Yeah, I said it! ARRI, the largest motion picture equipment manufacturer, announced that it will be releasing three digital cams this year. The platform is known as the Alexa. So far they have shared that the base model, the A-EV, will offer a 3.5k pixel count, 800+ El equivalent sensitivity, 1 to 60fps frame rate, electronic viewfinder and on-board HD recording. The A-EV Plus adds uncompressed onboard HD recording and wireless remote control capability. If you have the need for shooting 4:3, you can jump to the A-OV Plus, which has the same features, and adds an optical viewfinder. All three models will feature the same 35mm ARRI Alev III CMOS sensor. Remaining details are still under wraps until the Directors Guild on April 6th, according to Michael Bravin [ARRI]. This is where the camera will be introduced as a complete package, as all testing thus far was of the prototype. The thing I am most interested in is the workflow (to be announced at NAB), as most know that this is the claimed weak-point of the RED. The last digital announcement from ARRI was the D-21 back in 08, though I believe the Alexa will be the true groundbreaking release.
So far, only those at the AFC in Paris were lucky enough to get hands-on with the camera. Jim Jannard, RED CEO, had the opportunity to view the image from both cams side by side. It was noted that he said “We had expected the images to be very similar and it appears this test confirms that […] for the moment, we tip our hats to ARRI.” See the side by side test [DP Anna Foerster] here.
from arridigital.com:
"Compact, ergonomic and lightweight on one hand, robust and with typical ARRI reliability on the other hand, the Alexa is the first model in a new generation of digital cameras, perfect for features, television dramas, commercials and pop-promos."
All three cams are expected to be released by the end of the year. Pricing is expected to begin at $67,000USD.
All information and further details available at www.arridigital.com. Also, here is a direct link to the teaser.
