alexa mini VS red weapon the hope is over

[Lorenzo Lalik]

​​i was hoping that people at red were listening to their customer
The mini alexa is a marvel of technology at a unbeatable price i was really hopping to see that red will incorporate a true ND glass and a wireless follow focus module in the weapon
Those 2 futures became very important for drone and steadicam operator or gorilla style shooter
Like many people in this forum i have been very disappointed and have no choice than buying a mini alexa
Sometimes dreams never come true

 

[dio Zafi]

Hello!

forget the mini and get the raven..

 

[Bobby Farokhzad]

I can do without the integrated follow focus but I, like many others, hoped there would be built in NDs and a global shutter.

 

[Gene Sung]

The Alexa Mini is not at an un-beatable price. It's super expensive.

I love the image but after seeing the body at CineGear, the body is a pretty terrible design.

1) No pre-amp or internal mic. To get sound, a 3rd party pre-amp has to be mounted somehow in addition to a microphone. At least the Weapon has an internal mic for scratch audio for things like gimbal use.

2) The fan vent port is in the rear. You cannot mount a battery without it being several inches away from the rear of the camera. Terrible design. At least on the Weapon, the rear fan port is under the lip so you can mount a battery directly to the camera.

3) No mounting points. To mount a simple tripod plate or top handle, you have attach several additional plates. This is lame to say the least.

The Mini takes so much rigging to make it work. Like I said, great image, terrible body design but everyone overlooks that because it's Arri and they get a free pass.

 

[luigivaltulini]

i was hoping that people at red were listening to their customer
The mini alexa is a marvel of technology at a unbeatable price
i was really hopping to see that red will incorporate a true ND glass and a wireless follow focus module in the weapon
Those 2 futures became very important for drone and steadicam operator or gorilla style shooter
Like many people in this forum i have been very disappointed and have no choice than buying a mini alexa
Sometimes dreams never come true

hehe,
Are you kidding or are you serious?
Nd are also on Dragon, with Motion Mount !!
Alexa mini, a disaster for the command are located on the opposite side as Amira, but if you do ENG, then that's fine.
Heavier than a dragon.
If you want to shoot for a few minutes you are forced to mount a Vmount, while Drago side handle with Redvolt.
The REC is in a position of shit when you use the Gimbal.
On DJi Ronin and almost impossible to mount, it becomes too big, with a side Vmount, balance is a disaster, or take up arms and stretch the ronin and put vmount behind ...
For remote controls do not think is a problem so far with third elements.
No Thanks prefer a weapon, for the same price.

 

[Bobby Farokhzad]

The motion mount introduces more than a stop of light loss and a host of other problems, it's a good solution but not a true Variable ND. If the Weapon had a global shutter and built in NDs it would absolutely be the perfect camera for me. Still, I will take it over the mini any day.

 

[Patrick Tresch]

What's the problem with filters?

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

Hey look at offhollywood's OMOD system for weapon, integrated FIZ, integrated WIRELESS TIMECODE, live wireless grading with live grade plus a lot more, check it out, gamechanging

 

[Lorenzo Lalik]

Guys ,
The mini alexa can be fully control from there wireless follow focus remote control PRICELESS
And don't get me started on the motion mount it's a joke and everybody know it

 

[Ben Graham]

You can control all Arri cameras via the wcu-4. You can also control some features of the Epic as well with the UMC-4. Looking forward to testing out the OMOD for epic dragon with it.

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

Guys ,
The mini alexa can be fully control from there wireless follow focus remote control PRICELESS
And don't get me started on the motion mount it's a joke and everybody know it

There is way more functionality built in to the OMOD system, you should really check it out, and I'm sure you know about Foolcontrol right?

