The ARRI ALEXA Starter Package contains all of the recommended camera accessory parts for a complete kit, including 5x 32GB SxS cards for in-camera ProRes recording (see Includes tab for details).

The ARRI ALEXA combines all the best features of the Digital Cinema cameras that preceded it. Building on ARRI’s tradition of cutting edge camera technology that is designed with the cinematographer and producer in mind, the ALEXA is destined to become the workhorse camera for many forms of broadcast, commercial and feature production. The ALEV III Super-35 CMOS sensor has a native 3.5K resolution and 13.5 stops of Dynamic Range. It rolls off highlights in a natural, organic way while digging deep into dark areas without “blue sparkle” or “mosquito” noise. Colors are rendered pleasingly and accurately. When shooting in HD the sensor’s native resolution is over-sampled 1.5x to deliver an image with low noise, low aliasing, and increased MTF (functional resolution).

The ARRI ALEXA is versatile both on set and through post. Every aspect of ALEXA is designed to fit into a variety of current workflows both in the field and in post production. One no longer has to work around the limitations of a Digital Cinema camera.

For crews used to broadcast cameras or 35mm film cameras, the user interface with the camera in the field is familiar and comfortable. The camera is small and lightweight and runs very quiet without getting hot. Controls are clearly marked and logically located for intuitive use. Commonly used controls are available on the Operator side of the camera while the Assistant’s side offers a deeper yet easily-navigated menu interface with a large LCD display panel. The camera is comfortable to handhold and sports an all-new full color fully-orientable F-LCOS HD viewfinder which can show a 10% look-around area to the recorded image.

ALEXA has built in lightweight 15mm front rod mounts and can be accessorized for either broadcast-style V-lock tripod plates or film-style sliding bridge plates in 15mm or 19mm studio. The camera can power over industry standard Anton Bauer or V-mount onboard 12v batteries or large off-camera 24v block batteries.

There are many post production paths in use today that can be based on technical needs, speed of use and budget. ALEXA can fit into any of them and the necessary hardware and software is already available and in place. Just choose what is best for a given production’s needs. Records to ProRes4444 or ProRes422 directly on small SxS memory cards. A 32GB card can hold 15 (4444) or 20 (422) minutes of 1920x1080 HD video and the cards can be hot-swapped in the camera and loaded directly into a Final Cut Pro or latest Avid Media Composer system for immediate editing. Uncompressed HD (4:4:4 or 4:2:2) is also available directly out of the camera in 1920x1080. For a true “digital negative” level of control of the image, 12-bit ARRIRAW data in 3K resolution is available directly off the sensor without any compression, and various post workflows can yield what ARRI designates a "True 2K" image via oversampling.

Arri has quite the impressive booth here at NAB this year, and some of the crowd-pleasers include the new ALEXA PLUS, ALEXA Studio, and the surprise reveal of the ALEXA M. The modular ALEXA M is an especially great candidate for 3D work because of the small size of the camera head, which is separate from the back processing unit.

In addition to all the new hardware being shown, Arri has also announced plans to introduce 120fps shooting (full sensor, no windowing) in all ALEXA bodies. Watch Mitch Gross' interview with Marc Shipman-Mueller as he discusses the features of the new ALEXA bodies and some of the future updates coming for the ALEXA software.

There are many situations where you do not have full control over lighting conditions, such as a bright window in the background or a city street at night. Even with full control, it is still common to color correct a project once it is edited together. If the image is captured in REC709, the ability to adjust the final image is limited by the contrast range already imposed on the image. LOG is a flatter contrast, allowing far greater image manipulation. Take a look at the video to get a sense of the difference.

The arrival of Version 3.0 firmware for the ALEXA has opened up a wealth of new options, one of the most notable being the ability to record audio to SxS cards. Since audio input is via five-pin XLR female, AbelCine has specially constructed cables to allow analog line-level audio to be input, while the A/D converter in the ALEXA will convert this signal to 24 bit / 48 kHz PCM audio. As of V3.0, an audio window can now be accessed to set level – this window allows for MANUAL or UNITY operation. Channel 1 and 2 can be directed to either left or right, and the sound roll can be manually entered as well. Reference marks are located at -20 and -18db for US or European recording.

Version 3.0 also brings with it timecode operations – timecode can be input via a sound recorder or a device such as the Ambient Master Clock. The advantage of the Master Clock is that it will alert you to any drift before it becomes a sync issue; if timecode is generated by ALEXA internally, the camera will drift one frame over eight hours.

This firmware update has definitely added some great new functionality to ARRI’s ALEXA. Watch Ian McCausland's video to learn more.