The new ARRI Alexa, a $60,000 professional 2K camera, shows off its chops in this gorgeous footage of a violin maker at work. The amazing part? You’re seeing the camera working with the light of two, 100W desk lamps.
The video itself was shot at 800 ISO, which has been described by DP Tom Faehrmann as “completely noise free.” From the looks of this clip, he’s not exaggerating. I’d blame any noticeable blemishes on Flash compression.
ARRI’s bigger pitch with the Alexa, however, is the general ease of use. Get a better look at the hardware in these two promo vids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSJT_loCNdA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvkyE_9gjVQ
Price/value aside—obviously this isn’t the class of camera you’re going to run out and buy—the more I see the Alexa, the more I like it. At first I thought the body to be drab and barren, but the streamlined, utilitarian build looks easy enough to pick up and use, even for an amateur.
