ARRI Rental offers several exclusive lens series that are manufactured in-house, as well as global lens customisation services. 

ARRI Rental’s in-house lens development programme began with the release of the ALEXA 65 as a rental-only camera in 2015. Featuring a sensor the same size and shape as a 65mm film frame, it was – and remains – the highest resolution ALEXA to be built. Lenses that covered the 65mm format were in short supply, however, and ARRI Rental had to develop its own optical solutions.  

First came the Prime 65 series, launched at the same time as the ALEXA 65. Work continued on further lens options, and feedback from cinematographers made it clear that they wanted glass with unusual characteristics that would deconstruct the 65mm image. Out of collaborations with DPs including Greig Fraser ASC ACS on Mary Magdalene; Bradford Young ASC on Solo; and Robert Richardson ASC on Breathe, the Prime DNA series was born, made up of hand-picked vintage optics rehoused into modern lens housings.  

Prime DNAs are not a consistent lens set in the traditional sense, because each lens has its own personality. Cinematographers select and customise whatever combination of DNAs best suit their project, often homing in on favourite lenses that set the visual tone. Success with the Prime DNAs led to a DNA LF series for large format, tuneable in ways that can be accurately recorded, re-set, and repeated at any major ARRI Rental facility. 

For anamorphic productions, ARRI Rental offers the exclusive ALFA series, which again evolved out of collaborations with DPs. When Greig Fraser requested a fresh anamorphic look for The Batman, ARRI Rental modified sets of ARRI Master Anamorphic lenses, adapting them to cover large format but also redesigning and detuning them. After further prototyping for Nik Summerer on 1899, specifications emerged for production ALFAs, which are now a popular choice at ARRI Rental offices worldwide. 

A global approach is fundamental to ARRI Rental’s lens programme. The core lens team has members in the UK, Berlin, Munich, Los Angeles, and New York. All are involved in bringing forward new ideas, and different optics projects are spearheaded in different regions.  

Having acquired the capability to manufacture new housings for the DNA LF series, ARRI Rental used the same techniques to re-engineer vintage Moviecam lenses, recognising their appeal to digital filmmakers seeking a special look. The original 1970s glass was removed and built into robust lens housings with modern features, ready for a new life on large-format productions. 

The latest addition to ARRI Rental’s inventory of exclusive lenses is the HEROES collection, comprising small sets of quirky optics that supplement the main lens set on a production. HEROES launched with the LOOK lenses, featuring a look dial for on-set detuning, and T.ONE lenses, with a super-fast aperture of T1.0. 

Every new ARRI Rental lens is fitted with an LDM-2 chip, which carries LDA (Lens Data Archive) metadata and is compatible with ARRI’s LDS-2. This means that even detuned vintage lenses can be used on VFX-heavy productions without causing difficulties in post. Examples include DNA LF lenses on Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and HBO’s House of the Dragon. 

As well as developing new and exclusive lens series, ARRI Rental can work with its clients to develop a unique look with existing lenses. A case in point is the recent collaboration between ARRI Rental, director Todd Field, and DP Florian Hoffmeister BSC to customize ARRI Signature Primes for Tár. ARRI Rental’s philosophy is to encourage filmmakers to engage in a dialogue, to come in and experiment, to talk about their artistic goals, and to work together towards a creative solution. 

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This article was paid for by ARRI Rental.