Red chief on DSLR warpath

With the release of its video-enabled D90, has Nikon begun the demise of the digital SLR as we know it? Jim Jannard thinks so.

Jannard is top dog at Red Digital Cinema. Red has gained notoriety in moving picture circles for its Red One digital movie camera which captures digital video that rivals film in quality.

Now that he has the tinsel types eating out of his popcorn box, Jannard appears ready to bring the hoi polloi into his universe, too. By the end of next year, he proclaims in a blog posting this week, Red will have a product it's calling a DSMC--Digital Still and Motion Camera--that will supplant DSLRs in the market.

"As Nikon and Canon release their 720P and 1080P, respectively, DSLRs with video capture... RED has a more advanced view of the future," Jannard writes. "We look forward to rapidly pushing the 'big guys' along in feature sets and capabilities."

Wait a minute. Did he say Canon? Either he knows something the rest of us don't or he's buying into the rumors that the Big C will trump the D90 with an HD-video-shooting mirrorsnapper before the Photokina show starts at the end of the month.

We've heard a lot of talk about rethinking the DSLR lately--most notably from the Micro Four Thirds crowd--but Jannard insists that only a company like Red can deliver a true out-of-the-box product.

"The strength of Red is in our sensor development program, Redcode, and having no legacy platforms to deal with," he asserts. "That left us free to explore, develop and prepare to deliver a new platform. DSMC."