gt3rs

I got my iPhone 15 Pro Max (upgrade from 13 Pro Max) and some early observations:
 
Quality is good when in shooting good conditions but breaks quite quickly if you miss exposure, in low light, etc.
Log files can be graded easily and have no over-sharpening, can take some post processing but way less than R5c RAW files, the difference imo is night and day as it should be. The same for details compared to R5c is just worlds apart.
BMD does not allow you to use 2x lens, zooming 2x with the 24mm lens the quality is quite bad (very blotchy, full hd at max). I did not test yet with the apple camera and the 2x “cropped” lens to see if is better.
No Log + Cinematic in either Apple Camera or BMD
H265+Log is a good compromise size vs. Quality and you can record all fps internally.
120mm lens I find it a bit better quality than the 77mm of the 13, and a more useful focal range for what I normally cover.
I have BMD set to save to Files, then I connect a USB-C CFexpress or SSD and move the files in Files, is the quickest and easier method for PC users. Much better that the previous phone that was a nightmare to get the footage out from a PC.
Action button is useful as you can set to start or even start recording in the BMD.
Still need to get use to the BMD UI, with no hw button/wheels changing things rapidly is a bit of a pain for me.
 
Overall, with Log and the 120mm is big update and I will use it even more than my previous phone, especially as B or C cam.
Using it as a main camera is a big stretch and I think I will be mostly disappointed.
 
Frame grab 4k Log 120mm.

FX9 or C500 II would be more comparable.
Still why not a C70 i think for a one man band is a better buy than a C300 III?
 

I got my iPhone 15 Pro Max (upgrade from 13 Pro Max) and some early observations:
 
Quality is good when in shooting good conditions but breaks quite quickly if you miss exposure, in low light, etc.
Log files can be graded easily and have no over-sharpening, can take some post processing but way less than R5c RAW files, the difference imo is night and day as it should be. The same for details compared to R5c is just worlds apart.
BMD does not allow you to use 2x lens, zooming 2x with the 24mm lens the quality is quite bad (very blotchy, full hd at max). I did not test yet with the apple camera and the 2x “cropped” lens to see if is better.
No Log + Cinematic in either Apple Camera or BMD
H265+Log is a good compromise size vs. Quality and you can record all fps internally.
120mm lens I find it a bit better quality than the 77mm of the 13, and a more useful focal range for what I normally cover.
I have BMD set to save to Files, then I connect a USB-C CFexpress or SSD and move the files in Files, is the quickest and easier method for PC users. Much better that the previous phone that was a nightmare to get the footage out from a PC.
Action button is useful as you can set to start or even start recording in the BMD.
Still need to get use to the BMD UI, with no hw button/wheels changing things rapidly is a bit of a pain for me.
 
Overall, with Log and the 120mm is big update and I will use it even more than my previous phone, especially as B or C cam.
Using it as a main camera is a big stretch and I think I will be mostly disappointed.
 
Frame grab 4k Log 120mm.

I got my iPhone 15 Pro Max (upgrade from 13 Pro Max) and some early observations:
 
Quality is good when in shooting good conditions but breaks quite quickly if you miss exposure, in low light, etc.
Log files can be graded easily and have no over-sharpening, can take some post processing but way less than R5c RAW files, the difference imo is night and day as it should be. The same for details compared to R5c is just worlds apart.
BMD does not allow you to use 2x lens, zooming 2x with the 24mm lens the quality is quite bad (very blotchy, full hd at max). I did not test yet with the apple camera and the 2x “cropped” lens to see if is better.
No Log + Cinematic in either Apple Camera or BMD
H265+Log is a good compromise size vs. Quality and you can record all fps internally.
120mm lens I find it a bit better quality than the 77mm of the 13, and a more useful focal range for what I normally cover.
I have BMD set to save to Files, then I connect a USB-C CFexpress or SSD and move the files in Files, is the quickest and easier method for PC users. Much better that the previous phone that was a nightmare to get the footage out from a PC.
Action button is useful as you can set to start or even start recording in the BMD.
Still need to get use to the BMD UI, with no hw button/wheels changing things rapidly is a bit of a pain for me.
 
