First pics and leaked specs of Arri's new Alexa 35
- Thread starter d shay
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ahalpert
Major Contributor
speaking of which, Allard says this will probably serve as an Amira replacement. can it really do that at nearly double the price point?
I doubt that. The media is just too expensive. I could see a cheaper, Amira-like model with cfexpress cards coming in a couple of years.
rob norton
Veteran
Probably just Eric..
NorBro
Major Contributor
There are millions of dollars spent on so many non-production items and services that the cost of these cameras and media and any other accessories is like dry cleaning...it is nothing for many of the businesses seriously interested in them.
Now I doubt anyone on DVXuser is replacing any existing Amiras with them, but just saying.
And beautiful motion pictures per usual.
Now I doubt anyone on DVXuser is replacing any existing Amiras with them, but just saying.
And beautiful motion pictures per usual.
Amira is the oldest ARRI camera in heavy use, so that makes some sense and, with LF dominating the high end pro market, a twin sensor model might have to wait. Maybe this is ARRI's way of separating the niches.
Personally, I don't see too many people dumping LF's for this. At the same time, from a purely engineering perspective, making an LF/twin sensor camera with this sensor ought to be fairly easy. It's very modular .. so expect it in a couple of years time.
Grug
Veteran
I spoke to Arri today about getting a quote.
The camera does basically everything I’m looking for in an A-camera. And opens up some possibilities that literally haven’t existed before we reached this level of latitude in a camera.
My main remaining gripe is the limited internal NDs, but with over 7-stops of highlights at 200 ISO (and a significantly cleaner 800 ISO) it’s a non-issue to simply lower the ISO when you need exposures halfway between the 2-stop ND intervals.
Has anyone heard about the boot times yet?
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
making a twin sensor version is hard I herd somewhere.
the performance of the single sensor is helped by the buggins being hardwired to the biggins, which makes for a cleaner image but gets in they way ot making a twin sensor version.
the performance of the single sensor is helped by the buggins being hardwired to the biggins, which makes for a cleaner image but gets in they way ot making a twin sensor version.
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Izod Foldger
Member
I ordered one.
Grug, Matthew Allard on Newsshooter wrote, “Speaking of boot-up time the camera is reasonably slow at around 24 seconds from the time you turn it on until you get a picture and are able to record, however i’m told this will improve by launch time.”
Grug, Matthew Allard on Newsshooter wrote, “Speaking of boot-up time the camera is reasonably slow at around 24 seconds from the time you turn it on until you get a picture and are able to record, however i’m told this will improve by launch time.”
Grug
Veteran
Thanks, I missed that in Matt’s piece. Someone else mentioned 21 seconds.
a middling result either way, but at least it’s not the 45-60 second horror show of the older ones.
Run&Gun
Veteran
At least they got away from the mad 4 to 7 stop ND jump from the Amira (miniLF is 0, 2, 4, 6, too). The Amira boot time drives me crazy, too(have a client with a bunch and I just got one, as well). Same client with the Amira’s also has two miniLF’s, but I haven’t paid attention to its boot time.
sleekmedia
Well-known member
Izod Foldger and Grug Did Arri mention lead times on how long until they will actually be shipping?
Run&Gun
Veteran
My dealer rep (in the US) said the projection is July for first orders(Arri has a large amount of already built bodies, it’s mostly just software/firmware tweaks, now), but they don’t know how many bodies have already been built and what initial allocations will be. And there were huge numbers of orders placed yesterday(I think a lot of people would be surprised). I ordered around lunch time yesterday and my rep thinks it may be at least November before my number comes up, but that I should get it this year. Within 20 mins after placing my order, they said they had received over 50 more orders. And this was one rep at one dealer.
Izod Foldger
Member
Arri and AbelCine said shipping in July, which is pretty soon. Gotta make sure I’ve got $78k of spare change (plus $20k for accessories) by ship time. Wonder if they’ll meet that estimate and if it will be shipping in bulk or slowly out to pre-order ques. I got my order in by 12:30pm and orders started at noon, so I should be pretty high on the que. Wanted to get my order in at noon but AbelCine site was down as a result of traffic from Arri orders, and their sales phone line was busy and not answering, so eventually I was able to get my call through via their customer service line rather than sales who were bogged down and could place my order there. Someone I know who placed their order at AbelCine last night said AbelCine told them they’d gotten around 200 orders by then.
B&H wanted a $78k hold on the payment until the camera shipped, while AbelCine just wanted a $5k refundable deposit, which is obviously much better than tying up $78k for potentially months.
