Cold cast VS warm cast of your most used lens

Well that's a turn in the conversation. If I held apple stock ... sure i probably would be happy to hear this news. Apple wants to sell more iPhones.

I don't know anything about business but I do have an investment in vision. And should this use of phone encourage others, great. I haven't seen the film.. so as far as i know it may turn some away from the iPhone as a moving image capture device. I wish I had an iPhone when i was making videos. I prefer not using a phone for stills and no longer make 'videos' but when i do i have a different minds eye muscle at play. I am influenced, supported and enhanced by the capture device. I like being in connected with my tool in that way.

SS“It wasn’t just about working out what the sensor did well either. It was also about asking, what are the things that it doesn’t do well, and is there a way to use that in addition to the things that it does well? Because sometimes you think something is a problem, but when you embrace it and double down on it, it turns out to be a really interesting anomaly that you can take advantage of.”

I was in wedding business for years and still keep contacts and read forums. I often look for technical samples produced by various devices and gadgets. For years. No one do wedding by Iphone. This is utter rubbish. The most popular cameras are Olympus, Panasonic and Sony (S series with big pixels), then goes Canon and then Nikon with load of equipment (Ronin stabilizers, lenses, filters, gun microphones to name a few).

There were rumours about Timberlake Say something video, in fact, it was 8K Red cameras, cinematic lenses for many many thousands of dollars.

If we speak off topic about Iphone we should also speak about Samsung, Huawei and Honor. Why only 1 brand? It looks like advertizing.

The sensor of Iphone did not do well it is horrible and unusble above ISO 200. It does not produce bokeh in video and genuine bokeh in photography (faux-keh only). Period. If you want to prove something show your own footage taken inside the dim house or a restaurant (give your youtube link). You don't need to. 1000 times has everything been shot under all light conditions with smartphones. If you want a good quality video you must go for the proper camcorders (journalist style) and big sensors (fine art videography). And shoot raw. Work of a colorist.

The next aspect - smartphones do not have VFs. I see nothing in bright sunlight. I just can not frame with it.

So yes, anomaly can be an advantage. But when you are paid customers do not want anomalies with their result (content).

Edited August 14, 2019 by ruslan

I should admit that XS max has become better, but it is only 12 Mp. And still much worse than my DSLR camera.

See the dog artifact on its left eye. Still enough for brats Insta-selfie or average Uncle Bob.

But it's not always about getting the most technically clean and perfect image possible. Soderbergh has been talked about a lot in this thread but he is hardly the first to use lower fidelity equipment. Do a google search for films shot on 16mm and you'll be surprised at what comes up. Black Swan is one that surprised me because I always thought the cinematography was really good in that movie though I'm hardly an expert. Good cinematography doesn't always mean maximum pixels.

 

Weddings are also interesting because it's one market that continues to employ a lot of professional photographers. They want high quality pictures. But it's also an event where they commonly choose to use about the worst cameras possible for the environment, - disposables. Crappy lenses, weak flashes, and poor low light performance. There are still couples that put one of these on every table. Why? Honestly I'm not sure there are good reasons anymore considering that basically every adult attending the wedding will have a much more capable camera with them. But they still do it because they want those fun spontaneous photos that a professional photographer will miss, - especially after they've left.

 

For many photos, it's the people in the image and what they're doing that's most important. Not whether all the shadow detail is there, whether or not some highlights have been clipped, or if there's a little grain or noise.

 

And I'd guess one reason for the crappy cameras is nostalgia. They want photos that look like they were taken by their friends and family, - not professionals. They want pictures that would look at home in photo albums they flipped through as kids.

Edited August 14, 2019 by tomspielman

on 16mm

I know and agree. I am into music videos. This

is 16 mm. Shot by a top class pro. How atmospheric, how strong the vibes are... That French easthetics. How old optics work - and gear was properly chosen.. Nostalgia and vintage analogue vibes. The cameramen is camera god. Back to the initial topic - cast of lenses.

ruslan, i don't read any contradiction to your view regarding the lesser technical quality of a phone vs other available equipment (quite the contrary). I certainly won't dispute that or what equipment professionals working with clients should or should not use. I choose to rarely use a phone for photography because of the technical limitations i perceive. When i do, i work with it not against it.

Phils post re the Koln concert exemplifies that approach. The 1st side of the concert lp is special not only for my listening experience but also because of my sense of hearing Jarrett's feeling his way through getting value from a 'lesser' piano.

[According to the record’s producer, ECM boss Manfred Eicher, Jarrett’s reason for taking this approach was to compensate for the piano’s perceived shortcomings:] “Probably [Jarrett] played it the way he did because it was not a good piano. Because he could not fall in love with the sound of it, he found another way to get the most out of it.” and he nailed it imo.

and from Phil ..."the point is that it’s up to the photographer to be able to transcend that difference and to make it their own, regardless if a given lens is of "lesser" or "better" quality."

Edited August 14, 2019 by inoneeye