ABANDONED | ARRI's first Digital Camera the D-20

I operated on productions using D20 and D21 in those days (although the Genesis and F35 was more common). The D series was heavy and bulky even without an onboard deck (we tethered to the recorder via SDI and later fiber) which made it less than ideal for me as a Steadicam operator. So it was a revelation when we got an early Alexa--smaller, lighter AND internal recording, with a reasonable ISO! For me, the arrival of the Alexa was the true turning point for digital acquisition, after four or so years of kind of fumbling in the dark. One funny story from a TV pilot we shot on D21: a walk and talk ended in a non-moving elevator. I had a concern that the actors might accidentally hit a button to start the elevator, and what would have happened to the fiber line if the doors closed and the elevator started moving as the fiber was still tethered to me. We had a grip on either side of the door with knife out at that point in the shot, ready to cut the line if that was to happen!

Great vid. I interned and then worked at Arri Burbank during this exact period, 2006-2009; they even had me shoot a company promo using the D20. One thing not mentioned here was the Arri acquisition of Dalsa around 2008, which if I recall correctly was the only camera platform with a working 4K sensor. The idea being that Arri would integrate that tech into the future Alexa platform. Another factor that same year that sped up the digital takeover was the Writers Strike, with studios slashing development, creating the domino effect of hastening what was touted as a cheaper capture and distribution method.

ARRI and RED cameras-Top in the world !!!

I’m a 1st AC and HATED the Red One that thing was a nightmare to work with, but the Alexa was butter smooth since launch

It’s honest to say that they maintained the film camera as long as they could 😊

Do you know who work in this project?! Serbian man ;)

Red One was absolutely disgusting 🤮

The D20 was not a success as the image quality was too much like "video"...I entered the business 1999 and this was exactly when the transsition began from film to digital...the audience was used to the traditional organic mood of film with its depth of field and sometimes unperfect look. And the film crews were used to an analog workflow, nobody knew how to handle this digital cameras. The very first Red camera had same issues with "video" look, but as it was a newcomer system, much more cheap then ARRI, more newcomers get a hand on them to eyperiment with pushing boundries. Was a crazy era wow...

Waited nearly a decade to afford my URSA mini 4.6k will never sell it.

I have a D21. I have shot with both a D21 and an Alexa side by side on two features - and the D21 always outperforms the Alexa (except for night shots). Image wise it is superior to the Alexa. As a side note, you can tether it to a Convergent Design monitor or another SDI monitor, and capturing becomes effortless. Thanks for this video!

This is a very interesting watch, thanks. My company had a very early prototype D-20 on loan from Arri Munich when we were developing our own field recorder, that used 12 disks striped together and attached via fibre channel, to record full uncompressed HD video. This was just around the time that Codex Digital also started showing the world their recorder.

Our recorder never got productised since we were relying on outside sources for things like frame capturing and we couldn't support special features like the D-20's special 'ArriRaw' mode. It was a fun time, though.

I'm not even that huge into cameras and i've been watching each episode! They're so interesting!

The Alexa is no arriflex because there is no mirror....

As a red owner operator, nothing beats the Alexa in terms of IQ and tonality. Hands down.

Amazing series, keep it up!

Who started this pronouncing it "airy" thing?When I went to film school it was "are ree" It hurts my ears when ppl say airy- the company is combined names -}ARnold and Richter--->>>> AR not AIR!!! its right there people - ARE RE not AIRY! theres no "I" there!

I have been shooting on the D21 this year. I shot a short film, with the D21 + Master Prime 16mm Prime Lens. I shot Arriraw (2880x2160), with the use of the Codex M Recorder.

My editor wrangled the footage, and he couldn't believe how much it truly emulates the look of 35mm motion picture film stock.

Yes, the native ISO is 200, but with the addition of powerful LED lights, and the use of fast lenses, like the Masters, it is definitely manageable.

I am shooting more & more on the D21, and I couldn't be happier with the image. There is something unique about the colour science, that looks different to the Arri Alexa's.

Great video mate. Enjoyed it!

Just discovered the series! So glad this exists.

the first generation of Red cameras are pure shit. Arri waited for the maturity of the Alexa camera system was smart.

fantastic video - Thank you :)

What film is the clip with the planes at the beginning from?

It's like the NeoGeo AES home console, so beloved it went from rental-only to becoming a genuine sales item sold around the world despite the costs involved in the machine and the games. Great video, fun to learn more about ARRI and their legacy.

Bro this series feeds my soul as someone who literally grew up in this era and cut my teeth on film and digital at the same time while I watched it all unfold.

I always regretted selling my D-21. Why? Why? Why? Did I sell it? Noooo. The feelings flood back. Thank you Frame Voyager for opening this wound.

best looking camera I could afford was the BMPCC6k pro.. im still to this day stunned with the imagery that comes off that thing. so film like its insane. im an old guy and I remember the very first time I saw digital video on a computer monitor. my jaw just dropped. we take it for granted but that was like magic back in the day. Also the first time I transferred digital tape to the computer via deck, and then started being able to edit. I mean it blew my doors off. no more EDL or rocking the reels..

We had a D-21 in our film school equipment cage and I always wanted to know more about it’s historical context. Thanks for the video!