Overall, with Log and the 120mm is big update and I will use it even more than my previous phone, especially as B or C cam.
Using it as a main camera is a big stretch and I think I will be mostly disappointed.
 
Frame grab 4k Log 120mm.

I got my iPhone 15 Pro Max (upgrade from 13 Pro Max) and some early observations:
 
Quality is good when in shooting good conditions but breaks quite quickly if you miss exposure, in low light, etc.
Log files can be graded easily and have no over-sharpening, can take some post processing but way less than R5c RAW files, the difference imo is night and day as it should be. The same for details compared to R5c is just worlds apart.
BMD does not allow you to use 2x lens, zooming 2x with the 24mm lens the quality is quite bad (very blotchy, full hd at max). I did not test yet with the apple camera and the 2x “cropped” lens to see if is better.
No Log + Cinematic in either Apple Camera or BMD
H265+Log is a good compromise size vs. Quality and you can record all fps internally.
120mm lens I find it a bit better quality than the 77mm of the 13, and a more useful focal range for what I normally cover.
I have BMD set to save to Files, then I connect a USB-C CFexpress or SSD and move the files in Files, is the quickest and easier method for PC users. Much better that the previous phone that was a nightmare to get the footage out from a PC.
Action button is useful as you can set to start or even start recording in the BMD.
Still need to get use to the BMD UI, with no hw button/wheels changing things rapidly is a bit of a pain for me.
 
Overall, with Log and the 120mm is big update and I will use it even more than my previous phone, especially as B or C cam.
Using it as a main camera is a big stretch and I think I will be mostly disappointed.
 
Frame grab 4k Log 120mm.

Yeah while GS in a FF consumer camera is a nice tech feat, I'm not sure many people will be rushing to "upgrade" to a $6K 24MP/4K h26x camera. Clearly this is a niche action/sports hybrid mainly aimed at still shooters. Sony is smart when it comes to marketing and they put this out just ahead of the Summer Olympics.
But in reality for video shooters if you absolutely need a GS cine cam, the Komodo already exists and does up to 6K with ProRes/REDcode etc. 
And for your average hybrid shooter, I doubt they would really notice the difference with the already fast 8ms RS of the A7S3/FX3. And those have better DR & low-light for half the price. 
Personally, I find the Z8/Z9 are still much better rounded hybrid packages with 8K60p, RAW/ProRes, 45MP. And fast stacked sensor readout speeds that are sufficient for most demanding situations. 
Don't get me wrong, FF GS is a major tech accomplishment and I'm sure there is a market for the A9iii, I just don't think the entire package and price point is going to be that enticing in the already crowded FF segment once the hype does down.

Famous Sony footnotes kicks again:
Sync speed with "External" flash is 1/500. With base ISO of 250, its the same as 1/200 with ISO 100.

I guess that having BMD app "Save clip to" to Files and using the Files app to copy/move to an external USB-C SDD/Card would be the quickest way. Alternatively you could set BM app to save on in-app and photo library (waste of space) and these filles will should show up when you connect your iPhone to PC. 

Interesting video, camera budget 1200 usd, total budget 1’000’000 usd 😂😂

Interesting video, camera budget 1200 usd, total budget 1’000’000 usd 😂😂

I am still concerned by the audio (not relevant for this video, which is just for Happy Halloween), with the internal-mic audio sounding odd.
For the internal mics, there is no control of gain. For any external mic, however, there is. And any usb-c mic will work even in stereo (I tried one), and with an external mic you see audio meter bars on the screen by which to check and set audio levels. It also seems that any usb-c to female 3.5" converter cable will also work so one can use wired standard mics with unbalanced connectors with the camera, unlike for the GoPro's.
Finally, you can use two DJI wireless mic2's to record in stereo, if you can purchase a second DJI mic2. So, interviewer and interviewee mic'ed up wirelessly with 32bit float recorded on each "mic" as backup.
So, the audio is actually a big focus for the camera, but I do not understand why the double standard, internal and external.
 

