iPhone 15 Camera Update - Released

[kye]

3 minutes ago, SRV1981 said:

Amazing what iPhone could do and literally just came here to post this video haha 

Yeah, that's the best result yet..  it's genuinely incredible!

[kye]

That video has flicked a switch in my head.

I have now gone from asking "what can I shoot with my phone?" to "is there any reason to not buy this and shoot everything with it?" and "why do I need a separate camera at all?".

I genuinely think that none of my cameras can better those results - not the GH5 or even BMPCC / BMMCC.  I'm not even sure if cameras like the S5iiX would do much better.

[stephen]

3 hours ago, kye said:

I have now gone from asking "what can I shoot with my phone?" to "is there any reason to not buy this and shoot everything with it?" and "why do I need a separate camera at all?".

Well you can buy and try iPhone 15 as your main camera. There is no better way but to try it personally. My limited experience with iPhone 14 Pro and more extensive with Android RAW showed me that smartphones as cameras have many limitations. The list is long. At the end it is a simple choice: Can you live with and/or work around all those limitations or not. For me answer is clear: I can't and don't want to. I prefer the inconvenience to lug 1 to 2 kg of equipment more for several kilometers, but have great experience shooting rather than the other way around. Here are some examples: When testing iPhone 14 Pro as a camera I used it as GPS navigation too. Mounted on the front dashboard of my car in sunny spring day with temperature around 25-27 degree Celsius it overheated and shut down. Had to stop my car and swap it with my Android phone. It took more than 30 min for IPhone to cool down and be usable again. If you want to have some decent footage you still need ND filters, this means a special case or cage for iPhone as minimum plus probably a handle. How long will the battery last? So maybe an external battery too ? Or external SSD ? But both can't be used at the same time. 🙂  You see, if you want a semi decent footage and shooting experience, you still have to prepare and take several other items, spend time planning, etc. With time and experience for me the weight of my camera bag up to a certain limit is at the bottom of my inconveniences and concerns.

As a camera that is always with me, in my pocket though latest generation of Android phones or iPhone 15 Pro are something that I can't resist. 🙂 Another case to use them would be when I go out for a day or more and am not sure do I want to shoot something or not, will I have the time or not. Having a smartphone as a camera + maybe a case with ND filters for those casual shoots is great.

[Django]

Yeah I agree with the above, no matter these improvements at the end of the day it is still a smartphone with all its caveats. No way does it actually compete with rigged mirrorless or cine cams with quality glass, filters etc in actual use. So many limitations.

I tested the iPhone 15 Pro myself the other day at the Apple store, shot some log footage and then airdropped it to my iPhone to test it out in Resolve. The result was rather sub-par, mushy IQ with lots of noise. I'm assuming this is mainly due to the indoor light conditions and the camera app shooting at high ISO. Notice how all the examples in this thread are shot outside in perfect bright daylight conditions. Shoot indoors with average lighting or on a dim day/evening and the IQ falls apart. That to me has always been the real downer with tiny sensor cameras. They need perfect lighting. And no ProRes/Log can fix that. At which point you may as well let the iPhone do its computational magic and fix the image!

[SRV1981]

this video is beautiful to me. The DR, skintones, rolloff, and color I love. In a phone. 😯 

[PannySVHS]

Skintones look wonky to me in this video. I will get a lg v60 and use the mcpro25fps app for 10bit Log video and the beautiful unsharpened look or motioncam app for ultimate raw video quality. The phone costs 200 - 250 euro online.

[SRV1981]

 

enjoy the tones this guy gets from his videos too

[PannySVHS]

Wonky skintones. Shot on an Iphone 1500 USD. Camera movement and anything about this video is so bad that i think rich vacationers should not buy this device but save the planet from spoiling resources and buy a Used LG V60 instead. I mean their vacation spot looks nice. Would be nice if the rest of the world doesn't have to look like a factory to satisfy their consumerism so they can film themselves grilling and eating sausages on snowy Mount Rushmore on Abraham Licolns nose.

Seriously I am getting sick by the ads and consumerism this forum has been flooded lately. This phone has a good camera. But then it deserves a good observation instead of one liners hyping it up. The video pages before with the kids camping and jumping was well shot with some good indicators of the potential of the imager, lens and potential video quality. This video was a waste of time for me. Reflecting on that was an ok compensation for that.

Iphone 16 is already in the planning. More hype, more waste, more 8k videos for a better (filmed) world. I know the iphone 1500 USD does 4K only, so I wait til Iphone 1600 USD and will wonder if it is better than my any invention in this world.

[Emanuel]

Different people, different needs... There are people who like people, worry about the clima, there are other people who simply don't care. There are altruistic people, there are selfish people. There are people who love come here to watch pictures, there are people who simply don't care. People who want to consider gear for their exclusive use, others don't. We actually cannot be the other 51% of the time.

- EAG :- )

PS: That said, I find no less useful the enthusiasm of @SRV1981 TBH.

[Emanuel]

Speaking of the devil:

 

[PannySVHS]

Emanuel, I don't agree at all. People keep flooding us with mediocore videos, like a mine digging machina keeps flooding us with the wealth of our earth, so we can film rich folks' camping sites with the newest  and latest. Hey, even travel super close to snow covered mountain top! Cannot be the 5x times zoom can it?

This phone has fucked up processing again, fucking up Prores again with noise reduction mushing textures. The second time that Big ole Apple is fucking up their own supposely benefits of prores. Shows again that processing before encoding is a butcher. Still, people flooding the apple temples like maniacs.

