Jump to content

All Arri Alexa News!


georg lamshöft

Recommended Posts

Stargate Studios tested the new ARRI Alexa by creating a short film called "World Cup." To see the "World Cup" as well as Behind the Scenes and Testimonials please visit Stargate's Channel:

 

www.stargatestudios.net/channel

 

It is truly a remarkable camera.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 53
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

The link didn't work for me, either. But I saw the Alexa presentation at the DGA last night. Even with the not so great black level on the projector, it's impressive. They've clearly leapfrogged the Red MX.

 

-- J.S.

 

Well Red MX is a camera I can shoot on now. A better comparison is Red Epic X vs Alexa. For one thing, there are very few people who could afford to own the higher-end Alexa that shoots only 60fps for a 2K finish. The Red Epic X, on the other hand, can shoot 5K 16:9 for a clean 4K finish at 96fps.... a very significant boost in both resolution and framerate, for less than half the price of the Arri.

 

In terms of rentals for TV shows, features, etc, what I would like to see are some side-by-side tests showing the dynamic range on a bright day in a jungle or desert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
Well Red MX is a camera I can shoot on now. A better comparison is Red Epic X vs Alexa. For one thing, there are very few people who could afford to own the higher-end Alexa that shoots only 60fps for a 2K finish. The Red Epic X, on the other hand, can shoot 5K 16:9 for a clean 4K finish at 96fps.... a very significant boost in both resolution and framerate, for less than half the price of the Arri.

 

In terms of rentals for TV shows, features, etc, what I would like to see are some side-by-side tests showing the dynamic range on a bright day in a jungle or desert.

 

True, the Alexa clearly isn't intended to compete with Red in the pro-sumer market. It'll be owned primarily by rental houses and the same insert and stock guys who bought the Arri III. At $70K instead of $450K, it pushes down the overlap area.

 

There's a diminishing returns issue cramming more photosites into the same area. Pixels and resolution aren't the same thing, and resolution isn't sharpness, which is what we really want. The right way to judge this is to shoot charts, not count pixels.

 

High frame rates aren't that big a deal. We bring on a Weisscam for the rare times that we need them.

 

Reliability is the final make or break issue for the industry.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't agree more with all of you guys.

 

It has become an increasing trend in the trade to talk more about the gadgets and the numbers than what you actually do with them. What matters ultimately is what ends up on the screen, and so far the Alexa has what I consider the most pleasing digital image that I've ever seen. Add to that the now-famous sturdy, easy to use design that has made Arri famous, and you've got a winner.

 

I love the Red, but it always had this subtle digital edge to it that bothered me. Alexa seems to be the answer to this.

 

I'll take 3, please. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Well Red MX is a camera I can shoot on now. A better comparison is Red Epic X vs Alexa. For one thing, there are very few people who could afford to own the higher-end Alexa that shoots only 60fps for a 2K finish. The Red Epic X, on the other hand, can shoot 5K 16:9 for a clean 4K finish at 96fps.... a very significant boost in both resolution and framerate, for less than half the price of the Arri.

 

 

 

Avatar was shot on mere 1080p and uprezzed to IMAX....so, I don't see how having to have 5K to finish for cinema is such an issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Avatar was shot on mere 1080p and uprezzed to IMAX.....

 

I only saw it on Blu-Ray, and even there it wasn't particularly crisp -- probably because of the 3D. And most of it wasn't shot on 1080p, because it wasn't "shot" at all. It's mostly CGI.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

1080p widescreen from a 2/3"-CCD-camera with Fujinon zoom-lenses (more than 600 lines with good contrast would be surprising!) cannot be "crisp" on a 28m-wide screen... But there's simply no usable digital camera that can generate 4k without massive interpolation anyway.

ALEXA has 3k native resolution to allow for large photosites - they are more than twice as large than RED allowing for larger DR and better noise handling - simple physics given comparable basic technical standards. That's why Nikon still has it's 12MP D3s and not just the 24MP D3x. It's not difficult to design or manufacture a sensor with high megapixel-count, generating a usable 4k-image from it (given the size limitation of Super35-systems) with a good workflow which is worth the hassle vs. "really good" 2k is the problem.

 

Another topic: Robert Richardson started shooting 3D with ALEXA for Scorseses new project and they seem to use this Pace-rig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIs9hm3AsnU. I wonder why they don't just use 35mm? A 3D-rig consisting of 35mm-cameras shouldn't be more heavy or larger than the ALEXA-rig!? Please don't tell me that producers don't want to pay for twice the film stock for Martin Scorsese...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Another topic: Robert Richardson started shooting 3D with ALEXA for Scorseses new project and they seem to use this Pace-rig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIs9hm3AsnU. I wonder why they don't just use 35mm? A 3D-rig consisting of 35mm-cameras shouldn't be more heavy or larger than the ALEXA-rig!? Please don't tell me that producers don't want to pay for twice the film stock for Martin Scorsese...

