ALEXA 35: New Arri Camera Announcement -January 28, 2025

DustinSchmidt

DustinSchmidt

Well-known member
I'm surprised no one is talking about this yet. Looks like Arri is teasing a new camera right now on their instagram.

What do we think this will be?

  • "Built with flexibility at its core, this new product is a cost effective solution that delivers Arri quality in a package suited to your changing creative needs."

I know it won’t be cheap, but I’m still very interested to see what it is. I feel like the announcement that Arri is making something “cost effective” is a big shift for them.

Also, we need a solution for when the available prefixes don’t apply, like new camera announcements!
 
To clarify, Arri technically is saying “new product” but the teaser image is the blue badge from the viewfinder.

If it’s not a camera this would be the biggest tease ever and a big letdown. 😂
 
I used to clamor about an Alexa MICRO for like $20K for many years...but now, years later, would say $10K with what I might pay.

I think it's too soon for another camera from them but maybe not, IDK.
 
NorBro said:
I used to clamor about an Alexa MICRO for like $20K for many years...but now, years later, would say $10K with what I might pay.

I think it's too soon for another camera from them but maybe not, IDK.
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$20k-ish is my guess right now, if it is indeed a new camera.

I don’t count the 265 as a legit release since it’s rental only and they make, like, 10 of them.

Alexa 35 is pretty recent so it makes me think they might leverage some of that tech in a different form factor or in a way that saves cost and allows for more sales.
 
Actually, yeah, I guess that's been the pattern (you forget things because camera talks aren't the same anymore on forums).

But, basically release the big version of the camera and have everyone spend the money, and then the 'mini' versions later.

Similar to Japanese releases getting their flagships out of the way, and then a few cheaper models (sometimes with better tech and more features) shortly after, which usually appear to sell more anyway, ha (C500 Mark II --> C300 Mark III, Sony FX9 --> Sony FX6, etc).

So...Alexa 35 Mini...eventually.
 
Not the scroll wheel from the MVF-2. It’s the rotary encoder from the 35. Just blue…

They’re not announcing a “new” camera. It’s the 35, but license locked. Think of how the Amira was sold. Same exact camera and hardware, but depending on what license you bought with it(or later on) determined what features of the camera were unlocked and available.

I have no direct knowledge of the license tiers or pricing, but I’m going to guess they’ll possibly do it in three tiers plus ARRIRAW, like the Amira. Maybe even do license rentals. Who knows… Arri is not in a good spot financially. I believe the current least expensive ready-to-shoot(but without media) Alexa 35 package is over $80,000, so there is absolutely no way on Earth it’s going to be $20K. Or even double that. Just to get peoples attention, they may show pricing with just a striped-down body only(no EVF, lens mount, etc) and base license for maybe $45K-$50K. The current Operator Set package is like $81.6K. Let’s call it $80K. Strip out the op set pieces, which are ~$4K and the VF which is ~$10K, you’re down to $66K for just the body. So if they value the various licenses/features around $15K-$20K, you could get down there. Perfect world in that scenario, you’re still $60K to have a working camer.

And another thing. Arri has been pushing hard into the broadcast/network market. At certain levels, that market isn’t as price sensitive and that kind of pricing on a camera that will have a service life of over a decade isn’t outrageous in that world and they don’t need all the features that a standard 35 has, like ARRIRAW or OpenGate or the ability to shoot anamorphic(they are removed on the Alexa 35 Live license).
 
Run&Gun said:
Not the scroll wheel from the MVF-2. It’s the rotary encoder from the 35. Just blue…

They’re not announcing a “new” camera. It’s the 35, but license locked. Think of how the Amira was sold. Same exact camera and hardware, but depending on what license you bought with it(or later on) determined what features of the camera were unlocked and available.

I have no direct knowledge of the license tiers or pricing, but I’m going to guess they’ll possibly do it in three tiers plus ARRIRAW, like the Amira. Maybe even do license rentals. Who knows… Arri is not in a good spot financially. I believe the current least expensive ready-to-shoot(but without media) Alexa 35 package is over $80,000, so there is absolutely no way on Earth it’s going to be $20K. Or even double that. Just to get peoples attention, they may show pricing with just a striped-down body only(no EVF, lens mount, etc) and base license for maybe $45K-$50K. The current Operator Set package is like $81.6K. Let’s call it $80K. Strip out the op set pieces, which are ~$4K and the VF which is ~$10K, you’re down to $66K for just the body. So if they value the various licenses/features around $15K-$20K, you could get down there. Perfect world in that scenario, you’re still $60K to have a working camer.

And another thing. Arri has been pushing hard into the broadcast/network market. At certain levels, that market isn’t as price sensitive and that kind of pricing on a camera that will have a service life of over a decade isn’t outrageous in that world and they don’t need all the features that a standard 35 has, like ARRIRAW or OpenGate or the ability to shoot anamorphic(they are removed on the Alexa 35 Live license).
Click to expand...
Why is Arri not in a good spot financially? I thought they were on solid footing
 
ahalpert said:
Why is Arri not in a good spot financially? I thought they were on solid footing
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The strikes and narrative/movie/streaming market contraction has hit them hard. I mean, everyone loves Arri, but the work just isn't there today. That's one of the reasons that they've really been pushing into the broadcast world.

They have stacks of unsold cameras just sitting. And something happened a few years ago at exactly the same time that they were starting to ship the 35's, that not a lot of people know about, that was a double whammy that hurt them financially and caused a shutdown in production of 35's for weeks and weeks. This all preceded the strikes by just a few months. It was a perfect storm...

They also shuttered their office in Japan last year.
 
Run&Gun said:
The strikes and narrative/movie/streaming market contraction has hit them hard. I mean, everyone loves Arri, but the work just isn't there today. That's one of the reasons that they've really been pushing into the broadcast world.

