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When I got my iPhone 12 mini I didn't really look at the camera specs, but I've since discovered it can do 10-bit video and have been examining its performance. What I've found is that there seems to be a potential for high-DR video that isn't realised. I've only really researched the iPhone 12, but I think that what I've found applies to all modern smartphones. Here's what I've found so far. This video does a test between various modes on the iPhone 12 camera: That video showed the 10-bit to have more subtle colours but lacked some of the tests I was interested in such as dynamic range, so I did my own. My phone actually has five options rather than the four, and I shot a very unscientific test in the backyard but of a high DR scene. I should have done it using manual settings but I didn't and I was comparing the default app to Filmic Pro too and the default app doesn't have any controls so the test was always going to be a compromise. Here's some stills from my test.. I did some matching in post to compensate for levels but didn't correct WB. Same image with the levels pushed right up to reveal the noise floor (the levels adjustment was applied to all clips identically): Adjusted down to look at clipping levels: and with a ridiculous curve to try and break the image and see any banding that is occurring in the sky: One thing I noticed was that according to Resolve, the file from the default camera app was a 10-bit file. The iPhone marketing indicates that the app will automagically switch to whatever mode is best, so I assume that it either uses 10-bit all the time or saw I was pointing it at a high-DR scene and switched to it. I haven't followed that up, but it's worth noting. It's also worth noting that the bitrate from the default app might not be the same as the Filmic Pro one as I had set Filmic Pro to its maximum setting. What I took away from this (and playing with the phone in very high-DR situations where there was huge clipping) was that the 10-bit has the same, or very similar, DR to the Dolby Digital and "Video HDR" modes, and that the 8-bit mode has less DR than the 10-bit (I assume the 8-bit just rejects the two most-significant bits the same way that JPG images clip earlier compared to RAW images on digital cameras). Incidentally, I couldn't find anywhere what this "Video HDR" mode actually did - it's not mentioned online anywhere I could find. So what's the problem? Well, where is the high dynamic range? I mean, where is the multiple-exposures high-DR? Imagine this.. a smartphone can pull images off the sensor at least 120 or 240 times per second. Why not just bracket those two frames and merge them together? Motion is a problem, but if you're talking about camera shake then you have OIS to smooth that out and we're talking 1/120s or 1/240s delay - that's minuscule, and if you're talking about subject movement then that's well well under the delay of any temporal noise reduction mechanism which operates at as much as 1/24s delay (10 times the potential delay) and exists in many high-end cameras. Why do I care? Think about this. A smartphone has something like, what, 10-stops of DR (I'm being pessimistic here). If you imagine that we ignore the bottom two due to noise, and we decide to overlap a stop for a smooth transition between exposures, that would still give us video with 17 stops of DR. SEVENTEEN! Hot damn would that be amazing!! Now, don't get me wrong, 17 stops is a huge issue in colour grading - rec709 only has 5 stops or something so trying to compress all that into an SDR output would be very difficult, but imagine if all they did was to emulate the exposure curve of film by having some stops in the middle that are relatively linear and then roll off the highlights and shadows. Even if they only exposed the darker stop one or two stops darker (and thus created a 1-2 stop shadow rolloff) that would mean they could have an extended highlight rolloff like film. If the app gave you control over this contrast then you could dial in having a higher-contrast look or lower-contrast look with more stops in the linear range. Dial the contrast right down and you'd have a flat image that could be graded nicely. The people who shoot with their phones are more likely rather than less to be shooting outdoors in high-DR situations. Is this a greater trend to not space out your DR bracketing? From what it looks like, there's no multi-exposure HDR going on at all, or if it is then it's not bracketing the two images 7-stops apart. I've noticed that most dual-native ISO cameras only have their native ISOs a few stops apart, 3 maybe 4. These are 12-stop cameras that do this - WHY? The Sigma FP is a notable exception, with its native ISOs being 5-stops apart. Smartphones have a different set of strengths and weaknesses than normal cameras, this is a potential strength and serious potential advantage - why isn't it being utilised?

