At the Nikon booth at CP+ 2026, in the area dedicated to the Z Cinema range, one camera body caught everyone’s attention: a Nikon ZR clad in a neon green shell emblazoned with the name “Bayhem” and the double logo “Nikon | RED.”
The name is a contraction of “Bay” and “mayhem,“ a nod to the stylistic signature of the director of Armageddon and the Transformers saga. The dual branding reflects the convergence between the two brands since Nikon’s acquisition of RED in 2024.
Displayed in a glass case, the camera body was exhibited alongside its various detachable shell parts. Although one might refer to it as a “skin,” it is actually much more than that: the neon green shell does not simply cover the Nikon ZR, it completely replaces the original shell of the camera body once assembled.
This isn’t the first time a camera has been customized for Michael Bay in this instantly recognizable color. In 2016, RED designed the “Helium Bayhem,” a RED Weapon customized in fluorescent yellow-green, which was used on the set of Transformers: The Last Knight. RED also created the “Xenomorph” for David Fincher, with a very different approach.
By reviving this tradition within the Z Cinema ecosystem, Nikon is sending a clear message: the RED legacy lives on, and the brand intends to win over Hollywood studios, starting with Michael Bay.
Jared Land, former CEO of RED, shared a short video of Michael Bay on Instagram in which Bay says, “I’m the first person in the world to have this camera.” Does this mean there will be a limited edition available for sale? As the Japanese officials we interviewed at CP+ often tell us, “please expect.“