They have stacks of unsold cameras just sitting. And something happened a few years ago at exactly the same time that they were starting to ship the 35's, that not a lot of people know about, that was a double whammy that hurt them financially and caused a shutdown in production of 35's for weeks and weeks. This all preceded the strikes by just a few months. It was a perfect storm...

They also shuttered their office in Japan last year.
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Wow, if their best hope is broadcast then they are completely ****ed. Though to be fair, I suppose that sports is humming along
 
Run&Gun said:
And something happened a few years ago at exactly the same time that they were starting to ship the 35's, that not a lot of people know about, that was a double whammy that hurt them financially and caused a shutdown in production of 35's for weeks and weeks.
Click to expand...
What happened a few years ago?
 
Run&Gun said:
Not the scroll wheel from the MVF-2. It’s the rotary encoder from the 35. Just blue…

They’re not announcing a “new” camera. It’s the 35, but license locked. Think of how the Amira was sold. Same exact camera and hardware, but depending on what license you bought with it(or later on) determined what features of the camera were unlocked and available.

I have no direct knowledge of the license tiers or pricing, but I’m going to guess they’ll possibly do it in three tiers plus ARRIRAW, like the Amira. Maybe even do license rentals. Who knows… Arri is not in a good spot financially. I believe the current least expensive ready-to-shoot(but without media) Alexa 35 package is over $80,000, so there is absolutely no way on Earth it’s going to be $20K. Or even double that. Just to get peoples attention, they may show pricing with just a striped-down body only(no EVF, lens mount, etc) and base license for maybe $45K-$50K. The current Operator Set package is like $81.6K. Let’s call it $80K. Strip out the op set pieces, which are ~$4K and the VF which is ~$10K, you’re down to $66K for just the body. So if they value the various licenses/features around $15K-$20K, you could get down there. Perfect world in that scenario, you’re still $60K to have a working camer.

And another thing. Arri has been pushing hard into the broadcast/network market. At certain levels, that market isn’t as price sensitive and that kind of pricing on a camera that will have a service life of over a decade isn’t outrageous in that world and they don’t need all the features that a standard 35 has, like ARRIRAW or OpenGate or the ability to shoot anamorphic(they are removed on the Alexa 35 Live license).
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Totally agree with you here, although one can hope...

At the very least maybe there will be some increased sales of older Arri models on the used market and prices will go down slightly for older Mini's, Mini LF's or Amira's. That's probably where my interest will be, unless they can somehow, some way get closer to $30k on whatever the new offering is.
 
I’m a little surprised that they got it that low, ready to shoot. I was close, though. I originally said $45K-$50K, $60K ready to shoot and I said in another post that if they went with the CCM-1 instead of the MVF-2, that they could probably hit a $55K entry price, so I was ~$5K off.

The licensing was basically what I expected with the exception of pre-record being a separate license. I also didn’t see new cards coming, either.

Kudo’s to Arri for not making existing cameras “obsolete”, but I can see people that may have purchased cameras recently, that don’t use a lot of the features(like open gate, for example), being mad that they could have probably saved a decent chunk of money.

I’m curious how it will affect the rental market, though. Until now, there has basically been just one 35. But now if someone just wants to shoot with base options and wants a subsequent lower rental price, but rental houses and owner/ops have full blown 35’s, are they going to want to send out a fully unlocked 35 for less, just because someone says they don’t need/want the other options?

*EDIT*
I jumped the gun and made the same mistake everyone else is and equating euros to dollars as equal(the exchange rate is almost 1:1, but there are other factors at play). US pricing is almost right on what I originally estimated. B&H has the new US pricing and packages up now.
 
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Run&Gun said:
The strikes and narrative/movie/streaming market contraction has hit them hard. I mean, everyone loves Arri, but the work just isn't there today. That's one of the reasons that they've really been pushing into the broadcast world.
Click to expand...
I heard from a rental house that they drastically changed their pre-order when the strikes happened and Arri kind of ignored the signs and kept building cameras that they didn't have orders for. So they ended up with something like 1500 cameras sitting on the shelf. And when you think the fully dsaturated global total market for Alexa 35 can't be more than 10000 bodies for the run of the model, that's a lot of stock. Maybe the rental model is a desperate way to move some of those bodies and recoup later?
 
Doug Bee said:
I heard from a rental house that they drastically changed their pre-order when the strikes happened and Arri kind of ignored the signs and kept building cameras that they didn't have orders for. So they ended up with something like 1500 cameras sitting on the shelf. And when you think the fully dsaturated global total market for Alexa 35 can't be more than 10000 bodies for the run of the model, that's a lot of stock. Maybe the rental model is a desperate way to move some of those bodies and recoup later?
Click to expand...
I heard a very similar thing, that there is basically a warehouse full of unsold A35’s that have been more or less collecting dust. This seems like a reasonable plan to sell them with minimal effort/cost: Change the software, and swap out a black knob for a blue one.

Many people seem to be riled up by the change to the sales model for the 35 by Arri, but when the 35 was first released, it was really the first Alexa that they’ve sold without license options(the Amira had license options, as well). Also, I think the vast majority of those people complaining A) Don’t own a 35 and B) Probably never intend to buy, anyway. One of my sales reps said that none of their rental house customers seemed to be bothered by this move by Arri. The only ones with skin in the game that are probably not happy, are ones that just bought a camera within the last ~3-6 months, because some may have opted for a base model vs. “Premium”. They also said that, besides more owner/ops, this will possibly get the camera into a lot more corporate environments and with sports leagues and teams, since many/most don’t want or need things like ARRIRAW or the ability to shoot open gate and anamorphic.

I guess we’ll see how this plays out, together. Hopefully it works out well for Arri. And all of us.
 
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