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Header image for article AbelCine's ALEXA One Man Band Kit

AbelCine's ALEXA One Man Band Kit

The ARRI ALEXA has become so popular that many clients are asking to use it in ways outside of the traditional Digital Cinema market. Documentary and ENG-style productions, long the playground of 2/3" cameras, are now beginning to use the ALEXA. With this demand, AbelCine has worked to adapt the camera to the style of "One Man Band," everything-on-the-camera shooting.

Audio

The ALEXA does not have the traditional mounting points for microphones, nor does it provide power for them. Importantly, it also only accepts Line level audio, as opposed to the Mic levels that commonly come out of microphones and wireless mic receivers. To attach a standard shotgun microphone, we use the K-Tek K-SSM Short Shock Mount, which nicely isolates the microphone from the camera and allows precise positioning. The smallest professional two-channel mixer available is the Sound Devices MixPre-D.

Lensing

Super-35 lenses are large, heavy, expensive and do not have servo control handgrips for efficient operation. Fast-moving productions have come to rely on compact, high zoom-ratio lenses with built-in motorized zoom servo handgrips. The HDx35 B4/PL Optical Adapter allows these lenses to be used on the ALEXA for efficient, ENG-style shooting.

Power

Documentary-style crews are used to powering accessories off two-pin P-Tap (PowerTap) sockets commonly found on camera battery plates. The Anton Bauer QR Quad PT sandwiches between the battery plate and a battery, and provides four P-Tap sockets for power. Anton Bauer also makes the QR-Hotswap-AR, which provides mounting for two batteries as well as a topside mounting flange for attaching accessories such as wireless microphone receivers.

Cables & Mounting

Having assembled the various parts, AbelCine created some custom cables and mounting hardware to attach it all cleanly and efficiently to the ALEXA. We call this configuration the ALEXA One-Man Band Kit.

Mitch Gross
Contributor

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