ARRI Launches ALEXA Mini LF
- Thread starter Teddy_Dem
- Start date
Haha thanks funny guy, perhaps got technical aspects good enough, working on better storytelling + creative editing + entertainment value
marvinhello
Well-known member
Can we keep the discussion a little more relevant please? Commenting on/judging the personal style of a professional cinematographer is just borderline offensive. Everybody is free to wear whatever she/he likes.
This was a discussion about an advertisement video- the wardrobe is part of the art direction/actors, it didn't make sense- was interested in understanding why it was chosen as a prop/symbol. An advertisement is fantasy- not real. Isn't it like commenting on Spiderman's costume and some are offended saying people are making it personal about the actor?
Eric Coughlin
Veteran
We don't know for a fact that the DP was not given that beanie from his dying mother as a remembrance of his kid brother who died at the age of eight in a sledding accident.
NorBro
Major Contributor
If I had to unnecessarily obsess over one thing, I hate that they missed focus on this shot when she laughs. They pulled it back towards the end though. (The only reason it bothers me is because she fills up most of the frame as they move and it's noticeable...plus it's a cool 'missed' moment.)
And I don't think it was even an accident. The focus was on him when he was speaking and I think the laugh was just spontaneous.
I can't imagine how difficult it is to be a focus-puller.
And I don't think it was even an accident. The focus was on him when he was speaking and I think the laugh was just spontaneous.
I can't imagine how difficult it is to be a focus-puller.
I don't really have an opinion on Spiderman's costume (I'm sure that's the reason for the downvote, sorry about that downvoter), seems reasonably functional, though the color choice might not be everyone's cup of tea. Now Superman's cape, that's just silly. Even sillier is Batman copying him- don't superheroes think for themselves?! On that note, Mike Judge's genius works Office Space and Idiocracy are some of my favorite documentaries.
Bet your A6400/X-T30 would have nailed it
. On a serious note, future light field computational cameras will be able to adjust focus as desired in post. In fact, one could even write an app right now, that is if iOS allows one to save out the 3D depth map as a separate monochrome video file, one could compute DOF in post. If a depth sensor could be integrated with an Alexa and shoot everything with deep DOF, the same thing is possible today. Even when the depth sensors have parallax to the image sensor, it can all be combined via correlation in post fairly easily.
NorBro
Major Contributor
It was supposed to be this one!
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explor...focus-and-determine-depth-field-after-capture
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explor...focus-and-determine-depth-field-after-capture
Perhaps a little before its time- at least they got $40M when they sold it: https://nofilmschool.com/2018/03/google-lytro-sale
A depth sensor on a Alexa might be more marketable/timely?
It looks like the camera discussion is almost there. A few years ago, I brought up that camera technology was going the way electric guitars and amps went - at some point, it's merely a preference rather than a qualitative improvement. BMD Cinema Camera brought "filmic" into the consumer range and recently GH-5s and XT3 - with an external recorder or not - brought the required investment down even further to the point that it's the operator rather than the camera that makes the real difference. YouTube is full of amateurs performing killer licks on the inexpensive Chinese Strat knock-offs. Wait until Netflix shoots a series on XT-3.
PS. Yes, Alexa with a $40,000 lens and top notch color grading stills looks better side by side ... but other, much more affordable, cameras already look "good enough" to my eye.
L16 does a multi-exposure multi-lens (16 in total but not all work at once) photography for $2,000. Quality is so-so and it's even less impressive, given its price, but a 3D type rig with two side-by-side sensors/lenses ought to accomplish this computation with a better quality on an Alexa LF type of a budget.Bet your A6400/X-T30 would have nailed it
PS. Of course, a multi-cam production ought to be able to do likewise.
Agree re: camera commoditization is here re: cost vs. quality.
One could use two Alexa's with a half-silvered mirror (to get lenses close enough together) and extract 3D depth from the stereo pair. From there you can compute DOF as desired (after shooting deep DOF). I wrote stereo 3D cross-correlation code years ago and it was really slow (CPU), however now on a GPU could be really fast and very high quality. Perhaps a useful exercise for a VFX heavy (already) 3D action movie.
New ARRI office in LA https://www.arri.com/en/company/pre...n-for-arri-inc-and-arri-rental-in-los-angeles
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
I may or may not be involved in a shoot soon - high pressure - at an airport that they can only give us the location for a short time.
Focus is the main 'worry' about this shoot, they want moving camera, narrow DOF and the clients product (something to do with passport scanning) to be sharp of course.
Its the sort of shoot where an Alexa mini is on the cards.
My hunch is that we should use a C200 or Nikon Z6 to be honest and track focus.
Back to this camera..Im sure impressed by the Alexa LF file.. but not having much focus aiding is a problem.
My buddy has a cheapo DJI drone.. It has a heap of little cameras on board that work as depth sensors. I think a truely teched up cinema camera should have that same range of positional understanding that the $1k drone has.
Focus is the main 'worry' about this shoot, they want moving camera, narrow DOF and the clients product (something to do with passport scanning) to be sharp of course.
Its the sort of shoot where an Alexa mini is on the cards.
My hunch is that we should use a C200 or Nikon Z6 to be honest and track focus.
Back to this camera..Im sure impressed by the Alexa LF file.. but not having much focus aiding is a problem.
My buddy has a cheapo DJI drone.. It has a heap of little cameras on board that work as depth sensors. I think a truely teched up cinema camera should have that same range of positional understanding that the $1k drone has.
The top of the line cine cameras could certainly use more focus/depth/distance tech, especially when drones have sophisticated depth sensors and AI controllers to process the depth data for comparatively peanuts (cost).
