Arriflex 16SR3 High Speed

Please note:  This is an historical article and the camera is NOT available to hire from Aimimage.

The Arriflex SR3 is one of the best in Arri’s venerable SR series and was the first to design a Super16 camera.

Depending on your needs, the SR3 can be set up for either regular or Super16. The 16SR3 follows the SR2 form factor closely, and the main difference in the body of the camera is the different housing for the new electronics that features a digital display on the operator’s side near the run switch. The SR3 has a PL mount which can be switched between standard and super-16 alignment.

New Optical System

It has a new optical system with a user-adjustable orienting viewfinder prism. Its shutter has a variable mechanism that permit angle adjustments from 45 to 180 degrees. The body is equipped with time code electronics (the time code imaging LED’s are in the mags). Lenses with a 41mm ARRI-bayonet can be used with a lens port adapter. All commonly used 16mm and 35mm lenses with an ARRI mount can be used.

The viewfinder can be rotated 360 degrees and can be swiveled a further 25 degrees outwards for left eye viewing.

Automatic Image Compensator

An automatic image compensator provides an image which is upright and correct left-to-right. External accessory speed controls are rarely needed with the 16SR3 because the camera has built-in precision speed control, adjustable in .001 frame per second increments.

Film: Clerks

1994 Film “Clerks” was shot using the Arriflex 16SR3. Clerks is a movie about a day in the life of two convenience store clerks Dante Hicks working in the quick stop and his best friend Randal Graves working the video store next door. Even while braving a nonstop parade of unpredictable shoppers, the clerks manage to play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and straighten out their offbeat love lives. The boss is nowhere in sight, so you can bet anything can and will happen when these guys are left to run the store.

One thing you can’t deny is that Kevin Smith’s films have great dialog and this being his first film everything is at the top of its game. His directorial debut has the charm of a well-made, well-written, well-shot, and well-composited independent masterpiece.

One of my favorite films CLERKS was released OTD in 1994. pic.twitter.com/py014APkiw

— Psychotronic Daily (@dmathches) October 19, 2014