ARRI Alexa
- Thread starter NorBro
- Start date
DustinSchmidt
Well-known member
Just jumping in to comment, "wow". If you need an Alexa, hard to beat that price. If you have all of the media, etc. What's the battery mount on it?
DustinSchmidt
Well-known member
If only this fit into my current workflow... and I didn't already have 3 cinema cameras! I'd love an Alexa, but it would be a nostalgia purchase at this point for me. But I do wish you luck!!! It's a great camera!
NorBro
Veteran
I hear you...at this point in my life if this is the last camera I own, so be it, this is the one I want to own.
If I'm alive and well, filming something in 2035, even 2030, with an Alexa would be special.
The amounts of them dropped on eBay and I'm thinking in 5, 10 years they are either nonexistent or biddings start at $100K, ha.
If I'm alive and well, filming something in 2035, even 2030, with an Alexa would be special.
The amounts of them dropped on eBay and I'm thinking in 5, 10 years they are either nonexistent or biddings start at $100K, ha.
Run&Gun
Veteran
It's kind of crazy that today, you can't even (essentially) give away an Alexa. The ALEV III sensor still produces one of the best images to ever come out of a digital camera. A baked-in rec709 ProRes image straight out of an Alexa or Amira still looks better than 3/4 of the cameras out there, after their images have gone though post.
Zachadoodle
Well-known member
You can sell it as a trade in if nothing else?
NorBro
Veteran
I'd get like $800 for it and it's just not worth it, I could use it on one random shoot I have in the year and make a few thousand off of it for the day
Run&Gun
Veteran
That’s one of the things that’s always kept me from selling my cameras. If they’re still worth anything on the used market, I’m still using it and making as much or more with it, than I would selling it, if I could even sell it, at that point.
I have a buddy with an F55 that’s been trying to sell his for a few years. I’ve seen them for around $3K on eBay. Not worth selling, for me. I bet I’ve used mine at least half-a-dozen times this year. Unless a repair pops up, even if it’s not out working, it costs me nothing to keep a camera that’s been paid off for the better part of a decade. But I’m also a pack-rat, too…
Run&Gun
Veteran
Yes sir. I've had it just over a year, now. It's actually out on a several month rental with a client, right now. Which is perfect, because I'm on a college football package with my VariCam doing live shows/ENG for a network client.
scorsesefan
Veteran
Norbro, have you tried Facebook Marketplace? A lot of lowballers, but I find it gets more response than Craigslist/dvxuser nowadays...
Zachadoodle
Well-known member
NorBro, my house is jammed pack with equipment and books. It needs less not more. That camera while of course a professional camera, is too big and bulky. You'd have to get a special tripod made specifically for that camera that costs thousands of dollars. Next, there is the need to rig it out completely to make use of it, which is pretty expensive. So you're 1200 is actually: 1200 plus 24000 of supporting equipment.
NorBro
Veteran
24000 what? dollars? lol
I do hear you about some of that stuff and I don't think it's really a camera for you (I wouldn't want you to waste your money even if you were considering it).
It's really more for seasoned operators/filmmakers who really know what this is and what they are doing; ones mostly interested in using an old Alexa on random shoots which allow it or their own passion projects.
Compared to mirrorless', it's really big and bulky - but in its most optimal shooting state (with a viewfinder on the shoulder), it's a pretty tight package, nothing crazy and similar to cameras from 30 years ago.
Biggest problem by far is it's heavy. Heavy for most people, but especially heavy for many who aren't in the best shape, are on the weaker side, and/or have a bad back/etc. after decades of shooting.
As far as the tripod, it used to be that way but now you can find one for about $300 (like the Chinese one I use that supports up to 30lb, my rig maxed out at 25lbs). Sure, if you'd like the most precise micro-movements supporting that weight you will spend thousands, but you'll also spend those thousands on one supporting 10-15lbs less, too, the good brands.
A full set of PL lenses, lots of cards, lots of batteries, no doubt, a few more thousands, minimum (but not $24,000).
But I knew what I was doing when I bought it and I knew I'd use it indoors with AC power and one lens, so my rigging investment wasn't thousands. It was $800 for one PL lens and two cards and a reader (I already had a SDI monitor).