I feel like you left out a bunch of key reasons. If I remember correctly the native ISO of this camera was 200 so it was slow. It was also gigantic and heavy, and required being tethered to an external recording device like the minifridge sized Sony SRW-1. The image quality and compatibility with film accessories made it appealing as a real digital cinema camera, but If I had something of my own to shoot back then I would have much preferred a Sony F900R, for weight, simplicity and being able to just throw it on my shoulder and go.

This series is fantastic.

Biggest problem for me of the D series was the codec. Raw files seemed to be almost impossible to manage.
Everyone talk about the sensor but i'd be curious to know how Red managed to create the .r3d codec in such a limited time, it was 10 years ahead of its time and its still amazing to work with it today

Only as a dedicated amateur (managed to picked up a second hand Arri 2c 35 mm motion camera for a v.good price in 2007), my perspective on the changeover to digital reflects what is set out in this helpful video - a "critical mass" was reached circa 2009 - companies continuing to sell motion picture (film cameras) were like Olivetti - the Italian typewriter manufacturer - trying to compete with word processing packages on home computers !!! I was initially skeptical about the move to digital - movies like "Public Enemies" (2009) didn't look great (the low light scenes looked like average quality television video) but movies shot on the Arri Alexa (or any of Red's cameras) approximated to film much better. I hope film continues to be used for some movies but - as regards the general motion picture industry - the "R.I.P." sign for film went up circa 2009/2010 !!!

"here's a brief history of arri" skips the part where they were nazi contractors whose factories were allocated jewish slaves "their factory was destroyed during world war two"

I seem to recall during the launch that the camera had no name yet only the sensor was the AlevIII and the engineers nicknamed the system Alexa but that was not supposed to be the official name. But the press catch that name really quick and started referring to it and this the Alexa name became the model? I’d love to corroborate this but I do remember the absence of the Alexa And in the original presentation.

I had a 2 days commercial shoot around 2008 in Hungary with D21. The camera was brand new, bulky, looked like a motorbike without wheels and frames. The recorder was attached by cables so we couldn't really moved (we tried and it was hard) the camera or use it handheld. After on and a half they shoot the camera stopped working, it freezed and couldn't start again. They take it back to Munich immediately and I never heard about it. The production brought a Sony F-900 the Ford production HD camera (Star Wars Attack of the clones fame). The Sony footage looked inferior to the Arri's. I was seriously disappointed in the D21. I worked with Red One, lot of people hated it, because of overheating and etc, but I never had problem with it, and I like the image that Red One produced. Later on Red changed to modular cameras and Arrived released Alexa that reminded me the Red One aesthetically. Those were the days...

A great video and a great series enjoying it a lot brilliant work

Kudos to Arri for having a foot in digital cinema with the D21 while learning and perfecting their technology for what would become the Alexa. Arri is a reminder to self to balance adapting new technologies with controlling quality.

Loving these videos! Can you do one about the short lived "cinema adapter" era? It was led by companies like RedRock Micro with the M2 and later the M3, and Letus. it was an attachment that went on the front of prosumer video camera like the Canon XH A1s, Sony PMW series cameras and so on. it allowed you to utilize various lenses by zooming in on a sensor plane behind the ground glass to get that grainy look. That whole "rise of the DSLR shooter"/Prosumer video camera era was crazy! All sorts of adapters and attachments were coming out but quickly stopped around 2012/13. Funny enough, that's when BM entered the scene and changed everything with the OG Cinema Camera!

The name Alexa is coming from the fact that it whas a secret project. So people who had to come to Arri to work on the camera had to ask for Alexa at the front desk. Like they had a meeting with someone who called Alexa. And when the moment come that they had to release the camera everybody whas so used to call it “Alexa” so they decided to keep it that whay. The name Amira whas invited because it seems like the name of the little sister of Alexa.

Last time I was at Arri Rental, they had one for sale along with an S.two onboard recorder. $6K for the complete package. This is for something that was worth about $200K new.

Cool series. It's funny but before I knew anything about Cine cameras I had a dislike for Red in part because of their naming and the whole macho vibe it gave off, now seeing who was behind it I see I was right; macho Yanks versus reticent Europeans!

I LOVE THESE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY ARE AWSOME!! Are you doing one on the Digital Bolex D16 and Ikonoskop A-Cam dII???

brooooo this series is so good. there's still a tribe of people who shoot D21, just as there is an explosively growing tribe of people shooting alexa classic now. I have a classic plus that im going to continue to hold onto just because i have a feeling they might be very sought after eventually.

Epic

Do the digital Bolex D16 next!

So fun fact about the Arri D series. A Cam op I work for called Mark Barrs used to Focus Pull for Gavin Finny back in the 2000s. They did a feature (can’t remember the name), where they shot on (I remember him saying the ArriFlex D-1 idk if that was an early prototype or he meant the D-21 but he described it as Arris first digital camera). Apparently they got a new camera every two weeks and the Arri project management team would come down and ask for feedback from Gavin, Mark, the loader and the Grips. I’ve had that story told back to me by Gavin, Mark and even Vadim who directed that movie (acc Vadim was the first person who told me that). Just goes to show Arris commitment to quality, you notice those cameras aren’t just designed for DOPs, but for the teams that support them too. Arri isn’t just popular because of it’s look, but it’s functionality, working with Alexas on high budget long form is a pleasure, and takes no time at all to get trainees completely up to speed with the system.

ARRI has always been the benchmark and they've done it again with the 35 👌🏽