The sub forums are gone but the posts are not, they were moved into the main forum, as I'd like to start discussing raw shooting cameras, anamorphic lenses, right bang in the centre of the forum rather than tucked and hidden away in a sub-forum. I think this will help the amount of activity in the main forum and the diversity of topics. Anamorphic sub-forum had been around for entire history of this forum, but I always felt the topics didn't get as much attention as they deserved, so sometimes having a sub-forum on anamorphic lenses hinders the general chat about anamorphic lenses. Now when you post about it in the main forum they stand out and everyone sees it regardless of whether they duck into the sub forums from time to time or not.

@FHDcrew S1 and S5 are IQ monsters. This thread and the S5 thread document that very well. XT3 is nice from what i see and read. But the S series is in another league. Latitude of internal codec is same as R5 in Raw, even slightly better, as tested by slashcam. Get a used S1 with the Vlog update, if full hdmi is important to you. Or get a S5, which has the awesome form factor of a GH5 and Vlog already preinstalled. Browsing the threads with some coffee or french fries will guarantee you a great entertaining read, as many of Eoshd threads do. I have my Eoshd eating and reading rituals all the time. Scrambled eggs with grilled tomatoes, hmm:)

Is it this one (left)? I still have it. Could never quite get it working properly. Didn't even know it was single focus?! Might have to try it again with some c-mount stuff.

I fully agree, Andrew's articles are the unrepeatable lead ingredient no one else is able to match, the secret sauce IMHO : P And where any youtubers struggle to compete, at least in independence/freedom, POV, knowledge, helpful information, really juicy-instructive quality content. What else can beat it? ;- )

I highly recommed to any S1 owner to shell out the 200USD for the VLog update. It also includes the great 150mbit 422 10bit 4K modes, 100mbit 10bit HD modes plus 4K 60p 10bit in S35mode, also full sensor open gate true 6K mode. The photomode has less resolution than the full sensor open gate mode, something between FF and S35. So go ahead and treat yourself with the best and obligatory update for your camera, making it a true indy cinema camera powerhouse and music video dream camera! Without the update S1 does not offer 422 nor its awesome codecs nor modes, which mentioned above, open gate included. cheers

Ha ha! I had one of these to mess around with back in the midst of the anamorphic craze. Picked it up for peanuts, knowing nothing about it as I think there was almost no info online at the time. It gave usable results for sure! Here it is on my 5D2.... 12 years ago now!

Excellent info. It will be interesting to compare Mcpro24fps on Android to the iPhone as well. And between the different recording modes in Mcpro24fps itself vs Filmic Pro on same device. I am also writing a guide to Motion Cam raw video which will be out soon.

Heart would choose/have chosen, FP. Head though, S5. Easily. Especially if you do not wish to rig it out. Pulsing can still be there if you; A: use AF all the time and B: don’t tweak your AF settings. Mine are -1 and -3 respectively. How I use all my Lumix cameras these days is to use AF to acquire focus and then immediately flip the lens to manual focus. If the camera is on a tripod and I am tracking and need reliable AF, ideally a native lens plus f4-8. These are of course ‘workarounds’ and it’s really only in faster/fast paced forward tracking there can ever be an issue with the subject actually remaining in focus, but used as above, works for me.

Samsung has made the firmwares for their NX camera available to download on their open source site. https://opensource.samsung.com/uploadSearch?searchValue=hybrid Calling all Russian hackers by name of Tester13. Unfortunately no Galaxy NX (Android APS-C mirrorless camera) file but the NX1 is there. Could get interesting for those who know what they're doing.