I found a good test video of h265/LOG vs ProRes/LOG with the Blackmagic App.... for most cases you probably can get away with h265/LOG saving the clumsy SSD that defats a bit the concept of using a phone. Files are much smaller and you can do 4k 60p LOG internally.... good to have options

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpO06mdN7mk

Yes there is only a few limited options for 4k240 .... RED and Blackmagic have models but are heavy crop, Freefly Ember but it is very specialized and expensive.

If you have a sharp and high shutter speed image at 4k 120fps to start with Davinci Resolve 18 with retime: OpticalFlow and motion estimation: Speed Wrap, does a quite good job interpolating frames, here a complex background and movement example that I tried a couple of weeks a ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5gxj6KVBoY

Look at the horse tail for me is quite impressive.

Yes there is only a few limited options for 4k240 .... RED and Blackmagic have models but are heavy crop, Freefly Ember but it is very specialized and expensive.

If you have a sharp and high shutter speed image at 4k 120fps to start with Davinci Resolve 18 with retime: OpticalFlow and motion estimation: Speed Wrap, does a quite good job interpolating frames, here a complex background and movement example that I tried a couple of weeks a ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5gxj6KVBoY

Look at the horse tail for me is quite impressive.

In 2017 DJI had a 1 inch sensor with aperture control (2.8 to 11) on the Phantom 4 Pro that was really good, I'm not sure why they did not take that one and evolve it... it would have been quite practical for a DJI Osmo Pkt.

In 2017 DJI had a 1 inch sensor with aperture control (2.8 to 11) on the Phantom 4 Pro that was really good, I'm not sure why they did not take that one and evolve it... it would have been quite practical for a DJI Osmo Pkt.

I found a good test video of h265/LOG vs ProRes/LOG with the Blackmagic App.... for most cases you probably can get away with h265/LOG saving the clumsy SSD that defats a bit the concept of using a phone. Files are much smaller and you can do 4k 60p LOG internally.... good to have options

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpO06mdN7mk

I found a good test video of h265/LOG vs ProRes/LOG with the Blackmagic App.... for most cases you probably can get away with h265/LOG saving the clumsy SSD that defats a bit the concept of using a phone. Files are much smaller and you can do 4k 60p LOG internally.... good to have options

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpO06mdN7mk

I found a good test video of h265/LOG vs ProRes/LOG with the Blackmagic App.... for most cases you probably can get away with h265/LOG saving the clumsy SSD that defats a bit the concept of using a phone. Files are much smaller and you can do 4k 60p LOG internally.... good to have options

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpO06mdN7mk

Now we are talking, the log footage seems very usable and night and day compared to the SDR over sharpend, oversaturated and too much NR. The skin tone and skin texture are much more natural... then if people want to create a plastic look out that I have no problem but the video really demonstrate that the starting image in log is indeed a big step up compared to the past. 

I'm still confused about the cinematic mode and log as many says that you can not have both at the same time but the above video clary use log with cinematic mode. Either is just BS or maybe the default camera app does not allow this but the Blackmagic one that seem to be used on the above video allows it. 

It would be nice to see if there is a any big difference in Blackmagic app h265/log vs ProRes/log.. I need to search if somebodies has already done this.  

Time to upgrade my iPhone....

Now we are talking, the log footage seems very usable and night and day compared to the SDR over sharpend, oversaturated and too much NR. The skin tone and skin texture are much more natural... then if people want to create a plastic look out that I have no problem but the video really demonstrate that the starting image in log is indeed a big step up compared to the past. 

I'm still confused about the cinematic mode and log as many says that you can not have both at the same time but the above video clary use log with cinematic mode. Either is just BS or maybe the default camera app does not allow this but the Blackmagic one that seem to be used on the above video allows it. 

It would be nice to see if there is a any big difference in Blackmagic app h265/log vs ProRes/log.. I need to search if somebodies has already done this.  

Time to upgrade my iPhone....

