iPhone 15 Pro first light

My iPhone 15 Pro 256GB Black arrived around noon (CET summertime) today (September 22), delivered by UPS at my doorstep.

Working beautifully after unpacking and the typical “login orgy” (some apps more secure than others) - even after transfer of “everything” from my iPhone 12 Pro.

Initial Quick and dirty functionality and capabilities test, default iPhone App only. Some really interesting use cases, when USB-C is used.

Quality tests etc. plus test of BlackMagic Camera App will follow later. Stability, stress tests and temperature measurements will follow soon.

Any suggestions concerning test approach and setup are welcomed.

Here goes reality (some “Real Camera” manufacturers with external USB-C video recording designed by the “still image crowd” (?) could learn a thing or two - I’m also looking at you Panasonic

For all lenses - 0.5, 1 (,2) and 3, the ProRES HDR 4k 25fps video 25-26s lands around using 2.4 GB (or a bit less, than 100 MegaBYTE per second). In log mode (only tested standard lens until to now) the same settings and motif use around 1.86 GB or roughly 75% of the space required for the HDR setting.

A short, quick and dirty test of USB-C connection (far more at a later time), with a Samsung T7 Shield (that can "munch a lot of data" on a sustained basis - also when copying to drive from a MacBook Pro 14 M1 Pro), copying to disk is extremely fast (actual speed tests later).

No surprise was, that on a fully installed 256GB iPhone 15 Pro (all data transferred from a current iPhone 12 Pro 256GB) there is around 26-27min "free space" and after initial use of "a few" GB for test recordings, there is still 23min "free space" for ProRES HDR 4k 25 fps internally:

With 91GB of 256GB used, there is space for 23min in ProRES 4k HDR 25fps. Not bad.

IMG_4449.PNG (489.46 KiB) Viewed 25595 times

The big surprise comes, when I add the Samsung T7 Shield 4TB drive to the USB C port:

Roughly 11 hours on the 3.67 TB disk where 138GB was already used for tests. I can probably learn. to live with that

IMG_4448.PNG (491.11 KiB) Viewed 25595 times

I think it will suffice for most recording sessions/days, with daily backups to other media, eeeh..?

Just for the heck of it, I connected one of my Crucial MX500 2TB SATA SSD's used with my Atomos Ninja V for recording Lumix S5 12-bit 5.9k PrRES RAW 25 fps material (roughly 250+ MegaBYTE per second) via a SATA to USB-C cable (always nice to be able to use the same media), and the SSD was immediately recognized by the iPhone. The completely empty drive leads the iPhone Camera App to the conclusion, that I can record 344 minutes of ProRES 4k HDR 25fps material (or thereabouts). Let's be nice, and say at least 5 hours of recording (with the Ninja V and ProRES RAW as specified above, there is seldom room for more than roughly 80 minutes, so speed should not be a problem either in this setup).

Apple officially accepts ExFAT and APFS formatted external media.

Important feature for external recording use.

I found an oooold USB-C Hub (inateck) in a dark corner of my "miscellaneous thingys" box. Connected USB-C power to the hub. And connected the Samsung T7 Shield to the hub (USB-C, but USB A would probably also work).

Lo and behold. The iPhone recognized the USB-C drive. The Camera App still stated 666 min recording time capacity, and really, really, REALLY important: The iPhone also charges (from PSU or PowerBank). Now we're talking real usability!!!

Write to external disk AND charge/power everything!

IMG_4468.jpg (93.46 KiB) Viewed 25595 times

Short test copying from the Fotos App to the T7 worked as expected.

A short video recording of some 10 seconds (around 700+ MByte) also went as expected. ProRES 422HQ is, what I call "acceptable" most days (not possible to add screendump of MediaInfo)

Calculate 15W for the hub and up to 30W for the iPhone and SSD. This will probably never be exhausted in prolonged use.

Played back on my Mac: No problems at all. Now, we're talking (and "real camera" manufacturers could start listening

Now... what if... hmmm... I get ideas now... reserved for later.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to more details.

Jack of all trades?

As I mused the last time: What if…?

I decided to do the real big what-if-scenario, described here:

* Use my Dell Ultraskarp U2720Q monitor.
* Connect the Samsung T7 Shield to USB-C on monitor
* Connect a USB-A/C to Ethernet 2.5 Gbit adapter to monitor
* Connect the Dell monitor to the iPhone 15 Pro via the Dell USB-C cable.

What happens?

It works!

Recording:

The Default iPhone Camera App automatically selects the external SSD connected via the hub in the monitor, and records ProRES 422HQ (25 fps, 4k, 10-bit 4:2:2, 2020 HLG and all that jazz). It just works, as this image (made on my iPhone 12 Pro) shows:

I think it is safe to assume, that the iPhone has full USB-C support (so far - audio tests etc still scheduled)

Montage-App.jpg (477.26 KiB) Viewed 25256 times

Flightmode

Just to make sure, that nothing else is involved, I activate flightmode, and go “Internet” via the ethernet connection to Blackmagic forum. I have a 1 Gbit fibre connection guaranteed to deliver at least 900+ megabit up/down, and it does. Even if the iPhone handles 500+ Mbit down on mobile connections, it only does ~10 MBit upload via mobile connections, so a cabled Gbit ethernet connection to the outside world, will still have some importance, when you need to move ProRES 422HQ from the disk; or ProRES 4444 recorded internally (first attempt, more will come) via BlackMagic Camera App, as shown here:

BlackMagic Camera App ProRES 4444 Internal recording on iPhone 15 Pro

Skærmbillede 2023-09-23 kl. 10.11.34.png (406.33 KiB) Viewed 25256 times

By the way: Recording to external drive is easy on your iCloud storage. The huge ProRES anything files sent to disk will not transfer to iCloud. A Goodsend. Only internal recordings end up there, as far as I can tell. Since Apple has not attempted to get me to update my iCloud “allowance” of 200GB and only around 35GB has been used, I take this as an established fact (for now), after many, many recording tests to external drive.

On the go

We can all need a big screen, while - ahem - editing/inspecting/trimming/moving/checking etc on the go, and although a hotel room TV is not the best in the world, it’s big. If you have sausage fingers, a cheap, portable keyboard can also do wonders.

Conclusion

As far as I have seen until now, there seems to be full USB-C support for this, that and the other - also when combined. The sole 10 Gbit USB-C connection has limitations, but it seems to handle monitor, external SSD (connected to monitor and recording ProRES 422HQ 10-Bit), 2.5 Gbit ethernet adapter without any visible hiccups. Of course including charging of the iPhone from the monitor power out via USB-C cable.

Via ONE single USB-C cable to/from the monitor. What more could you want?

Above is the state with iOS 17.0.2 installed (the latest),

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

P.S. Transfer via ethernet is waaayyy faster, than airdrop to my MacBook 14 Pro M1 Pro. Just saying…!

There’s one field, I havn’t tried yet. Rather two, but… let’s start easy:

USB-Bolt anyone?

Some Thunderbolt hubs (CalDigit Elements Hub in this case) allow using USB-C connections instead of Thunderbolt based connections (Thunderbolt 3, 4 or USB-4). Worth a try?

Usually I connect the CalDigit critter to my MacBook 14 Pro M1 Pro (and with modern Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 drives, I get very high speeds - even full write speeds. Not possible with Thunderbolt 3 drives, where roughly 25% of the write speed is lost).

Since it only involves moving one cable, why not try…

MacBook powered down. Thunderbolt cable connected to the iPhone 15 Pro, and… aaand….

It works!

Monitor shows iPhone screen. 2.5 Gbit adapter is active (via USB-A). iPhone is powered. But… the USB 4/Thunderbolt 4 drive (capable of switching to USB-C 10 Gbit) connected to USB-C port, is not found.

Hmmm… The hub was powered up BEFORE connecting to the iPhone. Does it make any difference, if the hub is powered up after being connected to the iPhone. No! The 3 USB-C ports are Thunderbolt only in this device.

Any (unencrypted) drives connected to any of the (10GBit) USB-A ports, are visible though. And can be used. The default iPhone Camera App automatically selects this drive if ProRES HDR mode is selected (668 min recording time is displayed). In internal only modes 19 min recording time. The effect of the 4TB drive present is pretty obvious here.

Audio interface

One of the USB-A (10 Gbit) ports is connected to a Zoom F3 Floating Point recorder, that can also act as a 32-bit float USB Audio interface. Iiiinteresting, ehhh…

To be absolute sure, what is selected and done and all that jazz, I fire up the BlackMagic Camera App (after completing the setup of the Zoom F3 critter). Internal ProRES 4444 UHD 25 fps 2020 HLG, not wanting to complicate things just yet. Audio recording…. YES!… Zoom F3 can be selected, 32-bit float also. Stereo 96kHz selected (192 kHz possible, but that’s for later).

