ARRI ALEXA 35 Digital Cine Camera – All Recording Formats on one Poster

Camera News

by Olaf von VossOctober 10^th, 2022

The ARRI ALEXA 35 is out in the field, and it’s a beast (in a good way, of course). If you’re lucky enough to work with it regularly, ARRI has just released a nice little helper in the form of a pdf poster: all recording formats are clearly listed, so you’ll know what’s possible and how to achieve it in no time.

At the heart of the new ARRI ALEXA 35 is the successor to the highly acclaimed ALEV 3 sensor, the brand-new ALEV 4. This sensor, along with the in-camera processing pipeline, is responsible for the quite impressive Lab Test results of the ALEXA 35 here at CineD HQ. If you want to know all technical details on the camera, head over to our CineD Camera Database entry on the ALEXA 35.

Make sure to watch our interview with ARRI here, too.

Since the ALEXA 35 is equipped with a 4.6K Super 35 sensor (4608 x 3164), there are a variety of formats that this sensor can output, and so this “Recording Formats Poster” comes in handy, indeed. Everything from Open Gate, UHD, 3.8K 2:1 Ana, to 2K and HD is listed in an easy-to-grasp manner so you know exactly which modes do what and how to best use them.

ARRI ALEXA 35 – Recording formats poster

All in all, the ALEXA 35 offers 19 shooting modes, which is quite a lot. Whether you want a specific data rate, the highest quality possible, or a specific anamorphic squeeze factor, this camera has you covered.

To give you yet another view of the data shown on the recording formats poster provided by ARRI, I’ll list all the modes available.

First of all, there are two different basic modes of operation here: ARRIRAW or ProRes. The former records unaltered, uncompressed sensor data and therefore offers the most flexibility for downstream post-production. The latter comes in a variety of flavors ( aka compression rates), so you can choose the format and sensor mode ( i.e. the sensor area used for recording) that best suits your project.

Sensor modes

In terms of sensor modes there are eight modes in total, from the so-called Open Gate mode all the way down to 2K 16:9 Super 16:

• Open Gate (4608 x 3164): each pixel of the sensor will be considered for recording. This can be really beneficial for tweaking the image in post. If needed, virtual frame lines can be added for framing for a different aspect ratio but still keeping all the extra information.
• 4.6K 16:9 (4608 x 2592): This results in a more classic format, which may be easier to handle since more lenses cover the image circle required for this mode.
• 4K 16:9 (4096 x 2304): same as 4.6K but slightly less resolution.
• 4K 2:1 (4096 x 2048): still 4K, but in a different aspect ratio.
• 3.3K 6:5 (3328 x 2790): For projects using 2x anamorphic Super 35 lenses for a target deliverable of 2.39:1.
• 3K 1:1 (3072 x 3072): Designed for shooting with 2x anamorphic lenses for a target deliverable of 2:1.
• 2.7K 8:9 (2743 x 3086) with a target of UHD 16:9 Ana 2x: For shooting anamorphic with de-squeezing applied in-camera
• 2K 16:9 S16 (2048 x 1152): The “lowest” possible setting. Mimics the traditional Super 16 format for use with Super 16 lenses or as an in-camera center crop.

As it stands, the ARRI ALEXA 35 really is one of the most versatile cameras on the market, even if it is “only” a Super 35 camera and not a full-frame camera. With all these modes available, most if not all shooting situations should be well covered for the foreseeable future.

Links: ARRI website | download the poster here

What do you think? Is one of these shooting modes the one you need for an upcoming project? Would you consider renting an ALEXA 35 for it? Share your experiences in the comments below!