Arri Alexa HD for 30K

G

Gillvane

Veteran
"The Arri Alexa HD shares many of the same characters as it’s bigger brother (and many will argue the most important); same 14 stop dynamic range, native ISO of 800, SXS card capture, C-log recording in 10bit up to 120FPS. It does this by offering the same 2880X1620 sensor found in the standard Alexa (not the later 4:3 version which is designed for anamorphic recording)."

http://www.cinema5d.com/news/?p=19918

Definitely not in the prosumer range at $30,000 USD but just shows how much technology is getting cheaper and cheaper from just about every manufacturer.

Doesn't shoot RAW, just HD.
 
Good for Arri, they consistently make the best engineered and designed cameras period. Sony emulates, and Red, with it's own strengths, could only dream to have the stability and ease of functionality.

Same 14 stop dynamic range, native ISO of 800, SXS card capture, C-log recording in 10bit up to 120FPS.
Click to expand...
Sold!

Many feature films, especially the bigger ones, who would use an Alexa will likely not use this, however you'd be flabergasted to know how many television shows and commercials ONLY shoot to SXS ProRes 444! It's a fast turn around workflow and it highly favored. Yes, the future will be 4k, but for television now and commercials now, HD is still the norm and despite what others say, 90% of workflows die in 1080 HD. Argue a bunch but I can provide a list of television shows that go straight to SxS and it would serve as a good counter arguement that this is more than good enough for the immediate use in the industry.

This is good news for Arri, it seems they will be now have an answer for lower cost camera alternatives and will open the door to many filmmakers who could never afford an Alexa to begin with.

Just did two-three Alexa jobs in a row, and I must say they impress me every time, and I have a feeling I'll be seeing more now that there is a less expensive Alexa option.



QUESTIONS:

Now what is this codec purchasing business model that is creeping into the camera world? Not sure I understand what comes with the camera versus what is needed to be purchased. First with recorders and now with cameras? $14,000?! Not thrilled about that. Makes it a lot less attractive going from 30,000 to 44,000. It's also misleading by Arri. 30,000 camera, but you HAVE to buy a 14,000 codec package? What is that about?

Can you share a codec package amongst multiple cameras, such as rental house? Can you buy one 14,000 package and two bodies for 74,000? Otherwise, they need to drop the 30k act and list it as 44k because as of now I can't tell how you can use an Alexa HD with the 30,000 camera only (with accessories obviously :) )

Is it lighter? Would love to see the camera body weight drop to around 10lbs from the current 15, considering Red is at 5 and people love that. That said, Alexa's are tanks and that weight/strength is sometimes a blessing in disguise.

Arri has LDS, but does it also have i/tech... I assume it does, since everyone else uses it over LDS.... but just curious.


Again, kudos to Abel and Mitch. They do a wonderful job releasing info about the bleeding edge of new cinema gear.
 
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So you need to buy the camera for $30K, but you can't use it until you shell out another $14K for the codec? Did I read that right?
 
This is total speculation, but I would imagine that the $30K camera has an uncompressed HD output that can be recorded to an external device but to get the Pro-Res to SXS cards you need the codec package.
 
The big question for me would be can you buy the HD since you can switch out the side module for a plus. Can you also switch out the card module for RAW recording later? Or would you have to buy a XT from the beginning? You can switch out any current Alexa body card module for a XT upgrade, but does that now include the HD, or is there too much internal hardware to switch?
 
To answer some questions:

First off, I'll take the fall on the $30K price. It was a miscommunication internally at AbelCine and we should not have initially listed it as such. The camera comes bundled with the ProRes/QuickTime/SxS card functionality only which is why we relisted the product at the proper price. I just wish I'd caught it before we went live. My bad, and certainly not attempting to bait & switch. It is still about $15K less expensive than any other ALEXA camera.

XR upgrading: No, there is internal differences between the camera models than makes this impossible. Similarly, ARRIRAW and 2K ProRes are not possible with the ALEXA HD.

There may be some weight and power usage reductions but they will be minimal.

LDS & i/data: With the Plus upgrade comes LDS. I have heard talk of I/data coming some day in the future for ALEXA cameras, but I don't know any more than this.


Happy to answer any other questions. I've been getting LOTS of emails and phone calls. ;-)
 
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