BlackMagic Camera App key audio settings

Audio Settings.jpg (323.76 KiB) Viewed 25201 times

RECORD!

After scaring the neighbors with my version of an aria from “Carmen ‘mojdos’ them all” (free interpretation of Spike Jones’ version) on my Røde NT1 in one channel and nothing in the second channel, it was time to don the headphones and check the output via Quicktime using my normal “big cans” for monitoring.

Quicktime info from recording

Quicktime take.jpg (157.4 KiB) Viewed 25201 times

Yup. Left channel: Silence. Right channel: Anything but. I can recognize the voice, though; the quite extraordinary performance could bring tears to anyones eyes.

MediaInfo data screendump

Skærmbillede 2023-09-23 kl. 13.40.46.png (421.05 KiB) Viewed 25201 times

Works!

Conclusion

As experienced until now, the conclusion must be, that the iPhone will digest anything presented via a powered hub, and low power devices (like the Samsung T7 Shield, most USB sticks, SD card readers etc) too - if allowed to by the external hardware.

The simple capability tests are deemed done. There may be minor details, that only will be discovered in actual use, or where external gear is not compatible in the current form. I would deem that an exception. Apple has done their homework on the USB-C side surprisingly well.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

P.S. There will be performance and quality oriented parts coming, but it will not be today or tomorrow. Hope you can use the info presented up to now.

Don't forget that according to Apple, iPhone 15 Pro will also do this:



That commercial features a surprise appearance by a Resolve Micro panel, so I think it's valid for discussion here.

Don't forget that according to Apple, iPhone 15 Pro will also do this:



That commercial features a surprise appearance by a Resolve Micro panel, so I think it's valid for discussion here.

That's for users to decide.

I'm only concerned with the options. Especially potential for connections to the outside world via USB-C. Most "real cameras" can't even be powered from the outside, and write to an SSD at the same time. The short version "either external USB-C (power bank etc) or external SSD drive, never both". How daft is that?

Next comes actual performance in daily use. How fast can you copy from internal memory to external drive via USB-C?

Is it possible to sync the external drive to another externally (hub-)connected drive? What App do you use? How fast? How reliable? Carrying two Samsung T7 Shield drives - one for recorded media and the other for creating in situ backups, when and where possible only using hub, two drives and a power ban can be a "life nay job saver" in some cases.

I'm not advocating for or against the use of iPhones for any purpose. Let the user decide (and for news, reportage and the like, an iPhone properly supported, may be usable - especially since you do not usually carry fully rigged out pro cameras in your pocket).

If the "religious few" requiring specific use and hardware allow, it could be interesting to get some actual samples of real use cases. Facts replacing hearsay - from both sides of the fence. What are the limits? What are the strengths? How do you best etc...

I'm completely camera agnostic (and has been since my initial B&W and Color video days using reel-to-reel - ahem - portable recorders around 1980). Even then, having the story beat quality ande no story any time.

I know the limits of my rigged out Panasonic Lumix S5, with mounted Zoom F6, Atomos Ninja V, a cable shops delight, and lot's of batteries or powerbanks microphones (shotgun and pencil condensers) and all that jazz, when used for collecting 5.9k 12 bit ProRES RAW material. Qualitywise it's hard to beat, but how do you put that in intercontinental carry-on monkey-class, so you can be sure to get the pictures intended, at arrival (next luggage delay will be number eight for me)?

For travel use, quick and dirty reportage and a lot of other use cases, the "S5 rig" is simply not the "adequate tool" (try to get even just the tripod needed past the guard at the entry to the Mezquita in Córdoba, Spain).

Why all the hate and bile sent toward iPhones? They're just tools. With limited use, just as a top level Arri has little use for travel snapshots on a charter family trip to Mallorca.

Sentiments aside, let's establish facts. Limits. Benefits. Then everyone can decide for themselves, if it makes sense to make their own more detailed and targeted tests covering their specific use cases.

Regards

Apparently, recording Pro-Res 4K 60 from an iPhone 15 Pro Max to an SSD (or a fast-enough SD card is easy)

https://www.youtube.com/@iPhonedo
(choose the most recent video. A direct link to it refused to play in this forum app)


For a former Panaflex and analog Betacam operator, this is astounding.

Couple this with the new BMD iPhone app and things are looking good.

Apparently, recording Pro-Res 4K 60 from an iPhone 15 Pro Max to an SSD (or a fast-enough SD card is easy)

For a former Panaflex and analog Betacam operator, this is astounding.

Couple this with the new BMD iPhone app and things are looking good.

You’re absolutely right, when talking about low power “things”, but especially the SD card side can be highly problematic. Most “non descript” SD cards do not even deliver V30 performance, and ProRES 422 HDR needs at least in the region of V90 capable cards and writers in my earlier example. You usually only get access to that in UHS II gear,with associated price levels.

A low power SSD capable of digesting - let’s say 500GB - is cheap in comparison, and if wisely chosen, it may even handle ProRES 4444 (from the BlackMagic Camera App). In my example 125 MByte/second sustained (probably much more periodically).

The problem is seldom short clips in the below 30 seconds Region, but if you start stressing the “SD side” with more or less constant high speed writes up to hours or more, you’ll either loose frames (seen as stuttering) or even experience “sudden, unplanned stops”. Never ideal.

SD cards are really not the best targets for external ProRES writes, unless you really know, what you do and invest accordingly (or reuse expensive V90 cards with associated high performance reader from your “real camera”).

A good SSD from a reputable manufacturer - and a SSD that actually performs well during constant high write speed levels is fare easier to find. And much cheaper.

Regards

Addendum

Try looking at this review:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/18734/sa ... ty-upgrade

Continue to this page:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/18734/sa ... -upgrade/3

And compare the “Sequental Writes to 90% Capacity” (the closest test resembling actual video write conditions).

Default is “Samsung T7 Shield 4TB” compared to “Crucial X6 Portable 4TB”.

A similar test (2TB), reveals roughly the same performance levels:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sa ... ssd-review

Look at some of the true horrors on page 2 (Sustained Sequental Writes).

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sa ... d-review/2

There are even some heavy write “stuttering” going on (green color). Doubt that that SSD would be a good candidate for reliable ProRES use in connection with “anything” Standard low cost SD Cards usually have a far, far worse sustained sequential write performance (the thing, that decides, the maximum usable video quality).

Draw your own conclusions (there are no “free meals” in storage either).

Regards

Sustained write speed is gonna be the gate-keeper. That and the phone's battery performance. Not sure if a hub with a power supply battery and an external audio device is gonna make it on my recreational video walks, but it's sure amazing that such a thing is possible.

What's really weird is Apple's seemingly artificial limitation of Pro-Res 4K 60 P being the only codec flavour permitted live access to the SSD. Hopefully that limitation can and will be lifted.

According to Apple, My very first iPhone (a Pro Max) is due on my doorstep in three or four weeks.

Can't wait!

Sustained write speed is gonna be the gate-keeper. That and the phone's battery performance.

What's really weird is Apple's seemingly artificial limitation of Pro-Res 4K 60 P being the only codec flavour permitted live access to the SSD. Hopefully that limitation can and will be lifted.

If you use a powered hub, you have virtually unlimited recording time connected to mains (USB C GaN supply, 60W or more) or powerbank (I use powerbanks with typically 55-60Wh (actual performance) advertised at max 100W Power Delivery (2xUSB-C, 2x USB-A, around 500 grams, extremely flat, akin to an external DVD in size) supporting most any device (even my MacBook 14 Pro M1 Pro can run for hours with off and on use off the powerbank. With closed Notebook lid, the powerbank informs me, that it will happily keep the active notebook alive around 10-15-20 hours, depending on prior use).

ONLY if you connect the USB C drive directly to the IPhone, you're really limited in use time. With 422HQ, 25 fps, UHD, HLG you can expect around 25 minutes internal recording time on a 15 Pro 256GB (plus/minus depending on App's and other use).

Estimated (Camera App) internal and external recording time

InternalExternal.jpg (82.23 KiB) Viewed 24944 times

That's what the iPhone tells me.

MediaInfo for internal around 10 sec recording

Internal-422HQ.png (237.11 KiB) Viewed 24944 times

Identical, unaltered settings allow 689 min on external SSD (4TB Samsung T7 Shield), and MediaInfo confirms the similarity.

