iPhone 4 vs. Canon 7D [Video]

Sean from Take Zer0 has posted his thoughts on the iPhone 4 as a filmmaking tool.

For those interested here are the iPhone camera's specifications:


The iPhone 4 has a fixed f/2.8 aperture and a relatively large 3.85mm lens (which seems to be approximately the equivalent of 35mm on a crop sensor or 56mm on a FF). It has an automatic, variable shutter speed between 1/15 and 1/10000; an automatic ISO of around 80-1000; and the sensor is 1/3.2″ and has some new backside illumination tech to capture more photons (although, in low light, it's still noisy as heck). Oh, and it records 1280×720 footage at 30fps (just like the original 5D Mark II firmware, it's 30, not 29.97). The bitrate is about 10 mbps (not bad) and the audio is a low mono 66 kbps at 44.1 kHz.

After attaching the iPhone 4 to a 7D and Steadicam Merlin, Sean tested out its capabilities for a few days and concludes:

So, do I believe this is a viable filmmaking tool? No. I think without at least some real control over exposure, you would have to make some huge compromises in the way you tell your story. But that isn't to say the iPhone is useless in filmmaking. Having such decent quality in your pocket will make it that much easier to frame up shots, scout locations, and even document the process. It's a great little camera.

Below you can see some iPhone 4 footage side by side with footage from the 7D. Note that the 7D wasn't given much attention so its exposure and focus may be off at times.


There are more video clips to be seen at the link below...