ARRI history

And then—remember, this was 1919—“The fact is that the average good cameraman is an artist; but instead of pigments and brushes he relies on various mechanical contraptions designed and constructed during odd moments.

Next, Mitchell Camera Corporation patented their variable shutter, rackover Mitchell Standard in 1920.

Back in Hollywood, Mitchell built their first BNC (“Blimped Newsreel Camera”) in 1932.

On the outskirts of Paris at the Éclair Company, André Coutant and Jacques Mathot designed the Caméflex in 1947.

The ARRIFLEX 16ST was introduced in 1950, based on the same spinning mirror shutter concept as the 35 II. It took 100' spools that could be loaded in daylight, much like the Bell & Howell Filmo, and also accepted 400' magazines.

The Arriflex 16St (16S) was introduced in 1952, based on the same spinning mirror shutter concept as the 35II. It took 100’ spools that could be loaded in daylight, much like the Bell & Howell Filmo, and also accepted 400’ magazines.

35mm cameras also and in 1959, Roger Fellous used a prototype of Angenieux’s first 35mm format 35-140 f/3.5 zoom on Les Affreux.

16mm sync sound shooting got a boost in 1960 with the Éclair NPR (Noiseless Portable Reflex), another breakthrough designed André Coutant.

In 1962, Volker arrived at Kling Photo as a camera service technician.

Two years later, 1964, Robert Gottschalk decided to begin work began on new sets of spherical lenses and a quiet studio camera.

The 16ST was followed by the 16M (magazine only, no daylight spools); then the 16BL arrived in 1965 for 16 mm sync sound documentary and industrial film production.

Tonino Delli Colli, AIC shot The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), starring Clint Eastwood, with an Arriflex 35IICT/B Techniscope 2-perf (2.35:1 aspect ratio) camera.

He became Service Manager and rose through the ranks until he was promoted to VP of Marketing for ARRI’s expanding product line in 1971.

In the US, Jack Priestley ASC was one of the first to use a 35BL, on "Across 110th Street" (1972). Priestley described the camera: “It was as quiet as a church mouse and had great flexibility.

In 1974, he became the youngest associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers.

A few months later in 1976, Denny and Terry Clairmont founded Clairmont Camera.

Their Burbank office opened in 1977.

More than 17,000 ARRIFLEX 35 cameras (including its variants: IIA, IIB, IIC) were sold through 1979, when it was replaced by the ARRIFLEX 35 III.

The original Arriflex mounts were standard “push in to lock,” followed by “twist to lock” bayonet, and then PL in 1983.

The ARRIFLEX 765 arrived 90 years later—in 1989.

Computers came to film sets in 1991 after Apple released the first Macintosh PowerBook laptops that October.

Vittorio Storaro AIC, ASC didn’t mind; in 1993 he shot "Little Buddha" with Bernardo Bertolucci using ARRIFLEX 535 and 765 cameras.

The ARRIFLEX 435 came out in 1994 as a 35 mm MOS and high-speed camera to replace the 35 III. Its dual 3-pin pull-down claws and industry-standard dual registration pins assured optical printer steadiness.

To see the style of filmmaking engendered by Variable Primes, take a look at Shakespeare in Love (1998), directed by Richard Madden and gorgeously shot by Richard Greatrex with a 535B and Variable Primes.

He became chairman in 2001.

In Jan 2004, after several years of including LDS in S4 lenses, Cooke Optics introduced their open-source /i lens data system.

At NAB 2005, the ARRI/ZEISS T1.3 Master Prime lenses were introduced.

In 2007, he was appointed as Managing Director of Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH. Henning Raedlein, who started with Franz at ARRI, described him as “Always interested in what clients were doing, what images they were making—traveling around the world, bringing back new ideas.

By 2008, there were 56 D-21 cameras at 13 rental houses worldwide.

By the end of the show the name “ALEXA” had caught on, and it seemed difficult to imagine calling these cameras anything else when they went into production in mid-2010.

In October 2012, August Arnold’s son, Robert Arnold, sold his 50 percent stake in the company.

The first Master Anamorphic 35, 50 and 75 mm lenses arrived in April 2013.