We all kinda knew this was bound to happen at some point sooner or later. Well, it happened sooner than expected to some – ARRI just announced the ALEXA MINI LF and expanded their large format camera family by putting the full-frame+ sensor from the ALEXA LF in the ALEXA MINI body. Recording options include “Netflix compliant” 4.5K ARRIRAW and ProRes; pricing is currently set to start at €48,000 for the body with shipping slated for sometime in July 2019.
The ALEXA Mini LF body is very similar in design to the Mini, which is a bit taller; but nonetheless the new ALEXA Mini LF shares a similar footprint, and rugged design with its Alexa Mini brethren. The design itself is a work of art with insane attention to detail paid to every curve, crevice and indentation.
Everything feels built-for purpose, and as all ARRI cameras, the ALEXA Mini LF is no different – it has been built to withstand abuse on set, and features that familiar “bulletproof” carbon fibre design made to accomodate the extra electronics, processing, cooling and new recording media required for the 4.5K ARRIRAW and ProRes functionality.
Images by ARRI
As expected, when it comes to maximum frame rates the ALEXA Mini LF can do less than the bigger ALEXA LF, but then again, the ALEXA LF was never built to be used as an owner-operator camera, rather one to be managed by crews on big features and productions. The Alexa Mini LF on the other hand, much like the unlikely hero product the Mini became – will be without a doubt a hot seller in the high-end owner-op/DP circles, thanks to a much more manageable size, weight, price without major sacrifices in functionality.
Images by ARRI
ALEXA Mini LF Summary
- 4K Netflix compliant
- ALEXA LF ALEV III (A2X) CMOS “Full-Frame+” sensor (36.70 x 25.54 mm)
- LPL Mount (PL to LPL mount adapter, optional accessory)
- New Viewfinder MVF-2
- New recoding media – Codex Compact Drive
- 4.5K ARRIRAW and ProRes (.MXF container)
- Sensor modes, Resolutions, Max Frame Rates:
- LF Open Gate
- 4.5K ARRIRAW (4448 x 3096) at 40fps
- 4.5K ProRes (4448 x 3096) at 40fps
- LF 16:9
- ARRIRAW & ProRes UHD (3840 x 2160) at 60fps
- 2K/HD ProRes at 90fps
- LF 2.39:1
- 4.5K ARRIRAW and ProRes (4448 x 1856) at 60fps
- LF Open Gate
- 6 Assignable user buttons, with Lock button
- Additional WiFi antenna on camera left side above media bay
- 2 x built-in mics for scratch audio
- 12v and 24v regulated outputs
- 6-pin LEMO for external Audio input
- Weight:
- 2.6 Kg/5.7 lbs for the camera body with LPL lens mount
- 800 g/1.7 lbs for the MVF-2 viewfinder
- Power Draw – slightly higher than Alexa Mini
- voltage input range from 11 V to 34 V
- can be powered via 14.4V & 24V batteries
- Price:
- €48,000 – Alexa Mini LF body – includes ARRIRAW license
- €49,900 – ALEXA Mini LF & Lens Mount Set
- €5,880 – ARRI MVF-2 Viewfinder
- €62,900 – ALEXA Mini LF Ready to Shoot Set (Gold of V-mount)
- Availability: Ships in July 2019
ARRI Alexa Mini LF Showreel:
Being a large format camera, the Alexa Mini LF has an LPL mount, same as on the Alexa LF, and is optimized for large-format lenses such as the ARRI Signature Primes, ARRI Rental DNA LF and 65 format optics, and third-party LPL lenses.
The PL-to-LPL adapter, which attaches securely to the LPL lens mount without tools, offers backwards compatibility with all PL mount lenses, be they Super 35 or full frame. LDS-2 or /i lens metadata is accessible via the LPL mount, and LDS-1 or /i via the PL-to-LPL adapter.
ARRI have a very helpful Frame Line and Lens Illumination Tool, which illustrates how much of the large-format sensor is covered by a given lens.
Images by ARRI
The Alexa Mini LF records onto new Codex Compact Drives and both ARRIRAW and ProRes are recorded in the MXF wrapper, signalling ARRI’s moving away from using Quicktime in their ProRes files, which moving forward on all their future cameras will be recorded in the MXF wrapper.