MediaInfo for external around 11 sec recording

External-422HQ.png (227.17 KiB) Viewed 24944 times

Selection is automatically executed by the iPhone, depending on external drive connected or not. No difference in behaviour, whether connected via an USB-Hub (powered), which also (typically) adds access to Gigabit ethernet network connection at the same time.

The two recordings were handheld, and not identical, but similar. I see no dramatic difference displayed by MediaInfo, that couldn't be explained by the differences in content.

You're not forced to use 60p. At least I'm not (so don't tell my iPhone, that this should not be possible).

Regards

Todays take is the actual performance level of the USB-C interface.

I have chosen a 146GB FCPX project, since it is one of the largest video oriented datasets, that will fit on my iPhone 15 Pro 256GB (without removing anything), and it contains a few, very large video files (including ProRES 422 10-bit and RAW 12-bit originally created for quality comparison tests between cameras and available codecs).

Project size

Project size.png (45.89 KiB) Viewed 24841 times

Whether it is a benefit or not, that the project also includes a number of smaller files, is up to you to judge. One “project folder” (collection) is certainly easier for me to handle in the wild. Besides, when you read this, it’s far too late to protest

Results:

All time values are hand stopped with an estimated accuracy of +/-0.5 sec

Performance data results

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The MacBook results are used to show the normal base level for USB-C only device handling, with extra Thunderbolt level performance added for comparison. The values should be regarded as real life realistic performance values. Give and take. YMMV (but not dramatically, if you value performance).

You’ll want to do your own testing with the actual hardware in your setup, as any professional will do to know the limits of gear usability before (s)he hollers “action” (paid project crashing is seldom a good basis for invoicing).

Comments:

The third party File Apps I have tried, take longer, than Apples Files App to solve the same taks. Typically around 25% longer.

The standard Files App now has gotten a progress indicator. Finally!

The iOS Files App has a new Progress Indicator.

ProgresIndicator.jpg (189.72 KiB) Viewed 24841 times

Power use is unexpectedly low, when writing huge amounts of data to a directly connected Samsung T7 Shield 4TB SSD.

Backup from external drive via Ethernet to a file share or internet storage not tested.

Conclusion:

The iPhone 15 Pro USB-C Interface is capable of writing data faster to the Samsung T7 Shield 4TB drive, than my Atomos Ninja V is probably capable of doing with good SATA SSD’s. That’s “narrrjss” and “up there” in my book.

Anything crashing your write from iPhone 15 Pro to external drives must be caused by selecting and not performance testing the drive used. Don’t believe; verify! As comrad Lenin (or someone else) said (maybe not in these words either, alas…

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

More interesting info on USB cabling and data rates here:

Warning: clickbaity intro.

Sustained write speed is gonna be the gate-keeper. That and the phone's battery performance. Not sure if a hub with a power supply battery and an external audio device is gonna make it on my recreational video walks, but it's sure amazing that such a thing is possible.

ProRES HDR in Action Mode to external disk also allowed

I’m testing a few USB Hubs WITHOUT fixed cables. The aim is to keep my Ulanzi phone “grabber” cold shoe free for any required microphone setup (Currently testing Zoom M3 for run and gun, which makes cables superfluous, but requires sync in post).

The powered hubs (one even holds an internal NvME "licorice" stick but still allows all kinds of connections), with any number of goodies (even power hungry NvME SSD’s) including powerbank will be placed in my coat/travel-vest side pocket, and only one single 1.5m (5 feet) certified 10GBit/100W cable will be used (with angled USB-C plug in the iPhone end).

This will guarantee easy handling, easy disconnect and ample power for most practical purposes “on the run” - including action mode that will lower the need for gimbal use, if ProRES 422 2.8k video is acceptable (I’d probably opt for a more “robust” self-contained microphone/recorder in this case)..

Example of 2.8k ProRES 422 HDR to external USB-C (MediaInfo)

Action Mode - The Wild Side.png (882.64 KiB) Viewed 24685 times

The short test file was created with extreme waving, arm/hand movement, and is pretty near rock solid. The Apple Action Mode ALSO compensates the dreaded "up-down" movement, when walking. A test involving 15-25 cm range up/down movement was too much though, but my three "heavy gimbals" (that are practically never used) does not even compensate walking (and I'm horrible at simulating "tango with fresh blisters" footwork;-)

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

That's a lot of detail and thinks for taking the trouble. Just one minor thing, what's the picture like? My 1Phone 14 Pro is okay in lots of light but I wouldn't use it for a shoot for a client. Great for family stuff, brilliant in fact, but that's its very firm limit IMHO.

That's a lot of detail and thinks for taking the trouble. Just one minor thing, what's the picture like? My 1Phone 14 Pro is okay in lots of light but I wouldn't use it for a shoot for a client. Great for family stuff, brilliant in fact, but that's its very firm limit IMHO.

I'm starting on that. Video looks "fine", but I've not really stressed that part yet (if USB-C didn't really work externally, it would be of less use, in general, so concentrated on that first).

If I'm using ProRES HDR it seems OK. I'm having huge problems with Log though in FCPX (more in a day or two, maybe three). Far less in DaVinci Resolve Studio, but...

You'll need FCPX 10.6.9, just released (seems not too stable. Remember to make backups of projects). Apple Camera LUT is NOT a standard option in FCPX 10.6.8 and earlier. Using Apple Log does not deliver a straightforward more or less 1:1 result, as seen below, when the only difference is “ProRES HDR versus ProRES Log” and the Camera LUT is specified in the version 10.6.9 used.

Left is ProRES HDR - right is ProRES Log (after LUT)

Apple log problem.jpg (232.58 KiB) Viewed 24612 times

This should be solvable, but settings are NOT obvious in either FCPX nor DaVinci Resolve Studio (but far less "problematic"). I have the exact same scene in exact the same light in h265 (internal only) and ProRES HDR (external) plus ProRES Log (external).

After import into the editors, the two first tracks match near perfectly, but it has been impossible to get the last track to match any of the two other tracks (at least not in a straightforward way). Probably an error on my part, so I'll "park the problem subconsciously" and look at it in a day or two again.

I'm not commenting on quality right now. I have three similar codec recordings from the same scene in the same light for both x0.5, x1 and x3 lenses. Quick inspections say, that "color" is similar for h265 and ProRES HDR (haven't inspected in deep details yet), and Log.... is the odd one out. That's the most important thing right now. When light becomes harsh or low, I expect at least some differences between the lenses.

I'll report back, when I've solved my problem (probably a stupid assumption or setting somewhere on my part - the fan is still clean, alas...

What I will NOT do is comment on "quality". Color balance, visible similarity yes, differences in visible noise levels yes, but NOT "subjective quality".

I have not reached the state, where I can comment on noise (low light), and whatever I expect, there's no way around comparing lens abilities under different lighting conditions. Some time in the future. I've decided on a "simple, quick and dirty approach" in my standard "video torture corner", where I can control conditions. Let's see, what emerges...

Regards

Added:

I'm not sure, what went wrong, so I started a new FCPX project from scratch under 10.6.9. This solved some of the problems (compared to starting in 10.6.8 and upgrading), but it still requires som effort to use Log. In 10.6.9 defaults for the LUT file is set by FCPX to "Color Space Override: off" and "Camera LUT: Apple Log" and this does not work. Altering settings to "Color Space Override: Rec 2020 PQ" (inspired from MediaInfo) and "Camera LUT: None" still had some "deviations" but simple brightness adjustments" in the Color Wheels brought everything practically into a decent balance. This time I also made certain, that focus was set equally on a specific target, to avoid any side effects there.

I'll ignore the Log settings for now, instead concentrating on basic and possible differences between lenses. No need to complicate things with "wasting" additional time on "Log trouble".

With the new approach, it is fairly easy to get things basically correct using Waveform RGB Parade and a moving left crop (the ProRES HDR and ProRES Log files overlapping simplifies an initial "similar basic color balance". The ProRES Log files have a higher intrinsic noise level than ProRES HDR. Especially in the shadows, in low light use.

This indicates, that initial tests should concentrate on h265 and ProRES HDR to simplify things. These two formats are easily matched visually (hardly needing any adjustment). A slight Global level adjustment, and you can move the left crop freely over the complete width on the top file, and only observe a very slight to hardly visible shift at the vertical "crop line".

Color balance, levels, saturantion and tint virtually identical, making "near invisible" mixes of the two formats possible (if content detail does not have major importance),. ProRES HDR obviously more detailed, if looking for "differences"). Hardly surprising; the normal viewer wouldn't notice thing.