But besides that, it was more for curiosity. I don't know if you've been around long enough to know I've used over 100 cameras and have talked a lot about cameras here over the years, but I needed to own an Alexa at some point in my life to complete my journey.
The total cost I spent for this, for everything, was about $5500 and even if I lost every penny, it doesn't matter, it is absolutely nothing in a lifetime of making a living.
People, not celebrities, just rich people or some with some extra money spend hundreds of thousands on cars and vacation houses and jewelry and random luxuries every year.
This experience of getting to know and use an ARRI Alexa was worth it to me.
DustinSchmidt
Well-known member
I've nearly jumped into the used Alexa club a few times, but have always held off for some reason or another.
Most recently I saw a used Alexa SXT Plus for sale over on Reduser.com by a guy who apparently was the steadicam operator on Hawaii 5-0.
He started out at $12k in Feb. of 2024 and after no bites, listed it at $6500!!! in August. It finally sold at that insane price about a month later in Sept.
The SXT Plus apparently has all of the features of the Alexa Mini or Amira, so the 4k upscale, frame rates, anamorphic, ability to use Cfast, etc. but just in the larger body size.
Even though the HD image out of the earlier Alexas is still a gold standard, the ability to have the 4k was a big selling point to me and I was tempted. But, again, more of a want than a need.
We live in interesting times.
Most recently I saw a used Alexa SXT Plus for sale over on Reduser.com by a guy who apparently was the steadicam operator on Hawaii 5-0.
FOR SALE: ARRI Alexa SXT PLUS Camera Body
FOR SALE: Alexa SXT PLUS Camera Body (SN:6693) Includes the following: PRO RES CODEC OPTION QUICK TIME FILE FORMAT OPTION HIGH SO=PEED LICENSE KEY ANAMORPHIC DE-SQUEEZE LICENSE DN X HD CODEC OPTION EVF-1 ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER (S/N 5869) AB GOLD MOUNT BATTERY BACK VMB-3 VIEWFINDER MOUNTING...
reduser.net
He started out at $12k in Feb. of 2024 and after no bites, listed it at $6500!!! in August. It finally sold at that insane price about a month later in Sept.
The SXT Plus apparently has all of the features of the Alexa Mini or Amira, so the 4k upscale, frame rates, anamorphic, ability to use Cfast, etc. but just in the larger body size.
Even though the HD image out of the earlier Alexas is still a gold standard, the ability to have the 4k was a big selling point to me and I was tempted. But, again, more of a want than a need.
We live in interesting times.
NorBro
Veteran
Whether you do it yourself in post (I drop the 12-bit 2K into a 4K timeline) or through one of the later upscaling cameras, they both look great because the sensors and codec with the ARRI DR and color science are so good - but they are both fake and I wouldn't feel good about it if I had to deliver 4K to someone paying for it and expecting it (someone who wouldn't know, not like a tech-savvy producer or post house).
You should really get your hands on one Dustin (if you never have), the IQ is something else.
Most 4K cameras look worse than 2K from the ARRI.
A young NorBro would have NEVER believed that in the past, resolution was everything to him.
True DR and color is everything.
You should really get your hands on one Dustin (if you never have), the IQ is something else.
Most 4K cameras look worse than 2K from the ARRI.
A young NorBro would have NEVER believed that in the past, resolution was everything to him.
True DR and color is everything.
DustinSchmidt
Well-known member
I love the soft sell!
Haha, I'd have to say I agree with everything you've said. I've actually never shot anything on Alexa, but of course know the reputation. It's always been Canon, Sony and RED in my world, although there's certainly the occasional ARRI camera that's around.
For the most part my clients don't know and care about cameras, so the more budget conscious stuff is what I tend to go with.
One day maybe...
CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
It's not your fault for not knowing the name Greg Lundsgaard, there are plenty of A-list Steadicam and camera operators who quietly toil away for decades without becoming household names, as it were. Even some of the younger Steadicam operators might not be familiar with him. Check out his IMDB--it scrolls forever and there are many massive movies on there from back in the day. I just couldn't quite push past Greg being described as the Steadicam operator on Hawaii 5-0 without saying something!
Gregory Lundsgaard | Camera and Electrical Department, Actor
Known for: Drive, True Romance, Minority Report
www.imdb.com