ARRI's recent release of Software Update Package 5.3 for AMIRA enables some significant new functionality for the camera. The most exciting of these new features is support for ARRIRAW, the RAW format used in the ALEXA and ALEXA Mini cameras. This is significant since the company line for many years was that AMIRA would never shoot RAW (not that we're complaining, mind you).

Recently, I had the opportunity to test some of the new features of the version 4 firmware for ARRI SkyPanels. In the first video, I take a look at the four new lighting effects, which include Explosion, Fluorescent Flicker, Process, and Welding. This now brings the SkyPanels to seventeen pre-programmed lighting effects, an amazing amount of options in one light source.

ARRI's announcement of the ALEXA LF has the industry buzzing, to say the least, and some people are wondering about the other half of their recent announcement – ARRI's Signature Primes, the large image circle optical companions to ALEXA LF. Looking through the set of announced focal lengths, things get interesting.

The SXT is the third generation of ALEXA from ARRI. This blog concentrates on the wireless capabilities of the SXT Plus. The Plus has electronics for wireless lens functions built in, so motors and cables are all you need to build the camera.

The ARRI WCU-4 (Wireless Control Unit) has become a staple of the industry. In this video, I start to explore all the rigging possibilities for the handset.

The ARRI MAXIMA stabilizer, part of ARRI's TRINITY system, changes the way that we look at compact gimbal stabilizers, allowing for the use of heavier as well as physically larger camera packages.

This year’s Cine Gear Expo was definitely one of the most eventful ones. From new camera announcements to the latest in lighting technology and more, there was a little something for everyone to get excited about. In that vein, we’ve rounded up some of the most relevant coverage — both from our own specialists as well as our friends over at Newsshooter.

Everyone has an idea for their great passion project, but it takes a certain level of commitment to turn that idea into reality. For director and DP Alexander Hankoff, his short film Yellow was something he knew he wanted to make and it was his (along with his team's) creativity that made it possible.

Choosing the make of the lenses you use on a project is one of many ways to create a look. The quality and characteristics of a lens add to the flavor of the image, and is one of the many ways to impart your look as a DP. It's one of my favorite choices a DP can make on a project: which make of lenses will I use for this specific project?