This does not mean, that h265 is the best "original format" for editing, but it will do in a pinch. I'm certainly going for ProRES HDR in all situations (4k, 25fps) in order to get best possible "wiggle room" in post, if something goes awry, during recording (travel and reportage may involve a "scrum" from time to time - carnival crowds are but one situation).

This simplicity is not possible, when using ProRES Log. This will be put in the "Later" bin.

Next comes lens differences. May take a day or two or... you know: when time permits.

I've solved my problem with ProRES Log. My error (of course).

ProRES Log needs "Standard Gamut SDR" color processing, where projects are forced into Rec 709 color space.

Apple Camera LUT "Apple log" specifically targets that environment, as stated in this document:

https://support.apple.com/guide/final-c ... 9/mac/13.4

The pertinent phrase is:

“Apple Log: Uses Apple’s 3D LUT to convert Apple Log to Rec. 709”

I only work in Wide Gamut HDR, with the typical timeline project setting for color space set to: "Wide Gamut HDR - Rec. 2020 HLG" to support the formats HDR (h265/Dolby 10-bit etc, no ProRES) and HDR plus ProRES HDR. Both can be used interchangeably on the timeline, without running into trouble, with the target format for rendering h265, 10-bit, 4:2:2 (or 4:2:0) etc,

This environment is not ideal for inclusion of ProRES Log based files to put it mildly. My error, but now I'm a lot wiser

ProRES Log is now parked on the sidelines, since I seldom will have any use for the format, and in my day-to-day work it only leads to "complications".

More will follow, as soon as available time permits.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Thanks a lot. My iPhone 15 is still a few weeks away, but I'll definitely go for one.

Thanks for all the very useful tests! I got one question tho found online that it might be possible to record 4k 60 ProRes LOG internally using the Blackmagic app - is that true? Also the Blackmagic app apparently lets you record Apple LOG in HEIC, is that possible to record internally in 4k 60? And if yes are there big differences between the footage? Mainly interested in the sharpening present in the regular heic apple footage.

Loads of internet points even for partial answers!

Thanks!

The powered hubs (one even holds an internal NvME "licorice" stick but still allows all kinds of connections), with any number of goodies (even power hungry NvME SSD’s) including powerbank will be placed in my coat/travel-vest side pocket, and only one single 1.5m (5 feet) certified 10GBit/100W cable will be used (with angled USB-C plug in the iPhone end).

This will guarantee easy handling, easy disconnect and ample power for most practical purposes “on the run” - including action mode that will lower the need for gimbal use, if ProRES 422 2.8k video is acceptable (I’d probably opt for a more “robust” self-contained microphone/recorder in this case).

May I ask which one are these hubs?

Thanks for all the very useful tests! I got one question tho found online that it might be possible to record 4k 60 ProRes LOG internally using the Blackmagic app - is that true? Also the Blackmagic app apparently lets you record Apple LOG in HEIC, is that possible to record internally in 4k 60? And if yes are there big differences between the footage? Mainly interested in the sharpening present in the regular heic apple footage.

Loads of internet points even for partial answers!

Thanks!

I just tried Apple ProRES 4444 (audio 2 ch 32-bit float) and timecode, 60fps Rec2020 internally. Did NOT succeed. Recording limited to 33fps. Apple specifies, that you need to use external recording, if you want 60 fps (probably meaning above 30 fps). There is NO Log option in the BM Camera App.

ProRES 4444 60 fps specified. Limited to below 33fps.

Skærmbillede 2023-09-27 kl. 13.17.56.png (230.1 KiB) Viewed 24436 times

HEVC is selectable (h265) as well as h264, and both 32 bit float, stereo audio and timeline is selectable. Max 60 fps.

HEVC (h265) 60fps selected, output 50 fps (may be caused by active PAL setting).

Skærmbillede 2023-09-27 kl. 13.24.41.png (668.67 KiB) Viewed 24436 times

The HEVC looks "fishy", but the settings are quite clear (maybe a bug in BlackMagic Camera for a standard setting, not tested quite as thoroughly as the ProRES stuff):

Actual settings requested for h265.

IMG_4543.PNG (164.28 KiB) Viewed 24414 times

Just to make it absoluetely clear: I'M NO FREE TEST STATION!!

Sorry, but I obviously need to be frank here. It didn't occur to me, that people wanted me to test, whether Apples official statements on limits were true or not, in this that and the other App, rumored to be the solution to all things, with pet formats and settings. You know the answer to anything: It's "42" (read the "classics")!

Regards

The powered hubs (one even holds an internal NvME "licorice" stick but still allows all kinds of connections), with any number of goodies (even power hungry NvME SSD’s) including powerbank will be placed in my coat/travel-vest side pocket, and only one single 1.5m (5 feet) certified 10GBit/100W cable will be used (with angled USB-C plug in the iPhone end).

This will guarantee easy handling, easy disconnect and ample power for most practical purposes “on the run” - including action mode that will lower the need for gimbal use, if ProRES 422 2.8k video is acceptable (I’d probably opt for a more “robust” self-contained microphone/recorder in this case).

May I ask which one are these hubs?

When I'm done testing, I'll mention the one, I decided to use.

Next weekend - with a bit of luck and Godspeed in the postal services - I may begin testing the "outstanding deliveries", I may have an answer. Or a bit later. Until then, ANY old USB hub will do the trick (mine was probably 4-5 years or more old). Quality cables are the important thing (and of course, quality media).

Regards

Thanks, Kurt. Your detailed examinations and tests are greatly appreciated.
They will be valuable once my 15 Pro Max arrives in a few weeks.

Weird behaviour
Has anyone experienced a similar problem?

When. connecting the iPhone 15 Pro to a MacBook 14 Pro M1 Pro via USB-C (10GBit USB-C cable or Thunderbolt 3, 4 or USB 4 cable) to Ventura 13.6, macOS requests to download a driver to connect to iPhone 15 Pro.

Fine.

Whatever cable is used, it is impossible to transfer data directly between MacBook and iPhone 15 Pro at more than USB 2 speeds (if even that, more like half the speed).

In the Systemreport, iPhone USB is mentioned twice under Ethernet (with Linkspeed 480 Mb/s) and on the USB 3.1 Bus (iPhone) again with 480 Mb/s maximum speed (USB 2).

This applies, whether the iPhone is connected directly or via a Thunderbolt hub, whatever cable is used (even Thunderbolt 4 certified cables have no effect on max connection speed to the MacBook 14 Pro with Venture 13.6).

The speed limitation does not exist, when an USB-Disk is connected directly or via a powered USB Hub to the iPhone as seen in previous speed measurements. It purely exists between iPhone 15 Pro and MacBook 14 Pro via direct USB-C (Usb-C 10 Gbit or Thunderbolt cable) connections.

Why on earth...? As it is, transfer to disk from iPhone, unplug disk from iPhone, connecting to MacBook 14 Pro, transfer from disk to MacBook is more than an order of magnitude faster, than a direct USB C connection. What gives...?

Anyone experiencing the same weird, behaviour? Does macOS regard all connected iPhones as "Lightning limited" or what?

Regards

Added: NOTE, that the cable included in the iPhone 15 Pro (Max) package is USB 2 only. You'll have to use a better cable for connecting to external disks (or powered hubs, that do not have a fixed cable).

Official Apple document: https://support.apple.com/en-hk/HT213839

Follow UP 28SEP2023

Contacted Apple Support, and after a small "telephone derby", I landed the right place. They confirmed a very few similar reports, but we were able to establish the problem probably originating from the driver required for iPhone15 Pro compatibility:

Required Driver install fir iPhone 15 Pro compatibility Ventura 13.6 (Intel version)

Skærmbillede 2023-09-28 kl. 09.43.48.png (597.9 KiB) Viewed 24185 times

I had Ventura 13.6 on several machines. We succeeded in getting the MacBook Pro 14 M1 Pro to recognize the USB connection as "Up to 10 Gb/s", but the critter continued to only deliver USB 2 speed (region 22-40GB/s).

When I connected to my MacBook 13 Pro (Intel, 2018, 4 Thunderbolt ports), the computer immediately recognized "Up to 10 Gb/s" connection speed, and performing the same operation (via Files, iPhone 15 Pro, Arhives etc download of near 1GB) at 3-4 times the speed (120-140MB/s) on the MacBook 13 Pro (clearly not possible, when under USB 2).

The still relative low speed is partly caused by going through "official connection channels", with both belt and suspenders security channels, but the real culprit is the driver. I suspect a driver bug/instability in the M1 Pro version, compared to the Intel version).