A relativism of morality in general might suggest a relativism of preference of gear and taste and curatism as well.

One liners and random videos don't cut it when it comes to evaluating strenghts and weaknesses of cameras and they don't cut it for me personally regarding reading pleasure and interest.

[stephen]

We are different and have different tastes. I like fall in Colorado video. There is some grain applied, color grading is very good IMHO, skin tones are good for me too, overall good image quality. Compare it to other iPhone 15 video posted here and this one for me ranks at the top 10% as image quality. This is exactly the occasion I would use a smartphone, when you are with friends and/or family and your focus are the people and your journey together. Filming is a side job just for memories and some enjoyment of the hobby or profession. For the purpose this video is well done!

As a camera and what it can do iPhone 15 Pro is expensive but for smartphone with ton of features, usability and a camera that is in your pocket IMHO it is worth the money. If I am at the end of my 5 year smartphone upgrade cycle it would be on my list for sure.

Would I buy LG V60 instead for Android RAW video? No. If I choose Android for RAW video it would Xiaomi 13 Ultra or at least Pro. After 5 years with the same smartphone I want the latest and greatest that shoots good video too, I want a great smartphone that has all the bell and whistles. It’s another story how many of them I will use. 🙂  Price may seem steep but let make a simple calculation. 1100 Euro for Xiomi 13 Ultra or 1400 For IPhone 15 Pro for 5 years / 12 months is 1100/5/12 = 18.3, 1400/5/12 = 23.3. 18 to 24 euros (or dollars) per month for the most used and also useful device is worth it for me. A smartphone is much more of a tool that I use every day, rather than a gadget. And I can save much more money from other activities and things.  

For me it would be a consumerism if I upgrade or purchase latest and greatest DJI drones each year for example if drones are not my business or profession.

[PannySVHS]

That is a comprehensive and engaging writeup. Thank you. @stephen I wish for the same when it comes to observing and evaluating gear. I would be interested in the camera only, so a Xiaomi Mi10 or LG V60 begin to be compelling regarding 10bit Log and Raw video, the former sporting a 1/1.33" sensor vs IPros 1/1.25" imager, pretty much the same sensor size and a 1/5th of the price but with flagship model qualities. 😉

 

[Django]

What's a little sus to me is all the "impressive" videos shared in this thread seem to be from LUT vendors. These videos are more ads for grades than the iPhone 15. I mean who knows the time/effort/power grades used to achieve these results. Not to mention the rigs, gimbals, reflectors and what not that are used. Its all fair game but I guess what I'm trying to say is it isn't a realistic look at what you're going to get out of the iPhone 15 SOOC or even using your average grading skills. 

Its like the giant "Shot on iPhone" billboard campaigns you see in major cities with amazing pics:

..yet you know your average iPhone pic never looks as good, they've all been crazy boosted in Photoshop.

In the end it is just another iPhone with similar specs, IQ and caveats as last years model. They added log which is great for grading your footage but nothing really that revolutionary especially if you're not that heavy into grading.

[Emanuel]

I like when people disagree but hey, not everyone must buy my ticket! ; ) Anyway, agree to disagree helps as much as discussing anything. Without your post, Marty and mine, we probably weren't here now, we hadn't Stephen and Django's insights, so here's another one on topic:

They are mere tools... Not necessarily miraculous mantras nor everyone here is looking for nice pictures on these pages, I tend to see them straight from my big screen but literally (or almost, as much as possible whenever I am able to) in front of me ;- )

[Emanuel]

(This time ^ entirely shot on the new iPhone 15 Pro in 4K Cinematic Mode but from another YouTuber trying to sell LUTs as above-said, signs of today...)

(...so why not discuss it here if this is part of nowadays too?)

Or we have to only discuss what pleases us? : X

[SRV1981]

3 hours ago, Emanuel said:

(This time ^ entirely shot on the new iPhone 15 Pro in 4K Cinematic Mode but from another YouTuber trying to sell LUTs as above-said, signs of today...)

(...so why not discuss it here if this is part of nowadays too?)

Or we have to only discuss what pleases us? : X

Agreed - I’m consciously ignoring the passive aggressive negativity. It’s so easy - don’t engage in this thread if you’re so superior to those of us who enjoy chatting about this phone for creating video and photo. 
 

that said, I enjoyed this review: 

 

 

[PannySVHS]

Who feels superiour?  I hink we have billions of hysteric consumers ruining our planet, who are pressing their taste upon others. You lost sight or never had it to write such nonsense as above.

Emanuel and I have been forum friends for a long time. You aint gonna write that away. If you come out like that, let me assure you that my aproach is rather active aggressive. And it is the first time so, putting up with subpar nonsense as above. It's at ease that anything might seem superiour compared to underwhelming posts like yours above. I am tempted to really lose my temper. But then I just did. I will calm down. U dont need to apologize. I won't as I mean every word of it. We will forgive eachother in a second. I already did. All good.

[SRV1981]

😮

[PannySVHS]

4 hours ago, SRV1981 said:

😮

Well, I meant your last post above mine, not posts! Stephen and Emanuel responded to me already in a respectful manner showing me a meaningful perspective to reevaluate mine and to appreciate theirs. There was no need for your last post and individual attack. I cannot pamper my opinion about this youtube hysteria. But I can appreciate the fact that you enjoy something and I can respond, awesome that you do, I can see why and might still respond that it would have looked just as good with an Android plus Mcpro App and 10bit Log. And maybe I am wrong. We all should feel comfortable to say so to one another. I will try to support that better.