When the RED EPIC was first announced, one of the big selling points from RED's perspective was the fact that the camera could be used for both stills and video. Until now though, the only still camera lenses that could work natively on the EPIC and SCARLET have been from Canon (and more recently some older Leica lenses). RED produced that electronic mount in two versions, aluminum and titanium, and it has been very popular on the SCARLET camera to use lower-cost (but high quality) lenses. Those mounts also allow the use of autofocus and ability to control the iris directly from the camera. The long-awaited Nikon version is now not only available in the store, but is supported in the new firmware update that was just released.
First, here are the significant changes in the new firmware version 3.3.12:
- Fix error in Playback when switching rapidly between HDRx clips
- Fix min/max frame-rate/exposure in HDRx mode
- Fix Security Erase for 512GB Mag
- Fix intermittent mount of 512GB Mag
- Fix to apply AF mode presets
- Fix REDmote upgrade notification
- Fix display of max frame rate
- Fix guides in playback regardless of "Load Image Metadata" checkbox
- Fix sensor frame rate info in UI for certain exposure error case
- Fix metadata for user time-code preference
- Added Nikon Mount support
Here is the Aluminum mount on top followed by the Titanium mount on the bottom:
Canon might have a more popular mount for video at the moment thanks to their DSLRs, but there are still plenty of Nikon lenses in the wild that can be just as useful for video. Even though there are dumb mount solutions for the Nikon lenses from third parties, this is the first officially supported mount that handles the G series lenses without an iris ring -- and will also be able to use the autofocus function.
Of course, with anything RED, these solutions aren't going to be like buying a $30 Nikon to Canon adapter. These are fully electronic lens mounts that also feature a positive lock (like professional lens mounts) to ensure even the heaviest lenses are secure. The titanium mount is technically stronger and will supposedly not be affected by large temperature changes, but other than that, the aluminum mount is the same. The Aluminum mount is going to run $800 and the Titanium mount is retailing for $2,200. RED now offers four different mounts with their DSMC cameras: PL, Canon, Nikon, and Leica M.
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