And you thought 4K was big? Arri has just announced a 6K 65mm professional cinema camera – the Alexa 65.
There had been rumours for some time that Arri would release a 65mm camera, but it seemed nothing more, until this past weekend’s Cinec event in Munich, where the company finally unveiled the large format Alexa 65.
The new cinema camera’s sensor is 3 times the size of the original Alexa or Super 35. And is similar in size to those 65- 70mm film cameras used in Lawrence of Arabia, Ben Hur, Cleopatra and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Albeit, the Alexa 65 is a lot lighter than the cameras used in those movies which weighed around 70 lbs/32 kgs, the Alexa 65 sits at 23.2 lbs/10.5 kgs. And unlike those old cameras the Alexa 65 shoots in digital rather than film stock (well, duh).
Alexa 65 A3X sensor
The sensor has a 54.12 x 25.59-mm active imaging area (diagonal: 59.8-mm), which is even larger than the film gate of ARRI’s old 65 mm film camera (the 765).
The new cam also has 14-stops of Dynamic Range and uses the same photosite technology as the ALEXA XT, so its image attributes such as colorimetry and dynamic range will match all of the other cameras of the Alexa family. The 65 also sits a little fatter than the XT, at 8.2″ wide
Full resolution from the A3X sensor at open gate, is 6560 x 3102, and at 2.11:1 it will chew up 2.6 terabytes an hour shooting in ARRIRAW using the Codex XR media drives, (similar again to the Alexa XT ). There are two crop modes which cost a little less storage to shoot on (but not much), at 1.78 it’ll chew through 1.9 TB per hr and 1.5:1 eating slightly less at 1.6 TB per hr.
Which is why Codex has unveiled two new Vaults for 65, the Vault S and Vault XL, so filmmaker’s will have enough storage on-set (photos and specs for the Vaults are at the end of this article). Keep in mind if you plan on hiring the Alexa 65, that you’ll need to hire one or two Vaults also.
Hasselblad 65 lenses
Along with the new 65mm camera is a new range of lenses from Hasselblad, including a 50-110 mm Zoom 65, along with 8 primes ranging from 24mm to 300mm.
On to the specs.
Technical specifications
Overview
| Camera type | 65 mm format digital cinema camera | |
| Sensor | ARRI A3X CMOS sensor | |
| Image aperture | 5-perf 65 mm (54.12 mm x 25.58 mm active image area) | |
| Sensor resolution | 6560 x 3102 (Open Gate – maximum recordable) | |
| Dimensions | Length: 387.8 mm | 15.3 in Width: 208.3 mm | 8.2 in Height: 163 mm | 6.4 in (body only with XPL mount) |
|
| Weight | 10.5 kg | 23.2 lb | |
| Lens mount | ARRI XPL mount with Lens Data System (LDS) functionality | |
| Shutter | Electronic, 5.0º to 358.0º. Adjustable with 1/10º precision. | |
| Frame rates | 20 to 27 fps (Open Gate) * | |
| Exposure index | EI 200 to EI 3200. Base sensitivity EI 800 | |
| Dynamic range | >14 stops |
Recording system
| Recording file format | Uncompressed ARRIRAW | |
| Recorder crop modes | 5-perf 65 mm (Open Gate, 1.78 extraction) 8-perf 35 mm (future) |
|
| Storage (type) | Codex XR Capture Drive * | |
| Storage (capacity) | 480 GByte capacity / 850 MByte per second data rate * | |
| Storage (recording time) | 11 minutes @ 24 fps |
System interfaces
| Viewfinder | Electronic color viewfinder ARRI EVF-1 | |
| BNC connectors | 4 x 3G SDI – MON (1) OUT: 2 x 3G SDI – MON (2) OUT: 2 x 3G SDI |
|
| SD card | For software updates and menu settings etc. as with ALEXA New high speed operating mode for fast ARRIRAW frame grabs (planned feature) |
|
| Miscellanous interfaces | Focus / iris / zoom motor control with full wireless lens control support 5 x RS 24 V 1 x 12 V TC I/O (5-pin Lemo) 1 x LDD 2 x LCS BAT and ACC connection |
Monitoring and playback
| Monitoring | 3 independent color outputs, all with optional overlays: EVF-1 OUT MON (1) OUT MON (1) OUT MON OUT assistive displays: Zoom, overscan, overlay info, frame lines, false color exposure check, peaking focus check |
|
| CDL | CDL server support is provided as ALEXA XT | |
| In-camera playback | Playback via EVF-1, HD-SDI MON OUT including audio |
* Upgrade planned for Q1/2015
Jon Fauer ASC has written a 36 page report for Film and Digital Times on the Alexa 65, which you can read here.
Availability
The Alexa 65 is available to rent from Arri Rental, for local rental and more info, check its website: arrirentalgroup.com/alexa65/
Vault Specs
Click for higher res