Been living in France for 20 years, this is my first trip to Southend-On-Sea (UK) in some time. It was a freakishly hot day in March 2022 and the rising heat was playing havoc but yet brought a certain charm to the shots. The Panasonic S1 and the Sigma 150-600mm is a heavy combination but it's great for long candid shots. Shot in V-Log. https://youtu.be/RklH4m1JjYY

So I bet, many of you have heard or read of the Iscomorphot 8 1.5x anamorphic adapter, which is a tiny and single focus gem. It was built for Super 8 cameras and even works for S35 but with inherent flaws regarding resolution, since it was built for Super8. Here is a beautiful video in its own right and vertical use of the anamorhot, which means that camera was rotated by 90 degrees. Camera was a m43 Zcam, so the sensor was in a 3 to 4 format position after rotating it by 90 degrees. Taking lens was a 90mm Voigtlaender. This should give us a 3x1.5 to 4 format = 4.5 to 4 = 1.125 to 1 ratio! Enjoy and happy hunting for the Iscomorphot! 🙂

And do not discount the S1R… These are now exceptional value on the used market and the 10 bit 5k 25/30p internal flat profile footage is seriously underrated. As in just about nobody talks about it, because just about nobody uses it. But as long as you don’t need to record for longer than 15 mins and don’t need slo mo (or if you do, the 4K 50p 8 bit is excellent), it produces beautiful image quality. There is some kind of special sauce in that 47mp sensor only shared with the Leica SL2 and Q2.

Dear Don, I promise now to do that in September. Might be in internal Slog, since i am too stingy to replace my ripped mini sdi to sdi cable. 30eur, these suckers!:) Anyway, back to topic, what astonishes me a big deal are the colours in the Taiwan shorts and beautiful compositions. Perfect lensing with the 85 Zeiss and the 35 FD. I always read the comments on vimeo.:)

I think what is kind of crazy the older stuff is better looking than the new stuff for a filmic look. Less is more in a sense. Other than a BM 6k or a Red Komodo the older stuff wins in my book. So yes, going through older threads reveals some pretty damn nice looking footage. So PannySVHS get that Sony F3 fired up.

I'm seriously impressed.

Great lensing, 50 on S35 with an anamorphot looking sweet. Good old 5D2 shines even in 720p for some S16 emulation. I plan on coupling it with a Tevidon 25mm and use it on my BMMCC. I´m just a lazy and stingy cat when it comes to rigging and buying rigging parts.:)

I did email them a month ago and they said that at the moment it does not support 8k 60

You need to go with an Android phone to get the best results., Very little of all of the "aftermarket" apps or programs work on an iPhone. Raw is really the way to go if you want a lot of control. Be even some Android phones don't work well. Sony phones and some Samsung phones are not the thing to have. Some older 150 dollar ones work pretty well surprisingly, but the later models are best.

I still have an iPhone 11 Pro Max but my main gripe is how over-sharpened and brittle the image looks. I don't mind shooting with super deep DoF but it's just not a "thick" image like I get with a mirrorless camera (which are also often artificially sharpened). I watched some reviews of ProRes on YT when the 13 came out but I didn't see a huge difference (I think many people pretended that the codec will make a difference, when it's actually more the processing before that). I'd wish we could deactivate sharpening in FilmicPro even further, like it's possible on Android. So personally, I'd rather get a less processed image that's smoother/organic than more dynamic range at the cost of it looking hyper digital.

In theory as it supports USB-PD up to 100w. It maybe a good solution to protect from breaking the camera board. I may try as currently I use a small rig protector but you could still break it. I rally hate the power over USB C….. is the only thing that I truly hate from this great camera Ideally a USB PD or D tap dummy battery would be even better…

