Nauticam Digital Cinema System for ARRI ALEXA Mini/LF

This housing has been produced in collaboration with HydroFlex, the world’s leading underwater cinema equipment rental house, owned by Pete Romano, ASC.  Pete has over 30 years experience designing underwater housings for motion picture cameras, and numerous credits as Underwater Director of Photography from some of Hollywood’s most memorable feature films.  Pete’s expertise, combined with the unmatched Nauticam design and manufacturing capability, form the perfect underwater housing system for Alexa Mini – available for rent at HydroFlex Partners worldwide.

The Alexa Mini is ideal for use on drones, gimbals, and integrates perfectly into the Nauticam Cinema System.  The 4:3 Alexa sensor, complete with anamorphic de-squeeze, ARRIRAW, and ProRes recording in camera to CFast 2.0 cards in an underwater system captures footage that cuts seamlessly with other Alexa cameras on set, with the same workflow.  The Mini LF records to ARRI's Codex SSD drives.

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 a #3 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.

Camera control via integrated Arri GPB-1

The rear of the housing features an ARRI GPB-1 control unit that interfaces with 10 assignable control buttons on the right rear of the housing.  This enhanced control system allows for a dialing in the housing to meet the exact needs of the shoot.

Optically coated glass domeport

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.  This is the very same dome used in the optical system designed in conjunction with HydroFlex for Alexa65, and used on feature film productions.  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. 

Battery configurations

The housing ships with an Anton Bauer “Gold Mount” battery plate and LEMO connector for the Alexa Mini camera.  Ample space is available for a range of battery pack sizes to be used in the housing, providing long operation times.  Surface suppled power is also an option for for tethered all day shooting.

Weight & trim bracket

A sliding weight bracket allows front-back trim to be adjusted dynamically in water, providing a natural port up or port down position as needed.  The bracket accepts readily available dive weights, easily sourced on location.   Additional trim weights can be attached to the housing skids, or to trim weight mounting locations strategically placed on the inside of the housing, to dial in neutral buoyancy and left-right balance.

Universal lens controls

Unencumbered surface control is a key need of many top underwater professionals, and those needs have been integrated in as many forms as possible throughout the design process.  The base “diver controlled” system completely satisfies the needs of a single operator, but our lineup of accessories geared toward production sets makes the Nauticam housing as at home on a feature film set as it is on an Indo-Pacific coral reef.  The housing contains enough internal space for internally mounting the Arri “cforce mini” Motors.  These motors drive the housing lens controls, not the lens itself, meaning any lens supported the housing can be set up for surface control of Focus, Iris, and Zoom.  Alexa Mini features a built in motor controller, allowing the system to be set up without any motor controller box!  These motors are mounted on purpose built brackets affixed to the camera tray, and do not need to be removed when changing lenses, or when pulling the camera from the housing.

The housing also ships with two 3/4″ Hydroflex Bulkheads 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.

What's In The Box:

• Housing with 3 Lens Control Assemblies

• 250mm Optically Coated Glass Dome Port

• 30, 40, and 50mm Locking Port Extension Rings

• Vacuum Check & Leak Detection System, Vacuum Valve

• Anton Bauer Battery Plate

• Trim Weights

• Pelican 1630 Travel Case with Laser Cut Foam Dividers

• Top handle

• Tool Kit & O-ring Kit

• Integrated ARRI GPB-1