The ARRI ALEXA 35 Camera
Building upon the already impressive range of cinema cameras offer by ARRI, the ALEXA 35 fits perfectly into underwater production by giving shooters a compact and feature filled compliment to their ARRI camera lineup. It has a rugged compact form factor similar to the ALEXA Mini, but it adds higher end features more similar to the larger ALEXA camera. The ALEXA 35 is capable of recording both ARRIRAW and Apple ProRES to 2TB Codex drives with resolution up to 4.6K and frame rates up to 120p.
The ARRI ALEXA 35 sets a new standard for Super 35 digital video cameras and features an all-new 4.6K ALEV 4 CMOS sensor. It offers a massive 17 stops of dynamic range and a host of new features making this the new gold standard for digital cinematography.
The NAUTICAM housing for the new ARRI ALEXA 35 was designed to optimize preparation and performance of this camera for working underwater in most environments. Remote LCS and ethernet control allow Camera AC’s to work with the Nauticam housing with full confidence.
Easy Camera Prep
Designed with both owner/operator and rental markets in mind, the Nauticam system is very easy to set up. Armed with only a coin and an allen wrench, the entire support and lens control system is constructed on the camera base plate outside of the housing. This means the rig can be built on a table, in good light, with plenty of working space. Once the camera is assembled on its tray, the entire system slides into the housing, and locks securely in place.
Lens Control System
Similar to the ALEXA Mini and Mini LF housing, the ALEXA 35 housing features an adjustable gear tower to control Focus, Iris and Zoom all from the knurled knobs on the exterior of the housing. This “diver controlled” setup completely satisfies the needs of a single operator.
For more production oriented shoots which require remote operation and control, the newly designed Nauticam ALEXA 35 housing features two upper and two lower 15mm rods allowing the use cforce Plus and cforce mini motors paired with the ARRI Hi-5 Hand Unit. Only the upper 15mm rods will support the larger cforce Plus motors. Unlike previous generation housings, the motors will now drive the lens itself rather than through the adjustable gear tower. With the standard housing, two motors can be mounted for short primes. When adding on the included 100mm Housing Extension, you can mount 3 motors to the 15mm rods allowing the use of zoom lenses or longer primes.
The housing also ships with one 3/4″ Hydroflex style bulkhead allowing the power, remote control, and remote monitor umbilical from other Hydroflex rental systems to be used on Alexa Mini.
A tremendous range of lenses is supported, from very small Zeiss Standard Speeds, to very large cinema styled zooms. Our port system has been tested with Arri UWZ 9.5-18, the most sophisticated wide angle lens ever produced, with excellent results.
Optically-Coated Glass Dome Port
Our exclusive 250mm optically coated glass dome port is supplied with every system, and we believe it is the best optic available for cinema lenses. The 250mm dome port diameter – 10 inches – is a key for good wide angle imaging performance with many cinema lenses underwater. Smaller domes can work well with close focusing SLR lenses, but many cinema lenses have a longer minimum focus distance in the .35-.40m (14-16″) range. Using Arri Master Prime T1.4/14mm, with its .4m MFD as an example, the 250mm dome provides clearly superior results, with much less corner softness than smaller domes. The glass dome is rugged, and extremely resistant to scratching. Broadband Anti-Reflective Coatings eliminate flare, reflections, and ghosting from the port optic. A robust machined aluminum shade protects the dome, and provides additional flare resistance.
Vacuum Check and Leak Detection System
The Nauticam ALEXA 35 housing features Nauticam’s field-tested Vacuum Check and Leak Detection System that provides constant updates on the water tight and safe-to-dive status of the housing. By drawing a slight vacuum inside the housing using a reliable and compact manual hand-pump, the system is able to insure water-tightness before entering the water as well as throughout the dive. A simple color-coded LED lighting system, easily visible at the rear of the housing lets the user know that the vacuum is solid, or that the housing is losing vacuum. Leak detection is built into the same circuit, so if there is water intrusion, an audible and visual indication will occur. The Nauticam system is temperature compensated, eliminating false alarms caused by a change in outside temperature, or from a camera heating up on an action packed dive.