 

I think the Alexa makes more sense then 35mm for 3D as you can have real time full quality 3D preview. Not sure that would work as well off a video tap. 3D mirror rigs loose about a stop of light so the Alexa 800 ASA rating's a big help as well. And the quality gap between the Alexa and 35mm is probably very small

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for explanation, the preview and speed-issue (I totally forgot about the mirror) makes sense, although the alternative (ARRICAM Lite, HD-IVS + 5219) would offer HD-preview and 500ASA at about the same weight (~9kg per camera) and I would be very surprised to see quality even close to it from ALEXA. They vastly improved sensitivity, but how does that affect the look? The D-21 was still "just a video camera", IMHO. Richardson & Scorsese never seemed like big fans of this, but Scorsese making a child-book-adaptation in 3D (!!!) - maybe he just wants to experiment!?

Edited by georg lamshöft
Link to comment
Share on other sites

here's ARRI press release regarding shipping of Alexa and Scorsese's film:

 

http://www.arri.de/press/press_english/press_release.html?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=481&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1781&cHash=c17aa48330

 

and a quote from Roger Deakins via his official site, posted a week ago:

 

"The Arri specs on the Alexa seem totally honest and accurate. I was testing the camera yesterday and I found it the first (and right now the only) digital camera to produce an image with the resolution and range as one captured on film."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I had seen the new Alexa that was delivered in India there still is the issue of not being able to shoot arri raw and the recording medium issue still to resolved and at the moment you can only shoot HD and I found the strobe effect in the view finder distracting I speak from my 20 year experience as a DP the strobe effect becomes a factor when you are trying to do critical pans in tight range( whip pans) I have yet to do full test and test itvon the screen to see how well t works...

Will keep you posted

namaste

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hello, Adam, thanks for the info. What is your source ? Do you have a link ?

 

 

 

I know the DOP Manuel Alberto Claro and other crewmembers working on the shoot. They tested different digital cameras and chose the Alexa. From what i've heard they are happy with the results.

 

At a recent meeting with the press, when asked about the films aestetics, von Trier replied that the film is going to look like poop....

I doubt it though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

I know the DOP Manuel Alberto Claro and other crewmembers working on the shoot. They tested different digital cameras and chose the Alexa. From what i've heard they are happy with the results.

 

At a recent meeting with the press, when asked about the films aestetics, von Trier replied that the film is going to look like poop....

I doubt it though...

Very interesting, thanks a lot ! Do you have a link to this interview ? To pictures of your DP working or testing the Alexa ? Thanks again !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I just found an article about a company from Nürnberg named Solectrix who designed electronics for the HD-IVS and the Alexa.

http://www.eue24.net/pi/index.php?StoryID=253&articleID=176131

 

The interesting part:

They currently develop an on-board-flash-recorder (most likely to replace the DTE card module) for ARRI for uncompressed data up to 5.6Gbit/s (700MB/s)!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would also add "predictability" to reliability. We need tools which will work the same today as it did four months ago and which will respond to the same situation the same way.

 

 

This is a truly interesting point... I have recently been on a job where RED was a choice of the producers and not the DP (as it often happens back here in Russia for a variety of reasons), the RED was provided by the largest rental house in Moscow with a very solid reputation and great tech staff. More so, I have rented film cameras from these guys on a number of occasions (as these are the local authorized ARRI rental guys anyway). This particular time we've had a huge problem with the camera, it kept crashing for no apparent reason (mind you the conditions of the shoot were rather comfortable with no drastic temperature/humidity changes etc.) and no one could pinpoint the problem. As it is I was forced to cancel on that day, but I had to finish the shoot the other day anyhow, I decided to risk it all yet again and was given the ALEXA camera they just recently got. Again, these rental guys were kind of reluctant to give it to me since they have already had a cancelled shoot on their hands the previous day and the ALEXA was a little too new for them to guarantee anything. To make the story short - ALEXA was great and very usable, except for the fact that it doesn't record audio, which wasn't much of a problem for this particular production. I am actually not the advocate for RED or ALEXA as it is, but the fact is, here in Russia, currently ALEXA proven itself to be a bit more predictable, reliable and frankly more fun to use. Sorry for my English.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

I am actually not the advocate for RED or ALEXA as it is, but the fact is, here in Russia, currently ALEXA proven itself to be a bit more predictable, reliable and frankly more fun to use. Sorry for my English.

 

I think companies like Arri, having made cameras for the motion picture industry since 1924, have a greater understanding of the need for predictability in their camera design than newer entrants like RED, who only sold their first cameras in 2007.

 

I can order parts from Arri for a 30 year old film camera that will fit like a glove. That kind of attitude and support is reflected in their modern camera design.

 

I should admit a partisan outlook though, since the rental house I work for supplies the D21 and Alexa but no REDs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

Forum Sponsors

Broadcast Solutions Inc

CINELEASE

CineLab

Metropolis Post

New Pro Video - New and Used Equipment

Gamma Ray Digital Inc

Film Gears

Visual Products

BOKEH RENTALS

Cinematography Books and Gear



×
×
  • Create New...