Shooting With The Alexa

[klesko010]

Hello,

I was wondering if you had shot any projects or tests on the Alexa? Watching some videos and reading some articles it seems that ISO 800 is the sweet spot with 7 stops over and 7 under, producing little noise.

My questions are

- is does shooting that high at 800 protect the highlights that well? Its prob a pain with using ND for bright exteriors and possibly having to throw ND in for bright interiors but at the same time now maybe you can hold that window that would be blown out in the past or keep more information in the sky.

- is 800 that low on noise? I have seen some video tests mainly the one arri put out but again im on a computer and I really can't discern to much watching a little web video, though it looks pretty spectacular.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

How "low" is low enough is somewhat of a personal taste issue, no camera right now at 800 ASA is noiseLESS, but from what I've seen of the Alexa footage at 800 ASA, the noise is low.

You need ND filters to shoot at the desired f-stop for the ASA rating, so if at 800 ASA, you need ND's to get the exposure you want, you need ND's. Now maybe the Alexa looks fine at 400 ASA in terms of highlights (I'm sure the noise is even lower), but in theory, you'd be losing one-stop of overexposed detail and gaining one-stop of underexposed detail at 400 ASA instead of 800 ASA, but that assumes a linear response and no gamma corrections.

Yes, improved highlight latitude will help hold overexposed detail a bit longer, so windows may need less ND gel on them, etc.