The iPhone’s camera is great, and its video-shooting skills are exemplary.
But shooting movies isn’t just about the camera.
It’s also about the lenses, the lighting, and how you put it all together.
You don’t need all this to shoot great movies.Jakob Owens / Unsplash
That’s why pro cameras, both for movies and photos, exist as a part of a system.
Instead, it uses a special lens accessory called a lens relay system.
Thesedepth-of-field adaptersaren’t cheap, but they are attainable and will make your iPhone movies look amazing.
Phone cameras struggle with shallow depth-of-field like this.Jakob Owens / Unsplash
Then, you de-squash it later, these days using software.
Those lenses can be had on Amazon for under $100.
But there’s another huge part of shooting cinematic video that’s already built into your iPhone Pro.
Movies are about more than just the camera.Jakob Owens / Unsplash
Log Roll
Cinematography is all about color grading.
To do this, you shoot the actual footage in the blandest way possible.
Straight from the camera, pro movie video is low contrast, flat-colored, and dull.
The idea is that you record the maximum amount of picture information for maximum flexibility in processing.
The iPhone 15 Pro can capture inProRes Log, a format made for exactly this.
Anyone can switch it on and use it.
