ALEXA LF

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Jan Heugel
Posts: 514
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:15 pm
Location: Munich, Germany
Contact:

Hello everybody,

for those who have not heard the news: ALEXA LF is out.
All Infos here: https://www.arri.com/largeformat

Also Jon Fauer wrote a piece on the camera: http://www.fdtimes.com/pdfs/articles/AR ... ort150.pdf

What's your take on our new camera system?

Cheers,
Jan
Jan Heugel
Application Engineer
jtocher
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2016 3:34 am

Hi Jan,

Any chance there is an upgrade path coming for the Alexa Mini and SXT to 4K via LF sensor upgrade? Or how about offering a simple sensor swap with the same sensor size as the Alexa Alev III but with true 4K ? It's only a few hundred more lines to get to 4K from the Alev's 3424 open gate resolution?

Many of us spent a lot of money on Alexa Minis and SXTs because we believed your marketing claims that it was "future proof 4K technology" and "as good as 4K after up-rezing", then Netflix came along and said no to thousands of your cameras already on the market, deciding your sensors weren't "truly 4K". As much as we know that their claim is bogus, they are arguably the biggest distributer in the world, and they have spoken.

You guys stand to make a lot of money if you make the price for a simple sensor upgrade attractive enough. I bet that at least half the existing Mini and SXT owners would probably bite the bullet and go for it - because they love their cameras and it's better than taking a loss, which many of us might have to do to switch to something else that's already approved. Otherwise you are asking anyone who wants to be 4K owners of your cameras to have to buy a completely new LF camera just to get to 4K with you guys?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Jan Heugel
Posts: 514
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:15 pm
Location: Munich, Germany
Contact:

Dear Jeff,

I get where you are coming from, it is sadly not as easy as it sounds...
Let's pick up your "4K sensor Idea": a 4K sensor for SXT and Mini would mean: exchange sensor, fit cooling system, design more powerful boards (or perhaps keep the boards/media and deal with less framerate) - times 2. To eventually end up somewhere in an uncanny valley where the sensor lacks some aspact of that you love with ALEV III.

So we decided to design a sensor inbetween A65 and ALEXA SXT which not only offers the popular ALEXA charachteristics, but also explores a new format. It is more than "just an other 4K camera with the menu/screen layout of an ALEXA". It is a new system.


Cheers,
Jan
Jan Heugel
Application Engineer
Simcules
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2016 6:19 pm

Hi there,

i have been trying to find out more about data rates recordnig ARRI RAW and ProRes for each sensor mode. Couldn´t fnd anything. Can you post some info about the data rates? That would be great. Thank you very much.

cheers!

Simon
Igor Barbosa
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:07 pm
Location: London

Hi Simon,

Give our ARRI Formats & Data Rate Calculator a try.


Regards,
Simcules
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2016 6:19 pm

Hi Igor,

omg was it that simple! :roll: Thanks!
Jan Heugel
Posts: 514
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:15 pm
Location: Munich, Germany
Contact:

Also here (new name, same document):
ARRI Formats and Resolutions Overview

Best,
Jan
Jan Heugel
Application Engineer
franciscovaldez
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu May 16, 2019 6:44 pm

Hi,

I'm set to shoot my next film in a few weeks with the LF, which I understand now supports ARRIRAW in an MXF container.

I've searched the manual and tried the online simulator but could not find an option to switching from one to the other.

Am I misinformed in regards to the Alexa LF being able to record MXF ARRIRAW?
Jan Heugel
Posts: 514
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:15 pm
Location: Munich, Germany
Contact:

Dear Francisco,
sure it get's noticed ...

MXF/ARRIRAW (*.mxf )is available on ALEXA Mini, ALEXA Mini LF and AMIRA.
ALEXA XT, ALEXA SXT and ALEXA LF record ARRIRAW as silnge frames (*.ari).

Cheers,
Jan
Jan Heugel
Application Engineer
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