Art Adams – ARRI Lens Specialist

Before Art Adams became a spokesperson for ARRI, he was a reliable source of information. But since taking on the job of lens specialist for ARRI, he’s done an about-face on ARRI color science and dynamic range.

An oft-quoted article by Art Adams attributed much of ARRI cameras’ resemblance to film to how saturation ‘locked into place’ when the waveform monitor hit 30-40%:

“By decoupling color saturation from luma beyond a certain level Arri seems to be deliberately playing against video’s strengths as an additive color system, and I think that’s a key aspect of what sets them apart. Video has its own look, and it’s a pleasing look in its own right, but bright saturated colors tend not to appeal to visually sophisticated viewers (see The Wagner Color Response Report, if you can find a copy). Film’s approach to color has more in common with painting than TV displays, and it’s an aesthetic that greatly appeals to many in our industry… including myself.”

The Alexa 35 and the new REVEAL color science no longer desaturate colors the way earlier ARRI cameras did. Yet nowadays, Adams has suddenly become a proponent of ARRI’s new color science.

A decade ago,  Art Adams coined the terms paycheck stops and gravy stops:

Paycheck stops are values that you can bet your paycheck on. They’ll appear in the image with enough contrast and detail that objects exposed at that value will be easily discernible. 

Gravy stops are the values that lie beyond paycheck stops: they are the tonalities at either end of the dynamic range scale where some presence will be seen, along with some discernible detail, but they shouldn’t be trusted. If there’s some information held in those tones then that’s great, but  don’t count on it.

In the past, Adams recommended halving manufacturers’ overly optimistic ISO ratings. These days, Adams repeats exaggerated marketing claims that the Alexa 35’s dynamic range is 17 stops, when in reality, it is between 14-15 stops. No cinema camera manufactured today achieves 17 stops of dynamic range. Stops that are sitting on or inside the noise floor are gravy stops.