ND filters stuck cycling

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Stout Film
Posts: 55
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 9:08 pm

Has anyone had an issue with their ND filters cycling through? This is happening to me today and I'm getting an error message saying "-Error in ND filter module. Please try rebooting or contact serve." It especially seems to not want to settle on .6ND it will just go around and around adding ND over and over. I am about to contact service but wondering if anyone else had this issue. Thanks
Mathias Lischke
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:32 am
Location: Munich, Germany

Hi StoutFilm,

Please contact your nearest Service Center for assistance.
https://www.arri.com/support/technical_ ... a_systems/

Best regards,
Mathias
dasjerome
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 8:22 am

This is happening to me as well. Nearest ARRI service centre is in LA. It would be nice to be able to schedule an appointment since coming from abroad you can't really ship the camera from a country in Latin America.... :?
Harry Clark
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:10 pm

Me as well.
VERY disappointed in this. This has occurred after the media errors issue just a few weeks ago.
$90K on a camera that has two MAJOR issues. I have a hard time feeling confident about this product. I have never had these issues with Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Red. I'm at my wits end here.
Emails in to Arri, I guess I'll see what they say.
Try to make a living with a defective camera. I dare you.
H.
Michael L
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2016 4:44 am

The ND's are held in place with magnets and they can misalign. Arri seals the ND filter cage to the sensor so you have to replace the sensor. They usually replace it with a refurbished sensor to keep the cost down but it is still an expensive repair.
Last edited by Michael L on Mon Aug 31, 2020 2:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Harry Clark
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:10 pm

Update: Arriflex Blauvelt could not reproduce the issue.
On the day this happened, my AC and I re-booted the camera many times, reset to factory, disabled user buttons, tried to choose the ND to a different setting, all to no avail.
So a mystery, and NOT very encouraging that it is intermittent.
I also agree with Michael. It's a terrible design in my opinion. One more set of motors and detectors to wear out or fail over time, and since it's bonded to the sensor, failure of this assembly is needlessly costly.
Even if Arri insisted on a motorized "slick" method of selection, why is there not a tiny port somewhere on the body to insert a 2mm allen wrench and turn many times to slowly move the mechanism, in case of failure? If the filters get stuck halfway, the camera is useless. Better to have a solution and keep shooting then grind an entire production to a halt.
Cheers
Levani Zaridze
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2022 5:45 pm

hello,

same here, our camera is missing new sup 7.1.2, can firmware cause this problem?
kokorecci
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:03 pm

Is ND Filter on Alexa 35 have the same design as the previous gens?
manshmedia
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon May 09, 2022 1:40 pm

Stout Film wrote: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:56 pm Has anyone had an issue with their ND filters cycling through? This is happening to me today and I'm getting an error message saying "-Error in ND filter module. Please try rebooting or contact serve." It especially seems to not want to settle on .6ND it will just go around and around adding ND over and over. I am about to contact service but wondering if anyone else had this issue. Thanks VidMate Momix Ohionyc.com
Unfortunately this means replacement of the whole sensor unit a around $2500 repair atleast I had mine done at 2400 hours i know its very disappointing
bthtour
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2023 8:04 pm

Experiencing all of the same things with my Alexa 35 and heard it is a similar manufacturing defect as the Alexa Mini and Mini LF. It happened to my camera two weeks ago and just happened again, shutting down both productions early as we were filming in remote locations and there was no way to get a new one and since it was a doc, we definitely did not have the budget to travel with an extra camera body. Disappointing that there's literally nothing you can do about it but bring it to an Arri Service center. This is something they should investigate immediately and try to figure out a fix as this essentially renders my camera useless as I use it for docs where internal ND's are an important factor for the camera I chose. I heard it's a quick fix on Arri's part but not something I want to have to do every two weeks, especially on travel jobs when it's not an option.
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