NAB 2011: The camera manufacturer has released a series of upgrades for its Alexa camera, including a high speed mode, anamorphic de-squeeze and an updated software package.

The increased shooting speed, which will be available in the fourth quarter, will allow the cameras to record 120 fps, up from 60 fps.

Arri said the increase uses the full size of the camera’s 35 mm format sensor, which means that depth of field and angle of view are the same for regular and high speed modes.

The second pay-per-feature function introduced is an anamorphic de-squeeze for the Alexa viewfinder and the MON Out output.

The update means camera operators will be able to switch between four different modes for the viewfinder and MON Out when shooting with anamorphic lenses, including anamorphic de-squeeze off (in record and playback modes), anamorphic de-squeeze 2x (in record and playback modes), anamorphic de-squeeze 2x and magnify (in record mode only) and anamorphic de-squeeze 1.3x (in record and playback modes).

Scheduled for June, software update package 4.0 includes playback of audio from SxS Pro cards through the headphones jack and embedded in the HD-SDI stream for HD-SDI and Arriraw T-link output, auto white balance to automatically determine the red/blue white balance and green/magenta CC values when the camera is pointed at a white surface and low running fan speed to reduce the noise in hot environments.

Arri’s Alexa Studio (pictured) also has a new viewfinder that accepts both 435 and Arricam style eyepieces and viewfinder extensions. The optical viewfinder can be removed and replaced with the Alexa Electronic Viewfinder EVF-1.

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