Well it was only a matter of time…we all knew it had to happen. More than one group has already entirely shot a short film and edited it - all on Apple’s new iPhone 4…
While many have been focusing on the antenna issues - others are taking the opportunity to shoot with these phones and produce some impressive work!
While I don’t see this changing the world of filmmaking overnight - I do think it points to a general trend towards smaller cameras, and using devices that are always on you at all times…
As Chase Jarvis said: “The Best Camera is the one that’s with you.” And I couldn’t agree more. Chase basically coined one of the foundational points that every young photojournalist has drilled into them by their mentors: ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU - YOU NEVER KOW WHEN SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
That’s why I think we’ll see a lot more of these videos in the near future - and especially in the news business - and it’s just a matter of time until a reporter does a live broadcast from a scene with “facetime” and that we see some breaking news videos shot with these phones.
This will likely cause yet another wave in the citizen journalism vs. professional media debate that’s been going on for years- especially for photographers.
Ever since the London Bombings and the Miracle on the Hudson (flight landing in the Hudson) - events that were primarily documented by amateur still photographs made with relatively high quality cell phones - breaking-news still photographers have found that it has gotten extremely difficult to compete with people who “are at the right place at the right time” equipped with just a cell phone.
I think the same will now happen in the video world… with phones that can shoot pretty amazingly clear 720p video - expect to see a LOT more first person footage shot by non-professionals on CNN, BBC, etc.
Interesting times… check out both of these videos. Pretty amazing to see what can be shot - with YOUR PHONE!!!!
I’m guessing that there are already a half-dozen people shooting music videos with them as well this week… I almost shot one with the previous generation iPhone 3Gs but didn’t think the quality was quite there yet.
I can say that both the 720p video and the still photographs I’ve seen coming out of the iPhone 4 are pretty stunning… I used one of the original digital cameras 10 years ago… the Canon DCS520 - and the quality of images coming off of this phone - ABSOLUTELY SMOKES that now archaic $20,000 camera… funny how things can change in 10 years… wonder what will happen in the next 10 years… heck - in the next 5 years to be honest!
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My son made this today on iPhone 4. I guess he won’t be borrowing my 5D II as much…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pogj2ML1RI&fmt=22
Comment by Sat Tara Khalsa 06.29.10 @ 4:06 pmCouldn’t agree more! The only thing that bums me out is the ability to upload 720p video (even over wifi) is non-existant. I know you can sync to your computer and pull down the 720p video, but having the ability to upload it straight from the iPhone is essential.
Comment by scott neumyer 06.29.10 @ 4:55 pmHere’s a comparison I did with my 7D. Hard to shoot with, but still pretty fun!
Comment by Sean Duran 06.29.10 @ 5:32 pmI made an iPhone 4 short too at the weekend with the theme of summer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfO6ewIv0CM wish it had more control over aperture but you work with what you got right, just need to be creative.
Comment by Stuart Jefferies 06.29.10 @ 5:51 pmHow soon until they write an app giving manual control of the simple stuff like iris, sensitivity and shutter?
Would that be excessively hard? Just to bury it in menus so that the normal users don’t get confused, but people that know the basics can take cooler shots?
Could a 3rd party developed App accomplish that?
Comment by Ryan Farnes 06.29.10 @ 8:52 pmThe only problem we had that we couldn’t overcome well at the Pikes Peak shoot was what Ryan was saying… the Auto-Exposure issue. It drove us nuts.
Thanks for posting the video!
Comment by Seth Schaeffer 06.30.10 @ 2:06 pm[...] - Dig this short film shot on (and edited on) an iPhone 4 in just 48 hours. [...]
Pingback by Click on This « Click Communications 07.02.10 @ 2:49 pm[...] first saw this on Vincent LaForet’s blog . Check out the link to see his first impressions of the videos and another sample of what this [...]
Pingback by So how good is the IPhone 4 video? | Don Parkinson 07.09.10 @ 12:09 am[...] Also from Vincent’s site… [...]
Pingback by Bodgit Films » Blog Archive » iPhone Videos 07.12.10 @ 6:06 am[...] See the extremes with the earlier mentioned RED and 4K? No matter the unprecedented quality you can produce with this camera, try to fit it in your pocket. Now there’s no reason to miss any moment that should be captured and published anywhere at anytime. No doubt this will initiate another wave in citizen jounalism, as also mentioned by Vincent Laforet. [...]
Pingback by iPhone4: an amazing videoproduction kit…in your pocket « New Media in Motion 07.16.10 @ 2:38 pm
I might be biased as I run a flip video blog (!) but I ALS have an iPhone 4 in the house. The auto aperture on the iPhone 4 is poor compared to the flip. It’s so slow to react to changing light levels it makes reality style shooting almost worthless. If you are shooting to a storyboard and can wait fir aperture to settle then you can manage. J
Comment by Jules 07.20.10 @ 2:25 pmLeave a comment
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