The latest iPhones have been out for a couple weeks now, which means all the camera comparisons are getting made. It’s impressive what Apple is able to do with the iPhone every year and the iPhone 14 Pro is yet another jump in video performance. The big deal here is a new 48MP sensor on the main camera – the first major resolution bump in years.
A new sensor, new optics, and better processing should result in even better image quality for the iPhone. Time for the folks at Of Two Lands to actually put it up against a more traditional camera: the Blackmagic Pocket 6K Pro.
Both cameras are set to shoot in 4K 24p using ProRes HQ. This is not shot with any log profile and there is no grading or filters. The iPhone and Pocket 6K Pro were then set to have the closest framing and focal length.
The iPhone was also mounted to the top of the Pocket for rigging up at the same time.
This is some pure A/B testing. All the shots are shown fullscreen and then directly side by side. There is plenty of footage to check out here, so you should try to check things out and guess first.
Image Credit: Apple
As someone who has seen plenty of comparison videos, including those between phones and compact cameras, this one seemed to be fairly easy.
Spoilers here:
- Camera A is the Blackmagic
- Camera B is the iPhone
There are a few telltale signs here. It’s actually way easier to identify the iPhone based on how Apple and the smaller sensor camera renders images.
The iPhone footage is sharper, more saturated, and has a deeper depth of field. Not that any of that is bad, it’s honestly quite incredible what Apple has been able to do over the years.
When you start looking at the close-ups the iPhones extra detail and ability to create some semblance of a deep depth of field is very cool.
Whether you like one or the other likely depends on what you are hoping to get out of a camera. The Pocket 6K Pro is definitely creating a softer, more “filmlike” image. When we move to wide angle shots the extra sharpening of the iPhone is not exactly the most pleasing either.
Image Credit: Blackmagic Design
One potentially problematic area for the iPhone is flaring. In more direct lighting you can see some very unnatural flares that reduce contrast across a large portion of the image. And since you can’t swap out lenses or anything you are just gonna have to deal with them.
There isn’t too much low-light testing in these clips. Though I suspect the iPhone will start struggling before the Pocket 6K Pro.
What did you think of this footage? Could you tell which was which?
[source: Of Two Lands]
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