I feel I prefer the seven stops of the Amira ND over six stops. If you put your ISO down all the way and still are overexposed for desired f-stop, then you’re out of luck without additional external NDs, but if you’re dealing with the jump from 4-stop to 7-stop can always set ISO to compensate. Even on older Arri with less dynamic range as long as your shot isn’t clipping the highlights can always go below base ISO, which tends to be often. Also get a cleaner image then.
One work around for long boot times is leaving the camera on. 290w batt on Amira gets around 3.5-4 hours of battery, so in a 10 hour day that’s only turning the camera off about three times. Some of the b-mount batteries and accessories have a stackable hot swap option so another way to avoid turning the camera off. I’m hoping they’ll release a shark fin for b-mount as I’m not seeing one yet.
I saw an LPL to Hassleblad V-mount and Mamiya speedbooster. Would be cool if the can make an LPL to PL and EF speedbooster to get faux full frame on Alexa 35. Guess right now you can already get faux full frame if using those Hasselblad or Mamiya lenses.
B&H wanted a $78k hold on the payment until the camera shipped, while AbelCine just wanted a $5k refundable deposit, which is obviously much better than tying up $78k for potentially months.
I feel I prefer the seven stops of the Amira ND over six stops. If you put your ISO down all the way and still are overexposed for desired f-stop, then you’re out of luck without additional external NDs, but if you’re dealing with the jump from 4-stop to 7-stop can always set ISO to compensate. Even on older Arri with less dynamic range as long as your shot isn’t clipping the highlights can always go below base ISO, which tends to be often. Also get a cleaner image then.
One work around for long boot times is leaving the camera on. 290w batt on Amira gets around 3.5-4 hours of battery, so in a 10 hour day that’s only turning the camera off about three times. Some of the b-mount batteries and accessories have a stackable hot swap option so another way to avoid turning the camera off. I’m hoping they’ll release a shark fin for b-mount as I’m not seeing one yet.
I saw an LPL to Hassleblad V-mount and Mamiya speedbooster. Would be cool if the can make an LPL to PL and EF speedbooster to get faux full frame on Alexa 35. Guess right now you can already get faux full frame if using those Hasselblad or Mamiya lenses.
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rob norton
Veteran
It's pretty difficult to see this camera being anything other than in extreme demand.
If you feel like sharing, it'd be great to find out why you may or definitely will buy the Alexa 35.
I don't mean for you to defend your purchase at all, rather, I'm curious about the potentially varied applications from three different owners.
What features excite you the most? Do you view the investment as risky or a sure thing?
Would you anticipate a similar outcome the mini LF owners experienced, where there was no safety in numbers and the rental price drops rapidly?
Or is this more about having access to the tool, and a timely return would be nice but not top of the list?
Izod, what work do you do? Can you share your thoughts behind purchasing?
Re battery life, one report about a 290Wh B-mount SWIT battery from this person says "two and a half hours comfortably".
Is this a long awaited F55 replacement for you as an owner/operator or are you shifting into different areas of work (possibly both)?
Regarding the Audio Extension Module AEM-1, Arri says it's the "best sounding microphone preamp of any camera on the market". If true, that's pretty funny they've gone from audio as an afterthought to best preamps out there!
If you feel like sharing, it'd be great to find out why you may or definitely will buy the Alexa 35.
I don't mean for you to defend your purchase at all, rather, I'm curious about the potentially varied applications from three different owners.
What features excite you the most? Do you view the investment as risky or a sure thing?
Would you anticipate a similar outcome the mini LF owners experienced, where there was no safety in numbers and the rental price drops rapidly?
Or is this more about having access to the tool, and a timely return would be nice but not top of the list?
Izod, what work do you do? Can you share your thoughts behind purchasing?
Re battery life, one report about a 290Wh B-mount SWIT battery from this person says "two and a half hours comfortably".
Is this a long awaited F55 replacement for you as an owner/operator or are you shifting into different areas of work (possibly both)?
Regarding the Audio Extension Module AEM-1, Arri says it's the "best sounding microphone preamp of any camera on the market". If true, that's pretty funny they've gone from audio as an afterthought to best preamps out there!
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ahalpert
Major Contributor
I'm just kibbitzing, but it seems like a pretty safe investment to me because it probably has years and years of demand ahead of it. So, it'll pay itself off even if rental rates tank? I would think that only a mandatory transition to 8K would derail that trajectory. But the 2K-ish Alexa/Amira is still working today, so... You can probably get at least 10 years of demand out of this camera if you get it now? And resell for 25%-50%ish when you're done with it?
If this early demand is a harbinger the Alexa 35 will positively kill the older Alexas in the high end, and most everything from Sony and Red too. That's not all. Arri made a very bold statement for the S35 format and that's the universe preferred by cinematographers. The Alexa 35 proves you don't need LF for low light sensitvity, don't need LF for DR, don't need LF for DOF.