Arri’s new contender: The Arri ALEXA XT

by Sebastian Wöber February 20^th, 2013

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All the camera manufacturers try to take a chunk in the cinema camera market. We’ve seen a lot of new big sensor, 6K and other stunning developments over the past year, but now it’s Arris turn again.

When you look at how popular the Alexa is among cinematographers at the moment even though it has been around for several years and still “only” shoots HD / 2K you’ve got to realize Arri is doing something right. That’s also true for their newest version of the Alexa, the Alexa XT even though it uses the same old sensor. Read on to see why.

One of the new additions is a RAW module that allows for in-camera RAW acquisition:
All ALEXA XT models come with the new XR Module, a side panel that was co- developed with Codex to replace the previous SxS Module. The result is a smaller, lighter, more affordable and cable-free camera package that records ARRIRAW, ALEXA’s highest quality image output, inside the camera. ALEXAs can now capture ARRIRAW up to 120 fps onto exceptionally fast and rugged 512 GB XR Capture Drives.

Featured in all new Alexa models (ALEXA XT, ALEXA XT M, ALEXA XT Plus and ALEXA XT Studio) is an internal ND filter (before the lens). This ND goes from ND 0.3 to ND 2.4 and has a built-in infrared filter that is said to be perfect for the Alexa specific sensor.

The Alexa retains the 4:3 sensor which allows the use of anamorphic lenses or panning in post, a very mature sensor that is proven to create very sharp and crisp 2K images.

Another feature Arri is investing into is lens metadata: The ARRI Lens Data System (LDS) reads the position of all lens rings and writes them into metadata in every format ALEXA can record.

Aside from being future-proof upgradable and allowing previous Alexas to be turned into an XT the new model also features a new ultrasilent fan which makes it an even more quiet camera than it already was.

Reading all this you might realize that Arri is really not focused on breaking any records or fighting their competition with impressive tech details. Instead Arri focuses on the things that make a cameraman’s job easier by providing extremely ergonomic and reliable gear that deliver the high quality they require, not more, not less.

That said I hope other manufacturers will realize that customer satisfaction and an ergonomic tool is more important to camera people than impressive numbers. An approach that is more and more taken over by commercialism.

for more news about Arri cameras visit: www.arri.com