Its a wonderful time to be a photographer.

Expect a vicious war to be slugged out between Canon, Nikon and now RED over the next 3-5 years with these SLR/video hybrid cameras. Canon threatened RED’s modular approach to video with the 5D Mark ii. While the 5Dii isnt a RED Camera killer by any means, it IS big a step in that direction, and its dang cheap. There are many things the 5Dii doesnt have that I wish it did (variable frame rates, manual adjustment tools, recording in RAW video (a man can dream cant he?), etc.

RED has some huge competitive advantages that will be difficult for Canon and Nikon to overcome (think proprietary software that allows for RAW video recording, massive sensors like you have never heard before, etc), but with the resources Canon and NIkon have (think $$ and lots of smart dudes working or them) and manufacturing/distribution abilities (think ability to mass produce at low costs and get them out to the world ASAP) they have enough to make this a very nice battle to watch. I suspect Canon and Nikon will be rushing to get their own proprietary RAW video format working, RED will have to figure out where the heck the lenses will come from (probably adapters), while they develop their own.

We, photographers, will benefit greatly from this battle as each company will seek to come up with something to outdo the other, and they will try to do it quickly.

🙂RED Article

RED DSLR / Video Hybrid Modules