When Kinefinity announced the MAVO Edge 8K, one feature that surprised us the most was the internal ProRes RAW recording. This is because RED has a patent on recording compressed internal RAW, and other manufacturers, like Blackmagic Design, Canon, and Sigma, have engineered workarounds for its cameras that don't infringe upon the patent. Apple even tried to challenge the patent but lost

Kinefinity has now changed course, announcing on social media that it "will not implement ProRes RAW at first" when it comes to the MAVO Edge 8K. While unfortunate, they also said they "will continue to focus on the optimization of Apple ProRes, especially the ProRes444/XQ on the current and future product line." 


Additionally, starting March 1, Kinefinity will remove CinemaDNG from MAVO LF, MAVO 6K, and TERRA 4K cameras and drop their plans for the KRW2.0 codec. We're assuming the removal will come via a firmware update. The current firmware is KineOS 6.5 (Nov. 2020), so if you don't want CinemaDNG removed, simply don't update the firmware they release. However, sometime down the line, there may be a critical update where you will need to anyway. 

Kinefinity goes on to say that most of its users prefer Apple ProRes because of its optimized debayer algorithm that provides better image quality, and that KineLog3 and Apple ProRes provide the full dynamic range, especially shooting ProRes444. While true, a RAW format option is always nice to have in your back pocket. 

Even with the internal compressed codecs removed, the MAVO Edge 8K will still be a solid camera once it starts shipping. We reached out to Kinefinity to find out the exact reason why they pulled the codecs, and also if ProRes RAW will be implemented either internally or externally via Atomos. We will update this post if we find out any new information.