Arri adds functionality to Alexa 65
September 11, 2015

Arri adds functionality to Alexa 65

AMSTERDAM — At the IBC show here, Arri (www.arrirentalgroup.com) has introduced new functionality for its Alexa 65 65mm digital cinema camera. The Alexa 65 has been used on a number of feature films, including Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, shot by Greig Fraser ACS, ASC, and Oliver Stone’s Snowden, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle ASC, BSC, DFF.

In addition to the 65mm digital cinema camera, Alexa 65 also makes use of custom-designed prime and zoom lenses, and fast, efficient workflow tools. IMAX recently announcing that it has selected the Alexa 65 platform as its digital option for 2D IMAX productions. The camera is available exclusively through Arri Rental, a network of rental facilities in the US and across Europe. 

The first production to use the Alexa 65 and to hit theaters was Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. While the movie was shot primarily on 35mm film by Robert Elswit ASC, its major underwater sequence was captured with Alexa 65 cameras and Prime 65 lenses in HydroFlex housings by Pete Romano ASC.

The updated Alexa 65 now supports 2TB SXR capture drives, offering over 40 minutes of recording time at the full 6560x3100 sensor resolution. The new SXR capture drive technology also offers very high recording data rates, allowing 60fps uncompressed recording at full resolution, and facilitates a faster offload time, delivering a quicker, cost-effective and more streamlined workflow solution with the Alexa 65 Vault S and Vault XL Lab 65 systems.

A scaled-up version of the Alexa XT IFM-1 in-camera ND filter system is also now available for the 65. The new IFM-65 allows Alexa 65 cameras to use behind the lens, full-spectrum ND filters, optimizing image quality and delivering the full performance of the Prime 65 and Vintage 765 lenses by reducing the risk of multiple reflections that stacked external filter systems can create. The FSND (Full Spectrum Neutral Density) filters used with the IFM-65 provide neutral color balance at all of the eight available densities, from ND 0.3 to ND 2.4.

A new lens option has also been added to the existing line-up of Prime 65 and Vintage 765 lenses. The compact 50-110mm Zoom 65 weighs just 1.6 kg and produces the same overall image quality as a prime lens, given its impressively high contrast and resolution. Arri’s Lens Data System (LDS) is also integrated into the 50-110mm Zoom 65, making it the only zoom lens in this format that can supply metadata to the camera.