Arri Rental Announces Two Large-Format Lens Series
LPL-mounted Alfa anamorphic lenses and Moviecam spherical lenses are available exclusively at Arri Rental facilities worldwide.
Arri Rental has introduced two large-format lens series: Alfa anamorphic lenses and Moviecam spherical lenses. Conceived and built by Arri’s global lens-development team, both are available exclusively at Arri Rental facilities worldwide.
The anamorphic Alfa line (pictured above), developed in collaboration with cinematographer Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS, comprises eight lenses ranging from 40mm to 190mm. Most focal lengths are T2.5.
In response to Fraser’s request for fresh large-format anamorphic options, Arri and Arri Rental collaborated to modify sets of Master Anamorphic lenses. In addition to adapting them to cover the larger format, technicians customized the lenses in pursuit of specifically requested image attributes. Further prototyping of the Alfa lenses took place with German cinematographer Nikolaus Summerer’s input.
“The modifications we built into the Alfas brought out an entirely new dimension in the Master Anamorphics, with a nice vignette of softness around the edges but a super-sharp center that we could degrade if required,” says Fraser. “These lenses are incredibly different from, for example, the DNA lenses we worked with on Mary Magdalene.”
The Alfas’ robust lens housings still contain Master Anamorphic glass, but accompanied by other bespoke optical elements and modifications that create an entirely new look.
The spherical Moviecam lens line combines vintage glass with modern, high-performance lens housings. Compact and lightweight, the lenses are available in 11 focal lengths ranging from 16mm to 135mm and boast a T2 stop across most of that range. (The 60mm is T1.5, and the 100mm and 135mm are T2.8.)
Moviecam lenses were first produced in the 1980s and used high-quality donor glass dating from the 1970s. In the 1990s, Arri acquired the Moviecam company and incorporated some of its camera technologies into the Arricam ST and LT. Recognizing the original lenses’ growing appeal to filmmakers seeking a vintage look for digital cinematography, Arri Rental has built the same 1970s optics into new lens housings, creating a large number of consistent Moviecam sets.
Both the Alfa and Moviecam series are LPL-mounted and incorporate LDA chips for efficient lens-data workflows, making them suitable even for VFX-heavy productions. The lens housings are manufactured in house at Arri Rental.
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