ARRI Rental ALFA and Moviecam Large-Format Lens Series Announced

Lens News

by Francesco AndreolaOctober 12^th, 2021

ARRI Rental has just announced two new large-format lens series: the ARRI Rental ALFA and Moviecam lineups. The former takes the quality of the ARRI Master Anamorphic lenses one step further, while the latter leverages the sense of nostalgia by giving vintage glass a more modern look. Both series are available worldwide exclusively through ARRI Rental facilities.

ARRI Rental’s sole mission is that of providing cinema and broadcast professionals around the world with the most advanced imaging technologies available today. Among other achievements, this huge team effort resulted in the development of the ARRI Prime DNA and DNA LF large-format lenses.

However, ARRI Rental didn’t stop. Indeed, their R&D team has been working side by side with professional cinematographers to develop two new large-format lens series. So please welcome the ARRI Rental ALFA and Moviecam glass.

ARRI ALFA and Moviecam series: common features

The ARRI ALFA and Moviecam series are specifically designed for large-format cinematography. Built around the LPL-Mount system, they are compatible with the ARRI 65 and LF cameras.

The construction of these lenses relies on ARRI’s expertise. This ensures a solid build-quality with incorporated modern features, like the LDA chips for efficient data workflows.

Despite the similarities, these two lineups should provide very different imaging characteristics. So let’s take a closer look.

ARRI ALFA: large-format anamorphics

The ARRI ALFA series builds on the legacy of the ARRI Master Anamorphic lenses. However, added elements and optical scheme modifications create a never-seen-before look.

This series of large-format anamorphics includes 8 lenses ranging from 40 to 190mm. Most lenses in the lineup have a maximum light transmission of T2.5.

In developing the ALFA series, the ARRI Rental team didn’t work alone. In fact, essential inputs came from cinematographers Greig Fraser (ACS, ASC) and Nikolaus Summerer. They asked, the ARRI Rental team listened.

According to Fraser, the ALFA lenses provide “a nice vignette of softness around the edges but a super-sharp center”.

ARRI Moviecam Series: vintage nostalgia

While the ALFA lenses produce a strong anamorphic look, the Moviecam series aims at giving vintage glass a whole new life, providing the nostalgic look many filmmakers are looking after.

The optical scheme of this glass dates back to the 1970s, while the housing has a fresh, modern, high-performance design, with uniform lens sizes and ring placements. According to ARRI, the lenses in this series are lightweight and compact in size.

The ARRI Moviecam lineup includes 11 large-format spherical lenses ranging from 16 to 135mm. Most of them boast a maximum aperture of T2, with the exception of the 100 and 135mm T2.8 and 60mm T1.5.

Availability

These lenses truly represent the state-of-the-art of our craft today and they should provide ultimate image quality. However, they are not for everyone and it won’t be easy to put hands on them.

In fact, as in the case of the ARRI Prime DNA and DNA LF lenses, the ALFA and Moviecam Series are only available through ARRI Rental’s network of facilities around the world, particularly in North America and Europe.

What do you think about these new ARRI Rental lens series? Have you ever shot on the ARRI 65 or LF cameras? Share your experience in the comments below!