Take a long hard look at that picture above. Is that the extreme low point for film snobs or the high point for DSLR enthusiasts? It’s not like an iPhone hasn’t been used for film production before, but never has it been the camera body of choice for serious filmmakers. However, now that the iPhone 4 can shoot HD (and even edit on the fly) should we expect to see iPhone filmmaking take off in the same way DSLR’s have?
I doubt it. For one, there’s the stigma of shooting on a phone and on shooting on something so incredibly tiny that has little weight. That is going to be a big hurdle to jump for a lot of people. But also, if you follow the image’s advice and visit iphonedslr.com you will see a test video at the top that struggles to keep subjects in focus (likely due to the iPhone’s autofocusing lens) as well as suffers from a bit of vignetting. Not to mention the hurdle of storage and backups.
But who knows? If this is just the beginning, there could be some marked improvements in both the technology of the adapters and the iPhone itself. Will one day the phone upgrade to 1080p? Will the adapters be able to find a fix for the focus and vignetting issues?
I have a few friends who lament the DSLR revolution because they love the look of film so much. And while I’m not exactly sure where I stand, I don’t see either taking over in the near future. There are severe disadvantages to every medium of choice for film production. And if digital is going to take over, it’s going to happen first with the Arri Alexa or RED line of cameras – not an iPhone. Plus, aren’t the phones already behind the times without 3D capabilities?
Yet, what this iPhone adapter means is that we are getting closer and closer to each and every person accessing fairly good loking images for only a few hundred dollars. The talent to get those images may not be there – I think were a ways off from seeing iPhone films make this list – but the technology IS getting there and that’s half the battle. With access to this kind of visual capability, will this be the beginning of the end of what makes filmmaking sacred or the start of a wonderful revolution? It’s hard to say for now.
Head on over to iPhoneDSLR.com to view the rig.
About the author:
About the author: Evan Luzi is the editor and founder of The Black and Blue as well as a freelance camera assistant.
You can learn more about him or follow him on Twitter and Google+.