Thanks for these @kye The most constructive advice, very helpful. Maybe a buyer's guide, updated every year would satisfy (1) and then we could have more variety of other topic on the forum, as it does get a bit repetitive. With (2) being the bread and butter of any forum really, it is here to help people get the best out of their kit and talent. True and we can encourage this so that maybe all the info is in one place and easy to access at a glance and therefore easier to add to it? On DPReview forums they are not having the same discussions about c-mount lenses and earlier digital cinema cameras, so that is quite a unique thing about this place. Maybe play on the strength of that. The problem with a sub-forum though is it tends to get orphaned and ignored, so it is about keeping it all very visible and all in one place together with the latest topics. So maybe the front page of the forum needs a big refresh to make it clear how much good stuff there is already on the forum. And it could integrate with the good stuff on the blog a lot better too, so maybe new software is required on the server side. I enjoyed doing the YouTube channel. The problem is it reduced visitors to the written side of the blog by as much as 60% and made zero income. Not been paid a single dollar of ad revenue from YouTube after a year of videos. So currently debating whether YouTube is viable or not long term for EOSHD. Yeah as I say, sub-forums are deprived of oxygen somehow... Unless you are presented with ONLY sub-forums. So you HAVE to post in the categories. DVXUser was like this. The alternative would be to delete the anamorphic forum and move all those threads into the main one. Same with the others. This might make it harder to find specific threads, but also bring more attention to the successful ones in those areas of the site. Yep that was the intention there. The call it as you see it goes for everyone on the forum too, I would be good to see a more critical eye and more cynicism especially when it comes to posting a high proportion of YouTube videos and external links, is this content really actually "call it as they see it" or really just fancy marketing in disguise? I am just one person in this forum and it is also a matter of getting as many people involved as possible who can put their knowledge and expertise on the table. I think some users need to think harder before posting in 6 different threads all at once with opinions... and I don't mean this in a rude way, I know it's well intentioned, but I think much of the very frequent posting from 3 or 4 people tends to dominate the forum and it is mostly armchair observations, rather than hands on experience. This dilutes the actual hands-on knowledge side of the forum and buries a lot of interesting discoveries under endless streams of opinion soup. If we can grow the forum again so there is a bigger crowd, this wouldn't be as much as an issue.

It may just be my imagination Andrew, but when you post, there is more engagement. You are the forum leader after all so as it should be. However, when you go quiet, so does the forum. As Kye suggests, more content from you is 100% the way to go. Providing you have the time of course! Where’s the OM-1 ‘review’ for one thing?! Maybe I am a bit olde schoole, but I am a fan of forums for info and a bit of chat over anything else that has come along since and sadly I have seen several die and in each case it was because the leader stopped leading. Lead Andrew and they will follow…

Very true. And I’d like to avoid rigging it, aside from just the cage. So maybe a Panasonic S5 or Fuji XT3 is a better option. But IDK despite all the quirks, the tiny size and true cinema dng raw is really attractive!

I can't blame you for wanting to downsize from a Z6 with Ninja Star, but I question if the FP will do what you hope it will. Firstly, the FP has limitations on what resolutions/frame-rates it can record internally, with an external SSD required for the rest (violating your size / rigging criteria). Secondly, the FP screen doesn't articulate so depending on how you shoot you might require an external monitor. There is an EVF but it's an add-on. Also, there are very few lenses in the L-mount system that have OIS, and the FP has no IBIS, which means that if you go down the route of not having either then you would most likely require a larger rig to get steady enough shots. The FP is a bit of a specialist tool in this sense - the image is spectacular and codecs potentially glorious but it's not an all-in-one shooter that will fit around you and your needs like many other cameras are. It's a bit of a diva.

Got a OnePlus 9 Pro as well. Put GCam on it and turn HDR+ on with RAW Results are stunning. I would like to get this next but seems somebody has destroyed it...

Sorry I don't see why it can't be discussed? There is an actual thread for it. This one!

I was just going to respond to confirm that! I am currently running about with 2-3 cameras most of the day and 4 at certain times. I would like to get this to 1 most of the day (the Nikon/Tamron combo is currently by far and away the best option), 2 at times and 3 max. I’m also looking to lose 1 tripod and a couple of lenses. The losses (in kit) would make a significant difference. The gains (in tech) would make a decent difference. The combination would be worth it and it now comes down to a question of timing as in I cannot do anything this season, but probably will do something for next because as a business user, if it makes sense, then why not?!

I have found him: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesyeung/page3