RED announces plan for dSLR, wages war on big boys

Leonard Goh | Sep 10, 2008

Image credit: RED

RED, the manufacturer of high-def video cameras has announced that it wants a piece of the dSLR market, and it might be banking on its expertise in imaging to do just that.

Jim Jannard, founder of RED Digital Cinema Camera Company, said in his forum that the company is developing a replacement for dSLRs and the unit would probably be unveiled late 2009. While the final name for the system has not been confirmed, it is now known as Digital Still and Motion Camera. With Motion in mind, we guess the shooters will come packed with video capture function as well, as what Nikon D90 now has.

According to Jannard, we can also expect higher resolution, increased dynamic range, more compact camera bodies and enhanced system flexibility. Some of his points bring to mind the Micro Four Thirds System that Olympus and Panasonic have announced last month, and Samsung's APS-C offering.

However, the lenses are going to be another factor to consider for RED. Is the company going to engineer its own lens mount and optics, or will it adopt another brand's such as Canon's EF-mount or Nikon's FX-mount? This will be one interesting development we'll be looking out for.

Jannard has some big plans, too. He said the company has "a more advanced view of the future" and is looking to "push the big guys along in feature sets and capabilities".

Considering their strong market position, Canon and Nikon may not have any cause for concerns now. However, it is interesting to see how the market will react to RED's new shooter when it is announced. We will be keeping a close watch on this.

Filed under: Digital Cameras
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