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ARRI ALEXA LF - 4k, FullFrame announced

Vladimir Cazacu

Vladimir Cazacu

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Looks like Arri just announced a new camera at the BSC expo that should cover Netflix's broadcast requirements.


Taken from 4kshooters.net


Large Format 4K ALEVIII Sensor (from the ALEXA family)
Compatible with Full-Frame Lenses
New ARRI Signature Primes at T1.8 (mostly)
Sensor is slightly bigger than 35mm full-frame
Familiar ALEXA SXT family body design
4K ProRes recording options
ARRIRAW at 150fps
SxS or SXR Capture Drives depending on configuration
Netflix/Amazon and other UHD/4K deliverables compliant
New LPL mount for large format lenses
Compatible with S35 lenses
Wi-Fi enabled
Basic pricing starts at €74,000
Available in March 2018
 
Vladimir Cazacu said:
Looks like Arri just announced a new camera at the BSC expo that should cover Netflix's broadcast requirements.


Taken from 4kshooters.net


Large Format 4K ALEVIII Sensor (from the ALEXA family)
Compatible with Full-Frame Lenses
New ARRI Signature Primes at T1.8 (mostly)
Sensor is slightly bigger than 35mm full-frame
Familiar ALEXA SXT family body design
4K ProRes recording options
ARRIRAW at 150fps
SxS or SXR Capture Drives depending on configuration
Netflix/Amazon and other UHD/4K deliverables compliant
New LPL mount for large format lenses
Compatible with S35 lenses
Wi-Fi enabled
Basic pricing starts at €74,000
Available in March 2018
Click to expand...

With Monstro, Panavision DXL2 and now the new ALEXA LF, the age of high end Full Frame cinema capture is really upon us.
 
While it is going to be hilarious watching a lot of backtracking from a lot of people about the worthlessness of 4K, these are going to do very well and as soon as there is a Mini version of it that will absolutely smash it.
 
Considering the fact that a lot of Netflix and BBC shows had moved to RED and Panasonic VariCam LT for "proper" 4K acquisition, this should have a large impact on that segment of the industry.
 
So no backward upgrade options for SXT owners? I wonder why Arri chose a new LPL mount design? Their sensor at 36mm is not as wide as the Monstro yet the Monstro can use a PL mount ? Not cheap but it was never going to be
 
Just as they all traded them all in and sat there happy with their new minis this shit comes along... I can see the Hitler clip in front of me allready :)
 
I sort of suspected that they were never going to do 4K in S35. They can't, because the Alexa look, such as it is, is tied to the size of the photosite. I got that suspicion partly because a) someone on this site, sometime last year, said something to that effect; and b) the Alexa 65.

And while on paper, nobody is going to snub VistaVision, there are many good reasons to shoot S35, and RED has everyone beat in that segment. Also, Helium is going to give you great output with S16 lenses. It's nominally 3.5K RAW, which is a net resolution of 2.8K, which is slightly more than the Alexa's open gate S35 output.

Anyway, while ARRI discovers 4K, RED already has IMAX covered.

BTW I bet those ARRI lenses will be really good. T1.8 is way faster than you'd need, and I wonder if they should have gone for a smaller size over a wider aperture.
 
I found it very interesting reading Deakins testing the 65 and instead opting for a regular Alexa for Bladerunner.

I mean I'm sure this will be great but very interested in why no S35 at 4K..
 
I'm not trying to be a downer or anything, but since Arri's been very much the go to camera for most high profile names and productions I believe that this is gonna kill much of the market in favor of Arri even more. There will be a few who want to go with higher than 4K to be able to do crops, stabilizations and so on (probably Fincher), so there's still gonna be a place for Red, but now that Arri has a camera available for buying and normal rentals, I have a hard time seeing any normal to large production using anything else. It's the perfect combination of 4K and large format, high sensitivity. Camera body is in my opinion a drawback since I like the small Weapon size and weight, but for a normal crew that's not an issue. This camera is only gonna make Arri more popular.

If it wasn't for the pricetag and large camera body I would probably jump ship, but for me it feels like because Monstro is such a high leap forward in price tag, I'm beginning to see the end of line for me in terms of Red upgrades and so on. I got my Weapon 6K, it's gonna be enough for a lot of things, but I don't see a future trying to keep up with the new vista vision market if I'm not a medium to large rental company. It makes it more economical to rent cameras for productions if I'm gonna utilize larger formats. I still feel that the Arri has a better sensor, the images are more pleasent to look at, more neutral and natural. There are so many odd little things with Red sensors that just don't seem to go away. It would be nice if Red stopped looking at resolutions and looked at the colors even more. Helium wasn't that big of a jump, it still looks Red. It's cleaner, yes, but it's still not a big leap.