 

[Lorenzo Lalik]

yes i'm very aware but the fact that you can fully control the camera included sliding some ND glass filter from the wireless follow focus remote it's to me priceless
specially for jib operation
i still believe that red made a huge mistake not offering this long time existing technology
if you look on past thread like weapon wish there is so many people asking for built ND and red is not listening
That 's why i bought a mini alexa

 

[Phil Holland]

Guys ,
The mini alexa can be fully control from there wireless follow focus remote control PRICELESS
And don't get me started on the motion mount it's a joke and everybody know it

yes i'm very aware but the fact that you can fully control the camera included sliding some ND glass filter from the wireless follow focus remote it's to me priceless
specially for jib operation
i still believe that red made a huge mistake not offering this long time existing technology
if you look on past thread like weapon wish there is so many people asking for built ND and red is not listening
That 's why i bought a mini alexa

There seems to be one major thing missing here regarding internal ND filtration and that's discussing the negatives and how it can impact image quality.

It's a useful tool, don't get me wrong. It's just not the "right" answer for everybody.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Well, I guess to each it's own opinions...

But since my early days of Photography some 40+ years ago... (oh shit did I just wrote that?) I learned early on that proper filtration on camera can do miracles with your images...

Fast forward to today and I can tell you that after having tried over and over every single type of Behind the lens, in front of the lens, on the lens, on Sensor type filtrations, I have left the on Camera filtration behind, as I do much better, and I mean MUCH better with true ND's in from of the lens aided by a proper professional Matte Box or even a Screw in type of holder or a clip on one...

Incorporated filtration can be nice and useful at times... And loved the Motion Mount for that as well, but then give it up... NOTHING is better then proper Filtration via standard Glass Filters in front of your lens...

This is all I have to say about this nonsense of Alexa's vs RED cameras... Options are good, try and hard test your cameras of choice and choose the best for your likes and needs... Simple really...

 

[Ben Graham]

The best way to solve this issue is to buy one of each.

 

[Alexander Thomson]

I would probably never use the built-in NDs. For exactly the reasons Ketch said. Glass matters, and i'd take 4"x5.65" filters over little squares built into the body. Horses for courses. If I need a compact ND solution, i'll screw on a filter.

Let's be real though, the motorized ND filters on the Alexa Mini are cool. I don't think they are forty-five thousand dollars cool, but they will definitely be convenient for those situations where glass filters would be cumbersome.

It's not quite fair to put an Alexa Mini and a Raven side-by-side and chastise the $5,950 camera for not having NDs or wireless follow focus built in. Besides, you never know what RED is working on next...

 

[Gunleik Groven]

WIth a THC/Optitron and Foolcontrol and an EF mount, you can do the same with a weapon/Dragon.

Your choice of glass is a bit limited though, but it is for drone work anyway.

 

[RivaiC]

... Options are good, try and hard test your cameras of choice and choose the best for your likes and needs... Simple really...

Cant put it any better. I whole heartily agree

Rivai

 

[Lorenzo Lalik]

Most of you guys are missing the point the beauty of the system is that everything is built into it
and working with the Arri wireless lens control is a pure joy
there is nothing like that in the market
I 'm coming from the red scarlet world and let's be honest here this is a very different league

 

[Phil Holland]

Most of you guys are missing the point the beauty of the system is that everything is built into it
and working with the Arri wireless lens control is a pure joy
there is nothing like that in the market
I 'm coming from the red scarlet world and let's be honest here this is a very different league

Versus Scarlet-X Mysterium-X, yes, yet not resolution.

Compared to Weapon, which is what you started this particular thread about, I can only state wholeheartedly after deeply investigating the Alexa Mini in London last month........

Weapon is an entirely different league than the Mini. Entirely.

It will be interesting when/if there is a Expander that builds RED LCS functionality and we'll have the same exactly "joy" of everything built in, though modular when you need it or not.

However, your needs and my needs are different and it sounds like the Mini attracted you. I personally can't fathom purchasing a sub-4K camera in 2015. I haven't worked below 4K in nearly 5 years, but those are my needs. The good news for you is Arri will likely have an upgrade path for Mini and SXT owners to the new tech, I think at least.