iPhone Filmmakers – Worth Upgrading Yet?

Apple recently announced three new models, the iPhone Xs, the iPhone Xs Max, and the lower priced iPhone XR. The iPhone Xs comes in two sizes, the 5.7″ model, and the 6.5″ iPhone Xs Max.

Both have a Super Retina OLED screen and a million to 1 contrast rate. Plus, wider dynamic range that translates into support for watching video in HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Under the hood, the iPhone Xs has a 6 core, 64 bit A12 Bionic processor, 4 core GPU, and is 50% faster. Good for gamers.

The dual 12MP cameras are improved, is as the incorporated quad LED True Tone flash.

But while the camera sensor is twice as fast as before, when it comes to shooting video, it’s more the audio improvements which impress for iPhone filmmakers. The iPhone Xs has a wider stereo field, which can not only play home theater quality sound, but also record it – thanks to the four on board microphones.

The iPhone XR is essentially an iPhone Xs with an LCD screen and a single camera. It’s a bigger 6.1″ liquid retina LCD screen, but smaller in the hand than the iPhone 8 plus. And it has FaceID, so no more home button.

Apple has figured out a way to do computational photography on still images, and provide bokeh to the background and to adjust the lighting. But they, and other smartphone makers, have yet to bring bokeh to video.

Other than that, there’s not much to report. There’s no major improvements to the new iPhone models in the video department, other than the audio. A wider stereo field is nice, but perhaps not enough to justify the cost of upgrading for smartphone filmmakers. An external mic or external mic and recorder may be preferable anyway.

Moment lenses work for all new iPhone devices.

Are you planning to upgrade? Let us know!

Read Next: Best Smartphone Filmmaking Kit 2019.

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