A (four page, brief!!!) report has been supplied to Apple. Case registered. The ordinary bug feedback channel cannot even handle a simple PDF report. Let's see, what happens.

I just tried Apple ProRES 4444 (audio 2 ch 32-bit float) and timecode, 60fps Rec2020 internally. Did NOT succeed. Recording limited to 33fps. Apple specifies, that you need to use external recording, if you want 60 fps (probably meaning above 30 fps). There is NO Log option in the BM Camera App.

HEVC is selectable (h265) as well as h264, and both 32 bit float, stereo audio and timeline is selectable. Max 60 fps.


The HEVC looks "fishy", but the settings are quite clear (maybe a bug in BlackMagic Camera for a standard setting, not tested quite as thoroughly as the ProRES stuff):

Just to make it absoluetely clear: I'M NO FREE TEST STATION!!

Sorry, but I obviously need to be frank here. It didn't occur to me, that people wanted me to test, whether Apples official statements on limits were true or not, in this that and the other App, rumored to be the solution to all things, with pet formats and settings. You know the answer to anything: It's "42" (read the "classics")!

Regards

There absolutely is an option to shoot Apple LOG in the BM app, but you might need to reinstall it if you had it on a different iPhone before apparently. Also there's an option to shoot LOG in HEVC. Could be an interesting option for some use-cases where you can't shoot to an external storage (eg want a mic, but not a full cage setup). But not sure how it'd hold up.

Also definitely didn't mean to imply you're a test station! Many thanks!

this is what I meant to send with my previous post - video proof of HEVC LOG

First impression of noise level (quick and dirty) just to wet your appetite

Yesterday I played (fooled?) around with the BlackMagic Camera App, wanting to see, how ProRES 422 looked (compared to the standard Apple Camera App default of ProRes 422 HQ). Quick take. Indoor, evening, low light, sundown long ago):

Crop needed since heic could not be uploaded

Torture Corner.jpg (930.71 KiB) Viewed 24183 times

This is a direct frame copy from the ProRES 422 file (had to convert to jpeg instead of using heic) and size required a crop (bottom up).

I discovered, that BlackMagic Camera saves the recording conditions into the video file, aaaand:

Whhuuuaaat...ISO 5280?

MediaInfo Key Info.png (246.16 KiB) Viewed 24183 times

I didn't see that coming. Standard 24mm lens (48 pix quad pixel Beyer). Not bad. Really, really not bad. The near full data set is here:

Video file working specs and conditions

MediaInfo ProRES 422 low light.png (412.08 KiB) Viewed 24183 times

For available light high contrast UHD video from a smartphone, this is not bad in my book (YES, I know Arri's recent top model easily delivers 16 stops in perfect light, and - house alone - costs at least 3-4 times, what iPhone 15 Pro Max 512GB costs - in daily rent for the naked housing without lenses).

I aim to do a more "proper" and "reproducible" test within (some) time, but call me properly impressed.

Ans yes, I will also make that video material available for download in original MOV format (Apple Camera App), but - as indicated - if it has to be done just somewhat controlled and reproducible, it will take a few days.

SERIOUS input to a good approach, details in "still leben" etc. will be listened too, and appreciated. Note the term "SERIOUS" (smile).

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Is it true that the fps was set to 25 but varied from 24 to 26? Do you know if that's a problem for Resolve to deal with (Resolve is notorious for having issues with variable frame rates - maybe this isn't that?). Thx

Is it true that the fps was set to 25 but varied from 24 to 26? Do you know if that's a problem for Resolve to deal with (Resolve is notorious for having issues with variable frame rates - maybe this isn't that?). Thx

MediaInfo seems to reflect the actual conditions in so far, that I selected 25 fps (I live in the ~90% of the world with 50Hz mains AC frequency). The settings ProRES 422, UHD, 2020, HLG etc were selected by me as well. The origin of the maximum/minimum values in the header us unknown. Even if the reflect reality, are estimated by the creating App, Apple etc. It's not from MediaInfo (I would discover, if MediaInfo started scanning a 100 GB ProRES RAW file

Currently I'm taking the top-down approach, trying to cover and establish the limits of the iPhone 15 Pro as quick and possible (in my spare time/moments). I'm concentrating on FCPX, since Apple is the manufacturer of both hardware, firmware and software, and obviously has a leg up and the best opportunity to deliver timely and quick support/updates. Frequently I do short, quick tests in DaVinci Resolve Studio just to look out for obvious problems (or benefits), but I've not had the time to really look into the criticality of these speed variations (whether they are real, bugs or pure OS "fantasy").

Currently I have converted to Resolve Studio 18.6 with good results. FCPX to 10.6.9 with a few hiccups initially. Let's see what happens in the near future.

There are a lot of things to cover, and I also have to do some "real work" (Currently relaxing a moment, viewing a video from Llamada de Montevideo 2023 with - huh - lot's af moving female attributes in the parade;-)

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

There absolutely is an option to shoot Apple LOG in the BM app, but you might need to reinstall it if you had it on a different iPhone before apparently. Also there's an option to shoot LOG in HEVC. Could be an interesting option for some use-cases where you can't shoot to an external storage (eg want a mic, but not a full cage setup). But not sure how it'd hold up.

Also definitely didn't mean to imply you're a test station! Many thanks!

No Log option in my BlackMagic Camera version 1.0.10003 under “RECORD” settings (or anywhere else I looked), the latest version available for iOS 17.0.2 on iPhone 15 Pro (just checked).

There is NO Log selection in BlackMagic Cam App iOS settings either.

I haven’t looked at the video. I simply do not have the time to look at obscure details presented in numerous long winded YouTube videos of unknown origin on this, that and the other use cases.

This is my last word on this matter.

May I ask which one are these hubs?

I will concentrate on the hub I chose for personal use. From there, you should be able to find similar products (the options vary wildly even within months or weeks).

NOTE: Please accept, that I’m not recommending anything. I show the personal choice I have made for my private use (no affiliation to anything). I expect, that you are adults fully capable of making your own, qualified decisions and choices.

Remaining recording time with Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB mounted internally

Acasi-Samsung Recording Time.png (42.36 KiB) Viewed 24058 times

With that in mind, I have decided on my personal “powered hub with internal SSD”. The casing is robust, with an intriguing close mechanism over the tool-free SSD mounting well. All required things are included in the package, including a spare SSD “lock thingy” (instead of a screw) and a genuine, short Thunderbolt 3 cable (not bad, if true); it still is USB-C only, but good cables are always welcome. The SSD lid will normally stay closed, but the whole casing can be put into a tailored silicon sleeve/cover, that prevents any access to the SSD. Easy on surfaces. Connector placement and layout can be seen via link (select language in the top of the page).

Warning: When working with SSD’s, recognize a strict anti-static regime. If you don’t know, what it is, don’t.

Hub in Siclicon sleeve with Thunderbolt 3 cable. Compared to iPhone 12 Pro flip cover.

Acasis+iPhone 12 Pro.jpeg (554.43 KiB) Viewed 24058 times

The measurements were performed with an old, spare 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD. The wole kit measures 11.8x6x2.2cm. Including cover 182 grams and cable 22 grams. It seems robust enough; only time will tell, if it is in reality.

Performance table including previous results for comparison

Acasis Hub-SSD Performance.png (175.73 KiB) Viewed 24058 times

Performance wise, there’s nothing to complain about, but this hub needs to be powered, when connected to the iPhone (a powerbank capable of delivering ideally 60W, maybe 30-45W will do. Personally I use 60W and up). The critter accepts 100W USB-C Power Delivery, and should allow up to 80W to be directed to the “consumer” (iPhone, PC, Mac etc).

The hub was ordered from Amazon.de (YMMV) - link:

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09C8BLBHC

It will go into general use as a portable “do-all”, placed in a coat pocket, small shoulderbag etc, including Powerbank 60-100W, short USB-C cable to Hub and a heavy-duty USB-C 10Gbit 100W cable with angled connector for the iPhone 15 Pro (1.5m/5feet).This will leave the phone-grabber cold shoe free for microphone use (internal M-S recording), keeping the hand-held part as light as possible, and at the same time having easy and swift disconnect of the cable to the iPhone.

Again: This is a personal choice. Paid for with own money.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Since we're talking camera use, why not illustrate one of many possible uses for the gear:

Complete walkabout kit plus essential "add-on" minus mic

Complete walkabout kit.jpg (923.62 KiB) Viewed 23894 times

Powerbank is from 2017 still going strong (20.000mAh/60W USB-C delivery, 70Wh "commercial potency" The particular powerbank is now found under various Chinese Ames. Is it still as good as the original? No clue. Weight 375 gram.

