Check out the Beacktek preamp for the ARRI Alexa Mini and other similar cine cameras, here.

Today on The Slanted Lens Jay P. and Lars are interviewing Wendell and Jane, restaurant owners down in Bombay Beach, CA. We are using the Alexa Mini to shoot the interview, and in order to resolve the Alexa’s sound issues, we are using the Beachtek DXA-Alexa PreAmp designed for this camera. The Beachtek casing is the same carbon fiber as the Alexa Mini and turns this camera into a very effective one-camera operator setup. These two pieces of equipment are truly made to work together and they look really cool side by side. While other companies have created their own solution to one-camera setups, many people love the Alexa Mini because of its lightweight portability. Now that we can add this Beachtek to the Alexa Mini, we can check out how this one-camera setup compares to other equipment.

Lighting

Along with the Alexa Mini and its handy sidekick, the Beachtek, we used some very simple lighting in this interview. We had a window to the side giving is a nice kickback, and then we added the Rosco 210 LED light, which is really soft, as our key light. We didn’t diffuse the light at all, we just let it bounce off the ceiling. The rest of the set is lit by our surroundings, like the LEDs above the bar, and that’s about it. All of this gave us a really nice, warm lighting in this bar.

The ALEXA Mini-Beachtek Combo

We loved this Alexa Mini! It’s a great camera, and can handle just about any type lighting you throw at it. As we shot the interview, we were shooting in all different ranges of  light. We were shooting into the window and into the shadows behind the bar,and no matter what we shot, the ALEXA Mini handled it beautifully. This ALEXA Mini really does have an incredibly dynamic range! I was also extremely impressed with this Beachtek DXA-Alexa. It is a 2 channel audio preamp for the Area Alexa Mini and allows you to monitor the volume on the Alexa Mini and then change the volume on the Beachtek itself. It also allows you to toggle between stereo and mono and has an auxillary unbalanced mic feed.

Mounting onto the Camera

Mounting the Beachtek to the Alexa Mini was also extremely convenient as the Beachtek provides several different mounting configurations. It is a very simple setup, which I really appreciate! It has a bracket that allows you to mount it to the side in a number of different ways depending on what you like. Out in Bombay Beach we had the Beachtek hooked up with two LAVs on the side, which worked well. Here in the studio we are using it with an XLR cable plugged into the back. Both ways worked pretty flawlessly and provided great audio.

Let us know what you thin of this Beachtek and what you are doing with your ALEXA Mini!

Keep those cameras rollin’ and keep on clickin’!

-Jay P.