» Posts Tagged ‘arrialexa’
For all of the stellar spec sheets and newfangled doodads coming out of the RED camp at NAB this year, one look at the active production landscape will show you that one camera is absolutely everywhere: the ARRI ALEXA. From feature films like Drive to TV shows like Game of Thrones to seemingly every TV commercial in existence — seriously, almost every commercial is shot on an ALEXA these days — the camera is as ubiquitous on high-end productions as HDSLRs are for low-end shoots (though the latter is changing with the advent of “real” large-sensor video cameras). Why is the ALEXA everywhere? Because of its stellar imagery, ease of use, established workflow, and fast turnaround time. It is not a stretch to say the ARRI ALEXA is the camera that killed film, not anything from RED (or anyone else for that matter). More »
Comparisons are fun, even more when they’re for expensive cameras. As I’ve said before, we try to look at all sorts of different topics from around the film industry, and we are not just going to look at DIY options like the hacked GH2. Shane Hurlbut, who runs a fantastic and informative blog himself, was recently shooting a promo for HBO’s Game of Thrones. He decided to shoot the Canon C300 alongside the Arri Alexa for the promo. Shane came up with some interesting results. More »
I’m a bit uncomfortable with how camera-focused this site has been over the past couple of weeks, but there’s so much going on it’s hard to keep up! That’s one reason I’m hiring more writers (I’ll be closing down the application in a day or two). Here’s some more camera news, though: ARRI has released Software Update 5 for their ALEXA, which brings 120 FPS recording to the camera along with several other new features (list below). To help ARRI demonstrate what 120fps looks like, I decided to grow my hair out and take up juggling. Check out my favorite vest: More »
I’m always up for a demo of the Sony F3‘s S-Log mode, especially when compared to the much more expensive but similar ARRI ALEXA. The F3 has been called a “mini ALEXA” in S-Log mode, and I suppose you could call the Canon 7D a “mini F3,” though no one’s claiming the 7D can hold up to the big boys — it’s here as a reference for HDSLR shooters. Here’s the test, carried out by Hello World Communications using Cooke Panchro lenses: More »
In our global economy, one could amend the phrase “nothing is certain in life except death and taxes” to “nothing is certain in life except death, taxes, and knockoffs.” The country responsible for half of my existence, China, is knockoff/bootleg Ground Zero, and so it should come as no surprise that the first reports of a RED and ARRI ALEXA clone come from The Motherland. The 2K KineRAW Kinefinity camcorder is like a larger RED (using “KineMAG” SSD drives instead of REDMAG SSD drives) with the size and weight of an ALEXA. It even uses basically the same menu system and display on the side of the body as does the ALEXA (knockoffs are not exactly known for their originality). The camera will record to CinemaDNG or Cineform RAW and will supposedly ship for the “gorgeous” price of $7-8k. More »
The first episode of Zacuto’s anticipated sequel to the Emmy award-winning Great Camera Shootout 2010 is now available. This year’s installment is a bit different than last year’s, as it’s actually a documentary on the Single Chip Camera Evaluation conducted by Robert Primes, ASC. The cameras tested include 35mm film (Kodak 5213 and 5219 stock), the Arri Alexa, RED ONE M-X, Weisscam HS-2, Phantom Flex, Sony F35, Sony F3, Panasonic AF100, Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 1D Mark IV and Nikon D7000. More »
Just because the latest single-sensor digital camcorders allow you to shoot with available light does not mean you should shoot with available light. However, the importance of being able to should not be overstated. To that end, John Brawley put together a great practical test utilizing six different cameras in the same setting, in order to evaluate which format would work best for a forthcoming feature to be shot mostly on Parisian streets at night. The cameras/formats were Aaton 35mm, Aaton Super 16mm, ARRI ALEXA, RED ONE MX, Canon 1D Mark IV DSLR, and the Sony F3. Here’s the video of the test, which is refreshingly devoid of test charts and instead focuses on the devices as storytelling instruments: More »
Results from the Single-Chip Camera Evaluation Conducted by Robert Primes, ASC
One of the highlights of NAB’s “content theater” screenings was the Single-Chip Camera Evaluation, the result of an exhaustive camera shootout conducted in February by Robert Primes, ASC and a full crew (totaling what was estimated at over 5,000 man- and woman-hours). After seeing the terrific half-hour presentation at Zacuto‘s booth, I went back for a second look at the full presentation. While the images — which should be released online in the future — are far more important than the charts, here are some key results from the screening, which featured cameras ranging from the cheapest Canon DSLR to cameras costing hundreds of thousands. More »
I’m not going to go into much detail on Sony’s new F65, which I covered at launch, or the new offerings in the ARRI ALEXA lineup, because cameras that run six figures aren’t exactly the purview of DIY filmmakers (though they’re nice to think about, at least as a rental). Briefly, here’s what I saw at NAB about the latter: the ALEXA has gotten a number of new features, upgrading it to Plus status — 3.5K ARRIRAW codec, 120FPS shooting mode in 2K (which was working fully on the camera I toyed with briefly), and iPad wireless camera control. There are also two new models — the ALEXA M, which separates the camera head from the recording body, and the ALEXA Studio, which has a mechanical shutter, optical viewfinder, and 4:3 sensor with anamorphic de-squeezing. And of course, Sony has their new F3. More »
The Sony F3 Put to the Test: 12+ Stops of Dynamic Range and a Bit of Aliasing
Video gurus Art Adams and Adam Wilt have put the Sony F3 through a suite of proper resolution, aliasing, IR sensitivity, and tonal-scale tests, and compared it with the Panasonic AF100 (now in stock at B&H), RED, and ARRI ALEXA cameras. We’ll have to wait for Zacuto to publish their forthcoming single-chip shootout to get a look at proper real-world comparisons (their DSLR vs film shootout was nominated for an Emmy), but here are the result for the time being. The F3 gets 12 + stops of dynamic range — before upgrading to S-Log, which Sony is claiming offers significantly more dynamic range — which, in this price range, is unprecedented. More from their results: More »
We’ve taken a look at RED’s High Dynamic Range mode, dubbed HDRx, in the past. But now that over a hundred EPIC-Ms are out in the wild, shooters are putting the camera through its paces in the real world. According to most tests the ARRI ALEXA has around 1/2 to 1 full stop more dynamic range in native mode (14.5 to 13.5), but with HDRx RED is claiming up to 18 stops total. Here’s a shot that wouldn’t be possible without HDRx: More »
The ARRI ALEXA and RED EPIC (and RED ONE M-X) are cameras that we’ll be seeing hundreds of features shot on over the next several years. What’s the difference between the two? Check out this amusing video from Inspiration Studios, whose comparison of the ALEXA and RED cameras includes a none-too-subtle suggestion about the fading utility of their DSLR rental package: More »
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