There are newer, and more flexible powerbanks -typically delivering 100W plus extra to consumers, around 500 grams (70Wh, 20000mAh) with 2xUSB-C and 2xUSB-A out simultaneously for a total of 140W. With power indicators for each output and all that jazz. Even nearly the size of a BlueRay disk - maybe a millimeter or two thicker. A bit thicker and smaller in circumference you even get a wireless smartphone charger included below the top plate.

I currently have 5 different in use (even one 65Wh critter with 220V outlet).

If you need to power for instance a 5-port 2.5 Gbit switch, a small wireless router (even without using the internet connection) or your big 16TB 3.5" Hard disk box, you probably only need a USB-C Pwoer Delivery 12V/3A to 12V DC out cable (sometimes delivered with a few DC-to-DC Adapters) to keep them alive for a decent amount of time. Especially an external 3.5" box can be its weight worth In gold for travel backups.

Just mentioned to give some "inspiration". You choose according to your needs.

Bag with essential and cables

Bag with active and connected gear.jpg (721.72 KiB) Viewed 23894 times

Bag is old bag from Singapore early 2017, heavily used since (extreme amount of internal, external and other pockets). Still holds up - and in - well. Has been several times around the world measured in "airmiles" accompanying me on board as "personal item" in addition to carry-on. Bag weight 360 grams.

Kit and bag for size comparison

Kit and bag.jpg (736.24 KiB) Viewed 23894 times

It's amazing, what that bag can hold in real life - even under long Walkabouts anywhere in any climate. Still holding essentials plus gear.

I have not shown microphones. That's a topic for wild discussions, but a set of Røde Wireless Go II/Pro transmitters (with activated recording) can easily be mounted in a tiny traversal colds hoe mount with two or three upper cold shoes at the ends (typically the length of the phone). Other mic/recorders are easily mounted too. You choose, what you need. The cold shoe is free.

Hope this gave you inspiration in those cases, where you need to travel ultralight.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

There absolutely is an option to shoot Apple LOG in the BM app, but you might need to reinstall it if you had it on a different iPhone before apparently. Also there's an option to shoot LOG in HEVC. Could be an interesting option for some use-cases where you can't shoot to an external storage (eg want a mic, but not a full cage setup). But not sure how it'd hold up.

Also definitely didn't mean to imply you're a test station! Many thanks!

No Log option in my BlackMagic Camera version 1.0.10003 under “RECORD” settings (or anywhere else I looked), the latest version available for iOS 17.0.2 on iPhone 15 Pro (just checked).

There is NO Log selection in BlackMagic Cam App iOS settings either.

I haven’t looked at the video. I simply do not have the time to look at obscure details presented in numerous long winded YouTube videos of unknown origin on this, that and the other use cases.

This is my last word on this matter.

I had the same problem…no log option in bm app.

I deleted the app , reboot and reinstall it…know I have the option!

Impressions from capturing all formats in all lenses

Remaining recording time: starting at 23 min ending at 18min (internal recordings and fotos). Copied directly from the Fotos App to a just attached T7 Shield 4TB SSD in 1m20s (+1/-2s no progress indicator) (files: 31, bytes: 39.550.283.796 bytes). Speed calculated: 494m378k547 bytes/sec. Copy procedure consists of selecting items in the Fotos App, then select the Folder, the items should be copied to.

Battery

Including two prior (adjustment) test sequences, the battery use was 11% for the following:

Each lens: ProRES RAW plus 30sec+ video
Each format: x0.5, x1.0, x3.0
Formats: ProRES 422HQ, h265 “Dolby”, ProRES Log

After copying a total of 39.5GB to external T7 Shield SSD battry capacity is 85%.

Temperatures measured shortly after recording the sequence. Backside 38.3C, Front side 40.1C (both maximums). Target white area between colorstrips: 24C.

Wheather

Morning sunlight, slight overcast, clouds. Outside temperature starting at 13C and ending at 14C during the session.

Recording takes place inside a completely glass covered balcony (sunlight far has more influence, than outside temperatures).

Colors

Colors are ungraded, untreated etc. The color patch is only intended for direct comparison. They are the only semi-matte standard colors (printing shop standard CMYK patch) I could use in order to avoid reflections, caused by…

Parallax

This immediately leads to the first obvious problem, if high positioning accuracy is required. There are visible parallax differences between the lenses. Smal but especially visible with a distance of 77cm (roughly 2.5+ feet) to the focusing QR in the center of the target.

Cropping

There is clear cropping between scene width in Foto (ProRAW, 48 Mpix) and the scene width in video on the same lens, same position etc.

Clear cropping in horisontal view in video

x1 h265 HDR Dolby versus ProRAW 48mpix.jpg (846.6 KiB) Viewed 23684 times

Note, that the “blow out” to white is caused by Ventura 13.6 screen dumps not able to handle ProRES HDR 10bit info. Approach was the easiest way to quickly establish the difference. Makes no difference, when appraising deviations in field of view.

If the foto displays 1586 pixels the video will display 1310 pixels in width (sizes pure convenience based on “available example on screen”, it’s my lazy Sunday , or a rather significant horisontal crop of 17.4% (from a screendump sample “hand counted” and “hand calculated” as well as “hand rounded”

The FF lens equivalents 13, 24 and 77 mm on an iPhone 15 Pro, is certainly somewhat narrower in horisontal view for video at 3840x2160 video format.

For the 12 megapixel lenses x0.5 (4032x3024) and x3 (4032x3024), the video is clearly “upscaled” from a somewhat smaller pixel count crop in order to give the significant difference in horizontal view (a direct pixel-to-pixel crop to 3840x2160, would only amount to a 4.8% crop).

For the x1 lens, the crop is still significant, but you start out with 8064x6048 pixel, so the resulting format would still be well “oversampled”.

Downloads

I have a problem, I need to solve. I cannot control, where shared files end up, and even the video files contain location info. If I render ProRES HDR, Log and h265 Dolby and ProRES RAW that will not be a problem, but that’s not original material. Currently download links are on hold.

Anyone having a tool capable of removing "location info" from Iphone video and RAW files without altering content?

Edited/added: Otherwise, conversion from ProRAW to TIFF (unaltered) and rendering to ProRES 4444 (no alpha) is an option, that can lead to results today.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Test videos now available for download

Solved problem for video files (give a retired systems programmer what amounts to a digital hammer, and… Files are now available (ONLY video, NO ProRAW files)

The downloads are zip’ed to keep “associated files” in one download. Compression has very little effect on download size. iPhone 15 Pro 256GB with built-in Apple Camera App was used (lens settings x0.5, x1, x3 for each format):

h265 HDR Dolby 250,8 MB
link: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/02e7 ... _HDR_Dolby
ProRES HDR 8,74GB
link: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/05ex ... ProRES_HDR
ProRES Log 6,68GB
link: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0e71 ... ProRES_Log

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

P.S. For the x1 lens setting ("24mm"), the video "visible width" is around the "visible width", when ProRAW is set to x1.2 (28mm). Give or take.

Sundown video session (18:46) session (18:43 onward)

Battery:

Before Session: 94%
After Session: 90%
Aftre transfer: 89%

[u]Transfer speed:[/u]

Data transfer: 15:38GB (15.381.469.453 byte) to T7 Shield: 24.3s (+1/-2s) ==> 607m963k219 bytes/sec

Temperatures:

Outside: 16C
Temp on white patch (above QR code): 20.2C

Before session: Front: 29.3C Rear: 31.4C
After session: Front: 31.5C Rear: 32.6C
After transfer: Front: 31.6C Rear: 31.5C

Light conditions:

Sundown (18:46) session (18:43 onward). No artificial lights in vicinity. Overcast. Clouds.

x1 (“24mm”) lens: f1.78, 500 ISO, 1/40 s, 8064 x 6048 pixel ProRAW
x0.5 (“13mm”) lens: f2.2, 1250 ISO, 1/60 s, 4032 x 3024 pixel ProRAW
x3 (“77mm”) lens: f2.8, 1250 ISO, 1/40 s, 4032 x 3024 pixel ProRAW

Morning session: Morning sunlight, slight overcast, clouds.

x1 (“24mm”) lens: f1.78, 100 ISO, 1/2958 s, 8064 x 6048 pixel ProRAW
x0.5 (“13mm”) lens: f2.2, 40 ISO, 1/725 s, 4032 x 3024 pixel ProRAW
x3 (“77mm”) lens: f2.8, 25 ISO, 1/731 s, 4032 x 3024 pixel ProRAW

Videos (sundown):

h265 HDR Dolby 414.7 MB
link: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/047R ... _HDR_Dolby
ProRES HDR 8,32 GB
link: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0ffk ... ProRES_HDR
ProRES Log 6,38 GB
link: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0d5a ... ProRES_Log

That completes my test regime for now. Should enable a reasonably accurate first impression of the capabilities. Details, pet peeves, actual use cases and subjective quality assessments are best performed in person on own material in controlled environment.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Crop factor revisited (in more detail)

Metod: Reading ProRAW into image editing app
Reading frame copy from Quicktime into editing app
Creating best possible “overlay match” (video always less wide, then. image width on same lens)
Active lens geometry compensation

0.5x (“13mm”):
ProRAW image 4032x3024 pixel
109.7% of video width (PRORES HDR)
ProRES HDR 3674x2067 pixel (scaled down from 3840x2160 pixel)
91.1% of image width (ProRAW)
Crop factor 91.1%

Explainer: Full width of 3840x2160 ProRES HDR frame covers 91.1% of the width of the ProRAW image using the same lens.

