Arriflex 35 The Arriflex 35 was introduced as a handheld newsreel camera at the Leipzig Trade Fare in 1937. Although originally intended, the camera was just too late to be used at
Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia I & II, therefore she shot on a
Parvo camera. The US army captured some models and brought this camera to the US in the 1940s, where it served as a prototype for the almost identical Cineflex PH 330. Due to its importance during World war II footage, Arriflex 35 cameras were later used in the
Nuremberg Trials.The original Arriflex 35 had three Arri standard mounts on a rotating turret. The viewfinder was a fixed tube on the camera door. It used both 200 ft and 400 ft magazines. The first American feature film made using a captured Arriflex 35 was
Dark Passage by Delmer Daves.
Arriflex 35 II This model was released in 1946 and had three Arri standard mounts. It could also load 400 ft magazines and had a simple eccentric screw pull down mechanism. ARRI began importing this camera to the US in 1947. The Arriflex 35 became a commonly used camera among
New Wave filmmakers.
Arriflex 35 IIA Introduced in 1953, the Arriflex 35 IIA featured a more robust steel film gate. It also used a 180° shutter made possible by a more efficient
cardioid cam movement design.
Arriflex 35 IIB Released in 1958, this model reduced the shutter angle to 165° and added some improvements to the viewfinder.
Arriflex 35 IIC The Arriflex 35 IIC was introduced in 1963, and had a larger ground glass and a movable viewfinder. It also allowed shooting anamorphic and seeing a desqueezed frame. It became a film production standard. It originally came with 3 Standard Mounts, while later models (after 1965) had the option of Bayonet mounts. After 1980 many were converted to hard front with a single PL mount.
Stanley Kubrick used the Arriflex 35 IIC on
A Clockwork Orange. The Pan Arri 35 IIC had one Panavision compatible lens mount and was used for
Star Wars: A New Hope. Some Arriflex 35 IIC were used until the 2010s, for example in
Savages in 2012.
Arriflex 35 III Arri introduced the Arriflex III, in 1979, as a successor to the Arriflex 35 IIC. The camera used a single
registration pin, and had a shutter capable of being adjusted from 15 to 135 degrees (in 15 degree increments). By using a special key, one could also change the shutter opening to 180, 172.8, and 144 degrees. The camera's use of a
crystal controlled motor lead to more stable frame rates compared to the Arriflex 35 IIC, and the camera also featured a brighter orientable viewfinder. The Arriflex 35 IIIC's 60m and 150m magazines (both designed for forward and reverse running) were identical to those used by the Arriflex 35 IIC, however there were also 300m magazines and 150m shoulder magazines, made for the IIIC using synthetic material in order to reduce weight.
Arriflex 35 IIIC The Arriflex 35 IIIC was released in 1982. It removed the turret and only featured a single PL mount, had a crystal sync handgrip motor with 12V and 5-50 fps, forward and reverse. This camera was not as successful as the Arriflex 35 IIC, and only a few models are still available. The camera was used to film parts of
GoldenEye and
The Fifth Element in the late 90s, and was later used in 2005 in
Jarhead. ==References==