A year ago, filmmaker Joey Helms created a stunning example of the video capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro – and he’s back with an even more impressive example of iPhone 15 Pro cinematic video (below).
Helms told us that the addition this year of the LOG Image Profile was by far the greatest improvement, but there are other worthwhile upgrades too …
He told us that the video capabilities of iPhones have remained ahead of Android smartphones for some years now, and that it’s not entirely fair to dismiss the iPhone 15 Pro as an incremental upgrade when it comes to shooting moving images.
Top of the list of new features, he says, is the ability to shoot in LOG. This is essentially a RAW format for video, and offers the best starting point for later color grading – but it offers another big benefit too.
Shooting in LOG Image Profile is by far the biggest improvement. Not only because that LOG image provides a wider dynamic range and more flexibility in colour grading (and you do need to color grade, since a LOG image is extremely flat and desaturate), but enabling LOG on the iPhone 15 Pro has one additional effect on the overall image – no more ugly digital sharpening.
A clear giveaway of smartphone footage has always been an over sharpened image which particularly stands out once you watch a video on screen larger than a phone. When shooting in LOG on the iPhone now there is no more digital sharpening applied, making the image look more natural and organic, something we love from our favourite movies.
Helm shot in ProRes last year, but says that the ability to do so at 60fps in 4K is a worthwhile improvement.
Being able to now record in this professional grade video codec at 60 frames per seconds is certainly a nice update, allowing you to slow down the footage in post and give it slight slow motion effect while retaining fidelity of the ProRes codec.
He wasn’t initially convinced that the 5x telephoto lens would play much of a role in shooting video, but was pleasantly surprised.
On paper the 5x zoom seemed non-sensible in the context of video, but thanks to outstanding image stabilisation (without even activating ‘Action Mode’) on the iPhone 15 Pro Max the 5x zoom is an absolutely legitimate option for video work and contributes to shot variety and coverage.
I’ve previously praised video stabilization on earlier iPhone models, and was this year blown away by Action Mode.
Finally, says Helm, there’s that USB-C port, with its high-speed data capabilities.
When shooting in ProRes on the iPhone 14 Pro you encountered a massive bottleneck: offloading your massive ProRes files through the painfully slow ‘lightning’ cable. With USB-C you can not only get your files faster off the phone but also record your ProRes videos straight to an external SSD/memory card.
He says that we shouldn’t get too carried away: if you’re serious about video, you’re still going to favor a dedicated camera.
Let’s not kid ourselves, no professional video production would use an iPhone – yet. And even the hobby filmmaker would likely still want to use a dedicated camera for natural depth of field and better low light performance – both benefits of larger sensors – and the generally better optics (including much prettier lens flares) you get from larger lenses.
But, he says, the iPhone 15 Pro Max still has a role to play, even for video pros and enthusiasts.
It goes back to age old saying ‘the best camera is the one you have with you’ and a smartphone you tend to have always with you. [There’s also a] size and weight advantage which also makes it much easier to handle. For example, filming on a gimbal for smooth footage only requires a small, portable smartphone gimbal to give you amazingly dynamic shots.
With ProRes 4K 60FPS you also have a professional codec at high frame rates that many mirrorless cameras do not even feature.
Best of all, says Helms, is that if you happen to be out and about and see a spur of the moment opportunity, the iPhone has you covered.
If you need to get that one shot, the image you now get out of the iPhone 15 Pro can fluently slot into an edit with higher grade, dedicated camera systems.
And now, enough talk, sit back and enjoy the iPhone 15 Pro cinematic video …
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