second channel, Theo Rants, stating that while RED was one of the early pioneers of 4K digital video, they’re now actively in the process of destroying the camera industry. A pretty strong accusation!

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RED has been granted a new patent covering Compressed RAW in all video-capable devices including smartphones

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The words “RED” and “patent” are pretty familiar bedfellows. They’ve used their raw video patents to strongarm every other camera manufacturer from being able to implement raw video in their camera without RED’s approval (and a hefty fee), even if those companies have developed their own raw video technologies. Now, they’ve filed – and been granted – a new patent over compressed raw video.

The new US patent number 11,503,294, joints three other RED patents relating to compressed raw video (8,872,933, 9,479,749 and 9,787,878), but this new one seems to encompass devices other than just cinema cameras. In fact, pretty much any device that’s potentially capable of capturing compressed raw video, including smartphones and even sensor technologies they don’t own or use – like Sigma’s Foveon.

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Nikon is trying to invalidate RED’s raw video patent, arguing it shouldn’t have been granted in the first place

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It’s no secret that RED is very protective of its patents, particularly the one covering the internal recording of compressed raw video. They’ve pursued it pretty relentlessly over the years, stifling the competition and probably setting back camera development by quite a few years. DJI and Kinefinity are rumoured to have removed their internal raw capabilities over RED’s threats. More recently, however, RED’s sights have been aimed towards Nikon.

Nikon announced in April that the Nikon Z9 was going to gain internal 12-Bit ProRes RAW and 8K 12-Bit N-RAW in a firmware update. The very next month, RED sued them over patent infringement claims as a result. In September, Nikon denied that they’d done so and now we know why. They’re claiming RED should’ve never been granted the patent in the first place and this video from FrameVoyager summarises the whole saga in probably the best way I’ve seen so far.

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Nikon denies RED’s infringement accusations, ready to prove it in court

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Earlier this year, RED filed a lawsuit against Nikon blaming them for illegally copying their video compression patent. Nikon announced the new version 2.0 firmware for the Nikon Z9, and RED claimed that Nikon illegally infringed on seven patents that deal with “a video camera that can be configured to highly compress video data in a visually lossless manner.”

However, Nikon isn’t ready to give in without a fight. The company recently answered to RED’s accusations, claiming that they deny every allegation of the infringement. And from Nikon’s statement, it appears that they’re ready to prove their claims in court and challenge RED’s lawsuit.

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Did you know that RED was promoting a 28K resolution cinema camera back in 2008?

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RED has had a pretty… interesting history. With marketing campaigns often filled with a lot of big promises and hype that really failed to deliver, Well, it’s not just a one-off. RED has had a habit of rejecting your reality and substituting their own (I’m being nice) and misleading customers for quite a while now. Not least of which was the claim that they designed and made their own sensors from scratch.

But this interesting video popped up today covering a topic that I don’t remember ever hearing anything about before. In 2008, RED announced their new series of cameras with multiple sensor options including a massive 28K resolution 617 Mysterium Monstro sensor. It’s part of Frame Voyager’s “Abandoned Cameras” series and it’s a fascinating series to spend some time watching!

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RED sues Nikon for infringement on video compression patent

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High-end video camera brand RED is suing Nikon for illegally copying their video compression patent. Nikon introduced the system in their new firmware 2.0 update for the Z9 mirrorless camera. With the 2.0 update, the Z9 can capture 8.3K RAW video at up to 60 frames per second in Nikon’s new “N-RAW format” or up to 4.1K at 60 frames per second ProRes RAW HQ.

The lawsuit was filed in a southern California federal court and asserts that the Japanese camera manufacturer and its United States subsidiaries have illegally infringed on seven patents that deal with “a video camera that can be configured to highly compress video data in a visually lossless manner.”

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TTArtisan launches silver anodised version of their 50mm f/0.95 lens for Leica M

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Initially released last year, TTArtisan has expanded its colour options for their 50mm f/0.95 lens for Leica M mount once again. As well as the standard black and limited edition shiny “Silver Black” and red versions, there is now an anodised silver version available. Unlike the other non-black models, this one doesn’t appear to be a limited edition.

As well as the various Leica M mount versions of the lens, TTArtisan also released a very limited run of Sony E and Fuji X mount versions of the lens last year – they only made 20 of each. Like the other Leica M mount versions, though, the lens is identical in spec other than the colour.

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This hands-on review of the RED Komodo contains the best footage I’ve seen it produce so far

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Recently, we posted a video by filmmaker Joey Helms about his shiny new RED Komodo 6K camera, and five reasons why you might want to get one. He got a lot of questions asked in response to posting that video, so he’s created this 30-minute follow up to provide a full hands-on review and blast through as many of those questions as possible.

Joey seems to know what he’s talking about with this camera, too, as the video shows some of the finest sample footage I’ve seen shot with the RED Komodo so far. Whether that’s down to the camera settings used or the work he does in post, I’m not entirely sure but he sure makes that thing look pretty amazing.

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Five reasons why you might want to get a Komodo 6K cinema camera

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The RED Komodo 6K cameras are still so new that there isn’t even an official page for them on the RED website yet. But the cameras have now started to ship to a few lucky people. Filmmaker Joey Helms has received his white “Storm trooper edition” RED Komodo and in this video, he walks us through an overview of the camera, why he chose to get one and some footage he’s shot since receiving it.

The footage in the video looks pretty spectacular, as one would expect from a RED camera. But the little Komodo is a fraction of the cost of many of its larger siblings. Despite costing only around $6-7,000, though, it boasts an impressive set of specs. According to a recent update from Jared Land, the specs are final, although the first early cameras may require some firmware updates to iron out some bugs.

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