1.0x (“24mm”):
ProRAW image 4032x3024 pixel (downscaled from 8064x6048 pixel to ease comparison)
116.8% of video width (PRORES HDR)
ProRES HDR 3451x1941 pixel (scaled down from 3840x2160 pixel)
85.6% Image width (ProRAW)
Crop factor 85.6%

Explainer: Full width of 3840x2160 ProRES HDR frame covers 85.6% of the width of the ProRAW image using the same lens.

3.0x (“77mm”):
ProRAW image 4032x3024 pixel = 117.5% of video width (PRORES HDR)
117,5% of video width (PRORES HDR)
ProRES HDR 3432x1930 pixel (scaled down from 3840x2160 pixel)
Crop factor 85.1% of image width (ProRAW)

Explainer: Full width of 3840x2160 ProRES HDR frame covers 85.1% of the width of the ProRAW image using the same lens.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Camera dynamic range test

Peter C Mc Lennan made me aware of this video on the subject from Gerald Undone. If you’ve reached this point, this will also be on your mind:

You draw your own conclusions.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Great they finally did a serious test with a Xyla chart.

Great they finally did a serious test with a Xyla chart.

Yes. Finally.

I've "fiddled" a bit with variatons on the theme, and after seeing the video, I decided to use the scene, I have used before, and look at the Scopes for "auto" (+/-0 stops), -1 stop and -2 stops (using 2020 HLG ProRES HDR on the Apple Camera App). Conditions akin to the morning sun samples, also slightly overcast with moving clouds (so not a "controlled" environment).

Scope at Auto ISO (whatever).

x1.0-Lens-Parade.png (977 KiB) Viewed 23263 times

I'm actually surprised at how well the highlights are controlled (not clipped, but controlled) in 2020 HLG ProRES Pro (422HQ).

Scope at Auto ISO (whatever). at minus 1 stop

x1.0-Lens-Parade-minus1stop.png (932.72 KiB) Viewed 23263 times

It looks like a viable option, when lots of "high level" elements are present, in some situations. I would still be happy to work with this material. Just another approach.

Scope at Auto ISO (whatever) at minus 2 stops

x1.0-Lens-Parade-minus2stop.png (706.98 KiB) Viewed 23263 times

Same scene at minus two stops. For this particular scene, nothings is gained, but...

Apple probably does some "behind the scene" processing, but in critical situations - when you're on a walkabout, in control of nothing - it may not be that crazy, to kick exposure down a stop (or two in especially tricky and harsh light conditions) for a retake, just in case, and then decide in post, what to do.

On set and in controlled environments, you're not forced to be nimble-footed to the same degree.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

So want is the conclusion?

With Apple camera app and with Blackmagic app for maximum dr ?

So want is the conclusion?

With Apple camera app and with Blackmagic app for maximum dr ?

I'd say the jury is out.

Blackmagic is for people, who has a specific goal in mind, and are willing to tinker with settings. The App is version 1, fresh from the "drawing board", with some quirks and bugs, but showing really good prospects.

Apple Camera App is the official standard, and geared towards letting anyone get the best possible result without too much fuss. The App has several years of development behind its present state.

The camera is the same. The lenses are the same. The hardware/firmware support (formats etc) are the same.

In my eyes (correct me if I'm wrong), the main "camera capabilities and hardware support" does not change, but each app may tweak and balance the outcome differently. The main difference still being the user interface, not the camera capabilities (Blackmagic does NOT change the sensors the lenses etc).

What I find interesting, is that the camera is actually pretty forgiving concerning exposure (a point, where differences between the two apps, may turn up). Apple probably strives to deliver the most "pleasing" results (clearly trying to avoid clipping in the example above), whereas Blackmagci may (the jury is still out here) - and I stress the term "may" - strive maximum fidelity (even if it blows highlights). Who knows, to what degree BlackMagic is able to affect the actual low level processing behind any video format. Don't expect Blackmagic to do its own basic ProRES HDR or Log processing on foot, based on a "raw" image. The iPhone processing hardware may allow some "tweaking", but not to that degree. The actual low level video processing is handled by Apple code; no amount of actual, detailed low level "interference" will probably be possible here.

When Blackmagic reaches "initial maturity" (at the earliest version 1.1 or later), it pays to look at the details.

I kind of like the Apple approach. I've only had little opportunity to do more thorough tests, but the preliminary tests fall into two categories:

Daylight: A compression of highlights may take place in.order to obtain a pleasing highlight. 2020 HLG may help here, and the previous example showed, that there was plenty of highligt present, when lowering exposure one stop. One may argue, if "level alone with scant information below" is preferable to the +/- 0 stop result. It's a matter of taste,

Night: Controlled environment. Available light. One light being reflected from blinds. The rest gradually waning into darkness. No example yet. I need to do a more consistent, reproducible test setup, maybe this weekend, to produce morning, high noon and night conditions in the exact same environment (other wise comparisons are dubious):

Preliminary results on high contrast, low light (night) situations, showed a different behaviour. The +/-0 stop parades were "perfect", and the image to the darlk side.

x1 lens +/- 0 stop automatic exposure

x1-lens-0.png (741.05 KiB) Viewed 23184 times

With +1 stop exposure, there was hardly any clipping even in extreme highlights (suspected, but really hard to see), and the image was delivered in a more pleasing, well balanced (would many say) and lighter version, with more details.

x1 lens +1 stop automatic exposure

x1-lens+1.jpg (366.38 KiB) Viewed 23184 times

At +2 stops, the same scene didn't really get that much brighter, except for the highlights getting more brutal. The "information" part of the image looked virtually identical, and the extreme highlights were clipped.

x1 lens +2 stops automatic exposure

x1-lens+2.jpg (358.87 KiB) Viewed 23184 times

Note that apart from the extreme highlights area, the main portions of the +1 and +2 stops parade are uncannily similar, as well as the dark area. The images actually LOOK very similar, except for the highlight, where the center of the lamp, is reflected from the (shiny white) blinds.

I would strive for the +1 result, when I had to grade (unless dark and moody with less details were the aim).

As you can see in the +/-0 stop example, details are very subdued (right part of the image primarily), but the actual dynamic range is probably nearer the truth of the actual scene.

Now the gazillion dollar question: Do we aim for "truth" or "balance", even "pleasing" (without ending up in kitsch - this was not the case for this example)?

What impressed me most, is the "attitude" of the x1 lens (dynamic range), and the subtle processing Apple applied to both daylight and night scenarios in ProRES HDR (422HQ) in 2020 HLG working space. Personally, I would keep Apples "choice" (in the actual situation in the previous example), and select +1 stop exposure during capture, in the example shown here.

Only problem here, is, that I'm not certain that the consistency in my handling (partly quick and dirty) between takes was, as it should be in real life. This is for a more thorough test to decide (screendumps of content, doesn't work correctly for 2020 HLG HDR material - perfect highlights on my monitor are totally clipped in the screen dumps).

Later, when Blackmagic has delivered a more mature version 1.1, we can start comparing in the same conditions.

My current take is (with a grain of salt):

The main "lens+handling" is surprisingly "forgiving" in even extreme environments. I suspect partly due to "heavy lifting" supplied by Apples computational "image massaging engines". Purists may find it disturbing, but the results speak for themselves.

