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Is anyone seriously using their smartphone for video?


kye
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I am never cutting edge with phones, but have just got a iPhone 7 plus and have a couple of observations. I have been using it to film barn owls in flight. OK that sounds a bit insane, but the direction of travel with this tech is clear. 1. Higher density sensor with improved digital zoom - at least for decent light conditions and HD resolution, and better processing for noise reduction. 2. Extra lenses - we already have 28mm, 56mm equiv. (I think) so why not 110? Blending the output of more than one camera opens up all sorts of possiblities. 3. Combined optical and digital stabilisation - filming at 6x zoom on my iPhone (is that around 180mm equiv?), one handed, and it is still remarkably smooth. 4. Usable, and suprisingly directional audio from a tiny microphone. 5. Very adequate, intelligent and responsive video AF. 

It isn't going to challenge the top of the range, but it will certainly push out a lot of the mid market competition.

 

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Steven Soderbergh used the iphone for that film Unsane. Anyone see that? But I suppose they still could've used eleventy-billion $ worth of Hollywood grip and lighting shit so it's not really comparable to the average low budget filmmaker shooting on a phone.

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13 minutes ago, TwoScoops said:

Steven Soderbergh used the iphone for that film Unsane. Anyone see that? But I suppose they still could've used eleventy-billion $ worth of Hollywood grip and lighting shit so it's not really comparable to the average low budget filmmaker shooting on a phone.

BTS photos show him using the camera with a small gimbal. I’m sure he had a crew, but I’m going to assume it wasn’t nearly as large.

 

71CED3EE-47B2-4482-ADAE-BB395DE29480.jpeg

I haven’t seen it, but with the wheelchair and the gimbal, he must’ve had some dolly track level smoothness in that film.

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1 hour ago, TwoScoops said:

Steven Soderbergh used the iphone for that film Unsane. Anyone see that? But I suppose they still could've used eleventy-billion $ worth of Hollywood grip and lighting shit so it's not really comparable to the average low budget filmmaker shooting on a phone.

Have you seen the trailer? Is bad, it LOOKS LIKE it is was shot on a cellphone. No surprises there. 

However, due to the nature of the story the cellphone style kinda sort of works for the film in a way. Not such a bad choice selecting a cellphone for it as this might have been for some other styles of films. (like if you tried doing a traditional Western or a Victoria period piece in London, then it would be much tougher to make a smartphone work for that type of film) 

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11 hours ago, hijodeibn said:

Skintones keep me away from smartphones....but for B-roll, this iPhone X looks useful....

Yeah I agree the that first video is too saturated for my tastes also. But that is a Apple thing apparently that most Normal" people really  like LoL. It states that there was No color correction done. I am sure a skilled colorist can make a iPhone look like a Arri if they want in this day and age. And I don't think you can really ignore, or dismiss them as a somewhat serious video and photo tool anymore. They can get the job done in a lot of situations. Low light, well not so much, but they do sell light you know. ?

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41 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Have you seen the trailer? Is bad, it LOOKS LIKE it is was shot on a cellphone. No surprises there. 

 

I really think people, including Steven Soderbergh, Need to get away for trying to make a Smartphone look like film. It is Not film, never will be, and hell we live in a Digital Age. Young people don't even know what film looks like. They know what YT and Vimeo look like. If you dial down the Saturation on most Phones video on them looks pretty damn good OOC other than Low light. I have no clue why DoP's, in the industry, and even on here are just , Oh It Has to be Filmic or it is shit.

I know I am guilty of it also. But I grew up with film. Young people have Grown up with iPhones. Is it as good as film, well when 8K becomes the standard, and it ain't far away, people will laugh how bad film looked down the road. And hell they may be right. I think if you ignore Smartphones it may be at your own peril in the near future. The Times are a changing as Dylan said.

Am I going to throw away my Sony A7s, etc., well hell no, but I might use my phones more than I do now for half serious stuff. They have come a long ways in a damn short time.

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I mostly use the phone for cutaways and shots of my cameras while shooting. I like shots of cameras shooting, or someone shooting with a camera. Though its also great to grab a quick shot when you're walking around instead of taking the camera out of the bag. I also have a waterproof case, I've used the phone instead of a GoPro at times (wife and I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef with just the iPhone). The stills below are similar to what I usually do with the phone.

Chris

A7r2 Dubai Skyline.jpg

XT2 Uluru Time Lapse.jpg

Fitz Roy Shooting.jpg

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23 minutes ago, Trek of Joy said:

I mostly use the phone for cutaways and shots of my cameras while shooting. I like shots of cameras shooting, or someone shooting with a camera. Though its also great to grab a quick shot when you're walking around instead of taking the camera out of the bag. I also have a waterproof case, I've used the phone instead of a GoPro at times (wife and I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef with just the iPhone). The stills below are similar to what I usually do with the phone.

Chris

A7r2 Dubai Skyline.jpg

XT2 Uluru Time Lapse.jpg

Fitz Roy Shooting.jpg

I am not going to comment on that bag hanging out there like that? ?

