The iPhone 11 looks to be a game-changer for smartphone videography. Here’s how to truly unleash its filmmaking potential.
The concept of using a top-of-the-line smartphone to shoot big-budget narrative features meant to be shown on cinema screens is still pretty insane when you think about it. Yet, here we are in 2019, and not only has this been happening more and more, but technology is still continuing to outpace itself with its near-yearly breakthroughs.
The iPhone, in particular, has been a leader in these efforts, and filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh have already made use of iPhones in the past (the iPhone 8 for his feature High Flying Birds and the iPhone 7 Plus for Unsane).
Now Apple has outdone itself once again with its latest iPhone 11 (for this article we’ll focus on the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max) and its next-level video camera technology. Until it is surpassed (likely next year), this iPhone 11 represents the latest and greatest filmmaking smartphone on the market.
So, if you’re looking to make the investment for your next film project (or just looking to make the most cinematically beautiful Tik Tok videos ever), here are five tips to truly maximize your iPhone 11’s filmmaking capabilities.
Similar to the iPhone X, and other smartphones of the past few generations with dual-camera technology, the iPhone 11 has two cameras. But, it has also added a new ultra-wide camera to the mix for even more coverage. In total, this gives the iPhone 11 Pro the following:
Telephoto Camera
- 12MP
- 52 mm focal length
- Larger f/2.0
- 6-element lens
- Optical image stabilization
- Focus pixels
Wide Camera
- 12MP
- 26 mm f/1.8
- 6-element lens
- Optical image stabilization
- 100 percent focus pixels
Ultra-Wide Camera
- 12MP
- 13 mm f/2.4
- 5-element lens
- 120-degree field of view
These three lenses together give some of the most comprehensive in-smartphone coverage of any offered on the market. It also provides a solution for capturing that near-fisheye ultra-wide cinematic-looking footage with its new third camera,
nd, technically speaking, with the iPhone 11’s front-facing “selfie” camera you’re actually getting four cameras on one device. This begins to matter when the iPhone 11 is used with partner program Filmic Pro for capturing and utilizing multiple angles at once. Over on Shutterstock Tutorials, Rubidium Wu takes a look at what to expect when shooting a feature on the iPhone 11 Pro compared to a cinema camera like the Canon C200.
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