NEW CAMERAS | FEATURE
T hrough most of the 2000s, changes in cameras have been prompted largely by the desire to properly replace 35mm negative. Now, the push for resolution, dynamic range and colour to match the capability of a century of narrative filmmaking is largely a won war. Many cameras go significantly beyond what film could ever do, or at least, they go beyond what 35mm cinema could do. Now, in late 2019, digital camera manufacturers aren’t so much reaching for Super35, they’re reaching for Imax. Partly that’s because distributors are trying to future-proof their material with 4K origination, but it’s also because the most immediate way to create a camera with bigger numbers is to put a bigger sensor in it. ARRI LF MINI Arri declared an interest in this field early with the Alexa 65. Announced all the way back in 2014, it was immediately an attractive prospect: Alexa pictures at 6K resolution. Practically, though, the size, weight and power consumption raised eyebrows even among crews used to the conventional Alexa, which wasn’t particularly small, light nor power-frugal to begin with. LF was an achievement in that
IMAGES DOP Michael Seresin with an Alexa Mini LF at IBC 2019
Many cameras go beyond what film could ever do – or at least beyond what 35mm cinema could
it packed a lot more pixels into a chassis barely larger than a conventional Alexa. By that time, though, the Alexa Mini (launched in early 2015) had become popular. Alexa LF Mini was announced in March this year and Arri tells us that ‘current prototypes’ are a comparatively featherweight 2.6kg and roughly equal in size to an Alexa Mini. Power consumption is a relatively restrained 65W and the camera will record 4.5K up to 60fps, and HD up to 90fps. Both the Mini and conventional Alexa LF sacrifice the 6K resolution of the Alexa 65, compromising with a still- admirable 4.5K. The benefit is compatibility with lenses designed for a sensor roughly the size of a stills negative – Alexa 65, and 65mm film, both demand lenses with medium-format coverage. In some ways, ‘large-format’ is something of a misnomer since it more generally refers to stills formats significantly larger than a 35mm stills frame. Still, if the LF Mini is designed to offer a no- compromise 4.5K Alexa for fussy, over-the- top broadcasters, and without requiring a wagon train full of support gear, it is a success. CVP list the body for £41,360, plus VAT.
NOVEMBER 20 1 9 | DEF I N I T ION 51
Powered by FlippingBook