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2 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

I am not going to comment on that bag hanging out there like that? ?

SMH.

Why would you downvote? Its a swing around bag, that's what its designed to do. Its carrying 2 bodies and 4 lenses, minus whatever I'm shooting with at the moment - looks like a gripped a7r2 + 16-35/4.

Loewpro Flipside Trek 450 AW: https://www.lowepro.com/flipside

That setup helped me get some decent shots of Fitz Roy and about 25 other countries. Its a great travel camera backpack.

Chris

Fitz Roy Pano 5.jpg

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I tend to agree that phones will eventually take over a segment of filmmaking. And if I remember correctly Soderberg said he would definitely consider shooting more films on an iPhone. I’ve been saying this for a while... future filmmakers do not care about the technical elements as much as we do. If you make your living working on films or videography, your world will change in a few years. 

Hell look that this forum alone... there are an increasing number of posts from newbies asking which camera they should get to start shooting weddings or corporate. People are jumping into this field without much prior knowledge and eventually phones will be more than capable enough to fill those technical roles. Right now I think the question is... which manufacturer will be the first to put a larger sensor into a phone? Apple? Samsung? Red? Hell I think Canon even has some new phone patents... get ready for the inevitable.

I, for one, am excited for this. I want to tell stories, so if that can be done on a phone with a small gimbal and a lens adapter... of some sort... Then why the hell not?

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50 minutes ago, mercer said:

Hell look that this forum alone...  Hell I think Canon even has some new phone patents... get ready for the inevitable. ... Then why the hell not? 

Glenn, you sound like webrunner, already :) Heck, I might start to apply that kinda liguistics. Heck yeah, that would be a tons of fun. :)

Form factor is such a weird thing. The body i prefer the most with a pancake is from the GF1. Somehow it feels so much cooler and fun in the hand than my GX85. Don´t know why. So, if they put out a smartphone in that formfactor, heck, that would be cool. Or wouldnt it.

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6 hours ago, Trek of Joy said:

SMH.

Why would you downvote? Its a swing around bag, that's what its designed to do. Its carrying 2 bodies and 4 lenses, minus whatever I'm shooting with at the moment - looks like a gripped a7r2 + 16-35/4.

Loewpro Flipside Trek 450 AW: https://www.lowepro.com/flipside

That setup helped me get some decent shots of Fitz Roy and about 25 other countries. Its a great travel camera backpack.

Chris

Fitz Roy Pano 5.jpg

Downvote, I never voted at All?? I just thought it looked funny the way you had the bag covering your bag. Hope no women read that!

1 hour ago, PannySVHS said:

Glenn, you sound like webrunner, already :) Heck, I might start to apply that kinda liguistics. Heck yeah, that would be a tons of fun. :)

Form factor is such a weird thing. The body i prefer the most with a pancake is from the GF1. Somehow it feels so much cooler and fun in the hand than my GX85. Don´t know why. So, if they put out a smartphone in that formfactor, heck, that would be cool. Or wouldnt it.

Out of likes. I think Glenn must have signed up for the Navy. Dirty old sailor like me.

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Casual videos, definitely

However, even some companies making one with a much bigger 1 inch sensor (I think it's a disaster), the size of the lens is still so small that will not be used for film making. The poor low light performances and control of depth of field are not going to improve dramatically in the next few years like full frames.

That being said, for just recording memories and some casual B rolls, I do see many benefits  using your smartphone as primary camera.

 

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2 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Downvote, I never voted at All?? I just thought it looked funny the way you had the bag covering your bag. Hope no women read that!

Out of likes. I think Glenn must have signed up for the Navy. Dirty old sailor like me.

Don, I am also wondering as much as Chris actually, so I think you can always stand corrected that one anyway. Downvotes are killing this location as well some other ones. You should all count on it...

E : -)

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10 hours ago, Emanuel said:

Don, I am also wondering as much as Chris actually, so I think you can always stand corrected that one anyway. Downvotes are killing this location as well some other ones. You should all count on it...

E : -)

What the hell are you and Chris talking about. I never down voted anything. I never ever voted?????

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  • Super Members

If you look at the down vote in the bottom right of the post and click it, it says that you down voted it.

Don't know whether there's something going on with your account automatically doing votes because there's a post in another thread that says you did the big laughing one when it didn't seem like it was a funny post in the slightest! Mind you, us gentlemen of certain advancing ages do tend to laugh in all the wrong places !

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Just to note that I've already perceived at least two different states of @webrunner comments - I'd call them rebellion/progressive and conservative one, hell/drugs/destructive and calm/serene/supportative one vocabulary wise. After closer inspection (over his own words of acknowledgement) I suspect that it maybe depends of whether reverent member is just in a process of being awake or he is already in fully contemplative power about specific topics, or about this ephemeral world in general, from the angle of extremely experienced camera man... So maybe it could give some clue or direction about mystery of downvoting.

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