The ALEXA Mini LF gets a new viewfinder also – MVF-2, which will also be used on future ARRI cameras, has a beautiful OLED display with the familiar flip-out design and can be mounted on either side of the camera and even used remotely up to 10 meters with an additional cable and act as a wired remote control.
Sharing a similar power draw (around 65W) as the Alexa Mini, as well as a similar body design makes the new Alexa Mini LF compatible with a wide range of already existing ARRI PCA and electronic accessories such as the WCU-4 and OCU-1.
Images by ARRI
Alexa Mini LF Specifications:
- Sensor Type:
- Large Format ARRI ALEV III (A2X) CMOS sensor with Bayer pattern color filter
- Sensor Size: 36.70 x 25.54 mm / 1.444 x 1.005″ (⌀ 44.71 mm / 1.760″)
- Photosite Pitch: 8.25 μm
- Max. Frame rates (resolution varies): 90fps
- Sensor Active Image Areas:
- LF Open Gate ProRes 4.5K: 4448 x 3096
- LF Open Gate ARRIRAW 4.5K: 4448 x 3096
- LF 16:9 ProRes HD: 3840 x 2160
- LF 16:9 ProRes 2K: 3840 x 2160
- LF 16:9 ProRes UHD: 3840 x 2160
- LF 16:9 ARRIRAW UHD: 3840 x 2160
- LF 2.39:1 ProRes 4.5K: 4448 x 1856
- LF 2.39:1 ARRIRAW 4.5K: 4448 x 1856
- Dynamic range: 14+ stops
- Exposure Index/Sensitivity:
- Adjustable from EI 160-3200 in 1/3 stops
- EI 800 base sensitivity
- Shutter:
- Electronic shutter, 5.0°- 356° or 1s – 1/8000s
- Recording formats:
- MXF/ARRIRAW
- MXF/Apple ProRes 4444 XQ
- MXF/Apple ProRes 4444
- MXF/Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)
- Recording Media:
- Codex Compact Drives (1TB)
- EVF: Multi Viewfinder MVF-2 with 4″ flip-out monitor (OLED)
- Colour Output:
- Rec.709 / Rec.2020 / Log C / Custom Look (ARRI Look File ALF-2)
- Look Control:
- Import of custom 3D LUT
- ND filters:
- Built-in motorized ND filters 0.6, 1.2, 1.8
- Fixed optical low pass, UV, IR filter
- Exposure and Focus Tools:
- False Colour / Zebra / Zoom / Aperture and Colour Peaking
- Audio: 2 channel linear PCM, 24 bit 48 kHz
- Remote Control options:
- MVF-2 viewfinder can act as wired remote control with 10m/33ft cable
- Web-based remote control from:
- smart phones, tablets and laptops via WiFi & Ethernet
- Camera Access Protocol (CAP) via Ethernet & WiFi
- GPIO interface for integration with custom control interfaces
- WCU-4 hand-unit with control over lens motors
- SXU-1 hand-unit with control over one lens channel
- OCU-1 and Master Grip control of lens and user buttons
- I/O interfaces:
- 1x LEMO 5pin LTC Timecode In/Out
- 1x LEMO 10pin Ethernet for remote control and service
- 1x BNC SYNC IN
- 1x LEMO 7pin EXT multi purpose accessory interface w. RS pin and 24V power output
- 1x LEMO 4pin LBUS (on lens mount) for lens motors, daisy-chainable
- 1x USB 2.0 in media bay (for user setups, look files etc)
- Wireless interfaces:
- Built-in WiFi module (IEEE 802.11b/g)
- Built-in White Radio for ARRI lens and camera remote control
- Lens mounts:
- LPL lens mount with LBUS connector
- PL-to-LPL adapter
- Leitz M mount (availbale from Leitz)
- Power Input:
- 1x LEMO 8pin (10.5-34 V DC)
- Power Consumption:
- Around 65 W when recording ProRes 4444 with MVF-2 attached
Images by ARRI
For full specs and more information head over to ARRI’s website here.
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