If Red were to release a sensor that goes into the current camera bodies and featured colors closer to Arri's color science, that would be a whole other story, but the harsh truth is that Arri's are used much more, it's still the most favored camera, at least where I am, but also if you look at the Oscar lineup. And if they're able to compete that hard with Red, using a sub 4K camera and being banned from companies who only accept 4K native, all that is gonna get even more so now.

http://www.arri.com/largeformat/
 
Ben Scott said:
I found it very interesting reading Deakins testing the 65 and instead opting for a regular Alexa for Bladerunner.

I mean I'm sure this will be great but very interested in why no S35 at 4K..
Click to expand...

Because vista format is the new 4K for this age. It's open to a lot of good glass compared to 65mm who's only able to use glass for it's format. And since most lens manufacturers are moving over into covering vista, the lineups will increase over time. It's the perfect mid-way between s35 and 65mm.
 
Karim D. Ghantous said:
Don't bring a 4K sensor to an 8K fight.
Click to expand...

Funny, but this Arri's gonna sell and be used far more than Monstro. It's not even a battle really. Arri owns the cinema world and now it's probably gonna take on a big chunk of television as well.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
Because vista format is the new 4K for this age. It's open to a lot of good glass compared to 65mm who's only able to use glass for it's format. And since most lens manufacturers are moving over into covering vista, the lineups will increase over time. It's the perfect mid-way between s35 and 65mm.
Click to expand...

I hope there's a lot of S7 sets in the wild or British drama production will grind to a halt without some Cookes.
 
Wait until a 4K Alexa mini comes out, then its truly going to be game over for every other camera manufacturer...

RED is obsessed with resolution because it makes the R3D compression a lot better which helps justify why they still use those Archaic Toshiba cards that they mark up over a 100% instead of using faster CF cards or SSD's which would at least allow you to get 4k prores 4444, which 90% of productions would be more than happy to use. I get all the other reasons why more resolution improves an image but I would trade that any day for a more nuanced color science and better dynamic range and, not to mention, an easier post production workflow. I had to jump from Mac to PC just to properly work with my Helium 8K footage and I still don't think it looks better than uprezed Alexa footage even when viewing it on a huge 65" TV in 4k. Although I do think the Helium looks amazing if you shoot it at 400-500 ISO but that is definitely not revolutionary by any other cameras standards, especially since shooting at that ISO looses any protection for your highlights . I got into the RED game because of the form factor and that it could easily work on a gimbal. A year later the mini came out and erased that advantage. Just look at how much the Alexa Mini's resale value holds vs a RED Dragon (which was the equivalent RED camera at the time) or even a RED Helium weapon which came out later.

I work mainly in fashion and productions were more than happy to pay good money to rent my two RED's but now even they've started jumping ship and requesting Arri's.

I just watched the Panavision videos on the new DXL2 and the footage looks great. I never understood why RED just doesn't hire the best colorists in the world to come up with a way to develop profiles for their cameras that look the most 'pleasing' vs what's the most 'accurate'. Clearly the monstro sensor is finally proving that RED can 'truthfully' come up with a sensor with clean high dynamic range, now all they need to do is sort out the color and bring down the price. I honestly think this is the only way their camera is going to survive in the high end market. Honestly, I think this is why they've been pivoting to the Hydrogen: they see the writing on the wall and are trying to get a leg up in a new market.

I also think my Helium Weapon is the last RED camera I own unless they bring down the price of their cameras or improve the color science. I want to love RED but they're, honestly, not making the best cameras for the money anymore. I recently did some tests with the Panasonic EVA1 and was blown away at how nuanced the colors on that camera are considering its only a $10K+ camera. I still think my RED Helium is better but its not 6 times better...
 
Which type of product have you ever ever ever received a linear cash/quality improvement like you suggest?

The can double the horsepower of a Porsche but only inccease its top speed 6-7mph.


Red creative very very viable cameras loved and used by many of the biggest names in the industry. They aren't going anywhere.

But a Netflix approved Alexa Mini 4K will make any camera I can afford to own, pointless to own.
 
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