In case you've been under a rock, the Alexa is Arri's replacement for the D-20 and D-21. The Alexa has a "standard" 800 ASA, 14 stops of latitude (with the new 2.0 software) and comes in 3 flavors, starting at $65,000 bucks.
One of these models still has the ridiculous optical viewfinder like the D-20 and D-21 so it feels more like a film camera. While most models are being delivered with an EFV (electronic view finder) the Alexa was built with crews transitioning or double shooting from film in mind.
Some TV and feature crews are carrying both film and electronic cameras, picking the best tool for the job. They use electronic cameras at night for picking detail out of the shadows and using film cameras during the day to handle overexposed portions of the frame. For example, I worked on a pilot for 20th Century Fox that used both the Genesis and a Panaflex Millennium.
The Alexa is for crews familiar with the Arriflex line and the Arri film camera and Alexa can share the same matt boxes, plates, follow focus, monitors, etc.
This camera competes with both higher priced cameras, like the F-23 and F-35 and with the RED.
Even though it much more expensive than the Epic I think the studios don't care about saving $50,000 grand on a camera body in the scope of a $2,000,000 million per episode show. Nor do they care about shooting 5K when they have a 2K post flow.
They want a camera that is fast to work with and can spit out product. Think of it as the difference between working with a 7D and an AF-100.
All the cameras link to their individual product pages, just click on the name. Here's the link of the day:
http://www.theblackandblue.com/2010/09/03/on-set-shooting-with-the-arri-alexa-with-video/#more-1022
I actually enjoyed reading through this posting.
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