I knew about these, they just weren't noteworthy.  My summary is still accurate.
In 2012 there was my GoPro Hero 3 and the iPhone 5, which were broadly comparable.
Now in 2023 there is the iPhone 15 which includes 3 cameras, one of which has an 8K sensor, it records Prores HQ to SSD, the log profile has a white paper and associated colour management profiles in ACES etc....   plus, it's a telephone, music player, video player, computer game console, portable computer, internet connection, etc etc etc.
If you want to talk about being informed then it might interest you to know that Sony cinema cameras can all record RAW externally, as well as a plethora of different compression options and profiles internally, which seems like world-class control over such things, instead of the GoPro which offers very few codecs, no RAW, and the colour profiles aren't supported by industry colour management frameworks.
I'm not saying that GoPro haven't done anything, I'm just saying that apart from adding their stabilisation (which was very impressive at the time) their upgrades have been incremental at best.

Of course, I don’t judge the quality (hw, sw and video) from their stock price 🙂. But they are under enormous pressure to survive, it is not like being a private company. They did many miss steps so now they seem to be ripping off customers to try to stay afloat. Btw I was a GPRO stockholder.
My first Gopro was Hero 2 and went up Hero 10. In parallel I started using insta360 cameras and now I’m Gopro free 😊 although I use sometime some of my customer’s ones as backup cameras.
I filmed in harsh situations so my experience could be different than others.
I have mounted on Rally Cars in Lapland and Africa, on wings of Military Jet, on desert's Buggy, Alaska Heliskiing, MTB etc..

The number of freezes, overheats, battery draining (enduro battery was made because the standard one was basically useless in winter conditions...wtf) that I had it was just so frustrating.
Gopro Hero Max is so old that is insane that they still sell it and the software is ridiculously bad compared to the insta360 one.

Gopro Mini, Session etc they still don’t know what to do… seems a trial and error approach
Gopro 10 was probably the buggiest camera that I had from all the camera that I have owned. Just do a google search for freezes, overheats, battery drain... and you will see that I'm not the only one.
And let’s not talk about their subscription model that they try to “lock you in” with hw discount hoping that you will not cancel a pretty useless subscription.
I was a big gopro fan, but they failed so many times on me that I don’t trust them anymore.

The 12 should have been a FW fix of the 11.. but as quoted company you need to bring more revenue and is a declining market too as form many a phone is a better solution than a gopro.












 

I use a modern Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 as my principal workhorse for that very reason, to take off that digital edge (along with the OLPF my S1H has) and also for the subtle halation effect that a 1/8th causes (I’m a fan of subtle) but due to modern coatings, you get far less ‘vintage effect’ than an old lens, ie, contrast is reduced, but not massively and there is better sharpness towards the edges.
I appreciate sharpness is not something all desire but personally I prefer a more modern rendering so am not a fan of the soft look. Each to their own and all that…

Of course, I don’t judge the quality (hw, sw and video) from their stock price 🙂. But they are under enormous pressure to survive, it is not like being a private company. They did many miss steps so now they seem to be ripping off customers to try to stay afloat. Btw I was a GPRO stockholder.
My first Gopro was Hero 2 and went up Hero 10. In parallel I started using insta360 cameras and now I’m Gopro free 😊 although I use sometime some of my customer’s ones as backup cameras.
I filmed in harsh situations so my experience could be different than others.
I have mounted on Rally Cars in Lapland and Africa, on wings of Military Jet, on desert's Buggy, Alaska Heliskiing, MTB etc..

The number of freezes, overheats, battery draining (enduro battery was made because the standard one was basically useless in winter conditions...wtf) that I had it was just so frustrating.
Gopro Hero Max is so old that is insane that they still sell it and the software is ridiculously bad compared to the insta360 one.

Gopro Mini, Session etc they still don’t know what to do… seems a trial and error approach
Gopro 10 was probably the buggiest camera that I had from all the camera that I have owned. Just do a google search for freezes, overheats, battery drain... and you will see that I'm not the only one.
And let’s not talk about their subscription model that they try to “lock you in” with hw discount hoping that you will not cancel a pretty useless subscription.
I was a big gopro fan, but they failed so many times on me that I don’t trust them anymore.

The 12 should have been a FW fix of the 11.. but as quoted company you need to bring more revenue and is a declining market too as form many a phone is a better solution than a gopro.