ARRI does provide the UDM-1 Ultrasonic Distance tool: https://www.arri.com/resource/blob/...-0-ultrasonic-distance-measure-udm-1-data.pdf
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
AF should be the new criteria ? Really ?
C'mon.
That sounds like upping the ante with each new advance as justification for not having to shell out the necessary cash for beng a player on the high end.
Truth is, on the level that those cameras are being used, you don't need good AF, you need a good f-cking 1st AC, and you have probably got one.
End of the day, there is only one thing which matters and I would have thought people would have got it by now.
Since film has been replaced by sensors, one needs to think of them like film stock.
What was your favorite film stock back in the day ? I mean the one you shot with the majority of the time ?
That's what you are going to use over and over again.
So then as a manufacturer like Arri, why would you discontinue production of a favorite and beloved film stock just because it's ten years old ?
Truth is most folks just prefer the Arri Look. That's it.
The extreme durability and simplicity of their cameras is the wrapping which seals the deal.
Right now Fuji's color science is pulling it upwards against other mirrorless manufacturer's for the same reason.
On other fronts RED is not losing market share to Arri. Which remains stable.
It's losing it to the Sony Venice. For the same reason. Great color science in a rugged, better box.
End of the day, you got to make the digital equivalent of a film stock that kicks butt.
Everything else is secondary.
C'mon.
That sounds like upping the ante with each new advance as justification for not having to shell out the necessary cash for beng a player on the high end.
Truth is, on the level that those cameras are being used, you don't need good AF, you need a good f-cking 1st AC, and you have probably got one.
End of the day, there is only one thing which matters and I would have thought people would have got it by now.
Since film has been replaced by sensors, one needs to think of them like film stock.
What was your favorite film stock back in the day ? I mean the one you shot with the majority of the time ?
That's what you are going to use over and over again.
So then as a manufacturer like Arri, why would you discontinue production of a favorite and beloved film stock just because it's ten years old ?
Truth is most folks just prefer the Arri Look. That's it.
The extreme durability and simplicity of their cameras is the wrapping which seals the deal.
Right now Fuji's color science is pulling it upwards against other mirrorless manufacturer's for the same reason.
On other fronts RED is not losing market share to Arri. Which remains stable.
It's losing it to the Sony Venice. For the same reason. Great color science in a rugged, better box.
End of the day, you got to make the digital equivalent of a film stock that kicks butt.
Everything else is secondary.
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morgan_moore
Major Contributor
Maybe maybe not.
Sure a good A/C is good but when you broaden the picture beyond shooting the classic movies that were shot T4 S35 focus is hard.
Peep those movies on your 4k monitor.. they are soft
Get in the world of VFX and mixing animated elements with physical shots bla.
The truth is my upcoming commercial shoot, the complexity of the shots and the time restrictions on location my personal feeling is that we should be testing a C200 AF for some of the shots. - I think it will outdo a decent A/C.
Of course the Canon AF might be fooled by something crossing frame, whatever. If arri was presenting AF that was dialled for cinematography and dealing with those challenges - working in synch with a decent AC then it would to me being something Id be really excited by.
Personally ive not really seen the C200 demoed as failing in the image department. The stock seems good - I might be wrong.
BTW I used to shoot and like kodachrome 64
Sure a good A/C is good but when you broaden the picture beyond shooting the classic movies that were shot T4 S35 focus is hard.
Peep those movies on your 4k monitor.. they are soft
Get in the world of VFX and mixing animated elements with physical shots bla.
The truth is my upcoming commercial shoot, the complexity of the shots and the time restrictions on location my personal feeling is that we should be testing a C200 AF for some of the shots. - I think it will outdo a decent A/C.
Of course the Canon AF might be fooled by something crossing frame, whatever. If arri was presenting AF that was dialled for cinematography and dealing with those challenges - working in synch with a decent AC then it would to me being something Id be really excited by.
Personally ive not really seen the C200 demoed as failing in the image department. The stock seems good - I might be wrong.
BTW I used to shoot and like kodachrome 64
puredrifting
Major Contributor
Maybe maybe not.
Sure a good A/C is good but when you broaden the picture beyond shooting the classic movies that were shot T4 S35 focus is hard.
Peep those movies on your 4k monitor.. they are soft
Get in the world of VFX and mixing animated elements with physical shots bla.
The truth is my upcoming commercial shoot, the complexity of the shots and the time restrictions on location my personal feeling is that we should be testing a C200 AF for some of the shots. - I think it will outdo a decent A/C.
Of course the Canon AF might be fooled by something crossing frame, whatever. If arri was presenting AF that was dialled for cinematography and dealing with those challenges - working in synch with a decent AC then it would to me being something Id be really excited by.
Personally ive not really seen the C200 demoed as failing in the image department. The stock seems good - I might be wrong.
BTW I used to shoot and like kodachrome 64
The C200 CRL image is good, very good with the right lighting and post. If I was in your position, not knowing what you have in mind as far as moves/storyboards,
I would hire an Arri and a pair of good ACs if you have the budget and lots of blocking and rehearsal time or if budget is a bit tighter, the C200 with one AC. Where I notice the C200 AF is particularly useful is when
you have little to no rehearsal and blocking. I shot a ton of dancers for dance tutorials for the YouTube Step Up: Highwater series last year. No rehearsals, no blocking, just shoot
all kinds of crazy dancing and the C200 AF saved my rear and kept 90% of everything in perfect focus, an AC could never had gotten even half the shots the
AF did.
The AF can be adjusted so response time is a bit slower which mitigates items and people crossing frame.
Object tracking is pretty good as long as object stays in the frame. It might be worth you renting or going to a rental house for a few hours to test it.
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