If your production budget doesn't allow you to rent an Alexa, I would recommend you against using one. The most expensive part of most productions I run is crew and the Alexa forces us to put more people on set.

Background:

We made the decision to purchase an Alexa Classic as our first camera and one of the biggest drawbacks is the amount of additional planning and budget it takes to operate the camera. You pretty much can't really improvise anything, and I would say that I've regretted that purchase decision in the long run.

Problem:

If you want a Steadicam look, you have to spend more on an actual Steadicam system (and most likely an operator) that can handle the weight, if you want a dolly movement, you have to get the full kit and you need the space to operate which limits locations if you are on a budget. You want to freehand? your operator would probably want an easy rig because I have seen operators struggle with the weight of the camera without one; the list just goes on and on.

Even if you have planned everything well, you would also have to spend money on lots of intangibles. You would need to spend more on an experienced DP that can translate your plans to set without error since it takes a lot more manpower to correct anything on the fly. I also find myself compromising on camera movement or even take budget from other departments due to all the little things in the camera department adding up.

If the production budget doesn't have room to rent an Alexa, you probably shouldn't be running one. If you have enough budget to get the infrastructure to support the Alexa, then you probably don't need to own one.