In good light Apple errs on the "pleasing side" (compressing highlights). If time allows, it may be a good idea, to also do a -1 stop take, to - maybe - preserve more highligt detail at more natural levels (highlight details are preserved, but with less dynamic range in the somewhat limited 0 stop example).

In available light situations, with large parts of the scene near to totally dark, Apple probably errs on the "realistic side", delivering a dark and moody impression with lower, more "true" levels of details in the shadows. Using a +1 stop exposure, suddenly lifts the details too, delivering a far more pleasing impression, still leaving no doubt about the low light scenario. Apart from the extreme highlight clipping (+2 stops), the scene balance is visually virtually identical for +1 and +2 stops, as mentioned before.

The difference between +/-0 and +1 stop may be (partly) down to handling; I'm not sure. Therefore a new more controlled version needs to be done. I reserve the right to modify above comments as further tests MAY require (that's not even a certainty at this juncture

Regards

I've redone the previous recordings. This time making sure, that the exposure "rectangle" was positioned as near exact as possible between takes (not really easy).

This gives a deviation to the previous examples.

The x1 lens still gives a subdued, dark and moody exposure in +/-0 stops:

Lowlight +/- 0 stops (automatic)

Lowlight-0.png (876.11 KiB) Viewed 23146 times

The x1 lens still delivers a much lighter general impression at +1 stop, but this time clipping occurs.

Lowlight +1 stop (automatic)

Lowlight+1.jpg (364.38 KiB) Viewed 23146 times

The x1 lens shows more pronounced clipping in highlights at +2 stops, but the main info only shows a slightly higher level. General impression is similar to +1, but slightly more light in the midtones, as the Parade also indicates.

Lowlight +2 stop (automatic)

Lowlight+2.jpg (368.43 KiB) Viewed 23146 times

Both +1 and +2 displays a much higher level of the details (especially clear in the right part of the image), compared to +/- 0 stop version, whereas the difference between +1 and +2 stops in the same area, is present but less significant.

I decided to NOT modify the previous entry, in order to illustrate, that care and akeen eye for details and variations is required, when collecting comparable material. As this case shows. Also a reminder to me, to be more thorough.

The general conclusion stays. Personally I find the +1 version more "realistic" (to the eye), than the +/-0 stop version, that probably is nearer the "true" situation. The gazillion dollar question remains.

Comments and views

When the Blackmagic Camera App reaches a more mature state, it would be obvious to compare the two apps, under equal conditions, the same scene and look for differences in approach.

If you like to grade everything by yourself in Davinci Resolve (Studio) or FCPX you'd probably be driven nuts, by Apples approach. If you're "Granny Smith" or any other normal mortal soul, maybe without even knowing that grading is a possibility, then... yes... Apples approach delivers.

For my 2020 HLG environment work environment, the results are on average quite good. A compromise, but generally a decent interpretation of the actual scene. In many, if not most cases, I would grade Rec 2020 HLG ProRES HDR material very similar; also when I have access to my alternative untreated 12-bit 5.9k ProRES RAW material (but camera, lens, Atoms Ninja V, special SSD cartridges, heavy batteries and the requirement to use tripods, makes that a solution for a completely different "world" - not travel).

My ordinary delivery format is UHD 25fps h265 10-bit 422 Rec 2020 HLG. I do not work in the limited Rec 709 color space, and the difference is dramatic.

I would guess, that Apples approach leans toward delivering HDR material ready to use for ordinary people. The ProRES Log option is a nod to the die-hards, with different requirements (and the Rec 709 colorspace is certainly very different);

Apple is forced to make a choice regarding "standard delivery", and that obviously does not lean towards the Log format (and scaring hundreds of millions of users away from their products. They may be many things, ut not stupid .

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Conclusion and final thoughts

Demanding users with the required knowledge and time on hand, have the freedom to choose format, select colorspace, even balance and shift the exposure and fps decisions by hand in personally preferred directions. And pay with a lot more work in post. Personal, often informed choice.

This is probably the realm of Blackmagic Camera App.

The up and coming (?) feeder App to later grading efforts in post, or more to the point: collaborative efforts based on sound video and audio material (maybe specified by “center”) from remote “delivery boys” to the central editing post, with all the paraphernalia at hand, working in a Davinci Resolve Studio setup.

The latter is in my view the real revolution in the Blackmagic Camera App. Facilitating a distributed working pro approach - accidentally (?) delivering a free alternative to hobbyists (craving for hard work).

That’s traditionally the domain of “true cameras”, but now iPhone 15 Pro also offers informed choices to a wider degree, than ever before. If you want/need it.

Illustration

By chance, I stumbled on a good example, illustrating the conundrum (for the main x1 lens. Other lenses not tested):

Top: Apple delivery. Center: Minus one stop. Bottom: Simplistic “general level” adjustment.

Dumb adjust.jpg (305.98 KiB) Viewed 23019 times

The top scope is Apple’s interpretation of an scene in clear morning light, slight overcast, moving clouds in HDR 2020 HLG workspace. Apples approach is both subtle and sensible.

The second scope is the same scene shot at minus one stop (minus two stops, just moves the top level down one stop, lowers the dynamic range and squeezes the shadows).

The third scope, is the minus one stop scene adjusted to an acceptable “general light level” in a simple plus one stop gain adjustment. Highlights are clipping “wonderfully nasty”.

Apple, you and I know better, but does the typical user?

If you know, what you do (maybe 0.01% or less of iPhone users on a good day), your grading results may end up similar to Apples “grading-in-a-box”. Maybe, even better. Highlights preserved without loosing details and levels perfectly balanced with textured shadows nigh to noise free.

Now, what is a good dynamic range? The ability to deliver a perceived full range of a given scene in a decent fashion?

If that’s the goal, Apple seems to handle that well. Without fuzz for almost all, even demanding iPhone 15 Pro users. Their “intelligent grading-in-a-box” is actually not bad. If it’s not perfect from git-go, it's mostly usable - typically far better, than some of my hard worked mishaps over the years. Luckily, no-one has to know

If you truly know, what you’re doing, and has the paraphernalia at hand, you’re able to strive to honor personal taste and preferences even excellence.That’s only an august few, amongst those trying. A few grains of sand on the beach of iPhone users.

Final thoughts

I like the x1 lens. It’s not perfect, but flexible, and suits my usual foto/video style. The superwide (x0.5) and short tele (x3) lenses are nice add-ons in those many, many cases, where the “real camera” is the one, you don’t carry with you. The x5 lens in the Max was not an attractive alternative to me. Size would have been.

I’m not afraid of mixing the highly malleable S5 ProRES RAW footage with Apple material, where it makes sense or is the only solution in the moment. They “mix well” in my view, and Apples “grading in-a-box” is not half bad for my use. Also saves time in some cases.

My material is primarily travel, reportage, documentary. Shallow DOF uses, allowing you to select optimum sharpness of an individual nosehair, letting the neighbors fade into creamy bokeh is not my “thing”. FF f11 versus f1.4. Besides the FF eqv. f6.3 DOF on the main lens suits me fine in day to day use. Personal preference.

This concludes my journey into the basic intricacies of the iPhone 15 Pro, performance, options and whatnot practicality for my personal use. YMMV.

Subjective quality statements is exclusively your domain.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun

Interesting observations. Thanks.

Why is the 5X lens not an attractive alternative to you?

Interesting observations. Thanks.

Why is the 5X lens not an attractive alternative to you?

I find the jump from “24 mm” to “120 mm” too big for my use. The 48 megapixel can “crop” (“zoom”) into “50 mm” (x2) or “between” focal length without drastic loss of resolution in video. For photo use, I prefer “native optics only” options, and doing any cropping in Lightroom.

I could of course use the larger reach in a few real life scenarios. My ideal would be something akin to the three lenses in the 15 Pro (maybe 16-18mm instead of 13) plus one “maximum reach” lens (120, 150 or 200 mm eqv. - whatever) for mostly ProRAW photo reach only. Long reach is not that important to me for video.

YMMV.

Regards

Thanks. I love the look of long lenses, especially for stitched panoramas. It remains to be seen whether it's useful enough for video shooting. 120mm equivalent is pretty long given the difficulty of holding that tiny thing still enough.

Thanks again for your detailed forensics.

Test of rolling shutter and dynamic range

The German online-magazine SlashCAM published a sensor test of the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max on October 19, 2023. In German (of course), which can be read via this link:

https://www.slashcam.de/artikel/Test/Ap ... SLR--.html

I’ll quote the gist of the content below, but reading the complete article is worth some effort.

Rolling Shutter

Rear lenses “13”, “24” and “120” mm have a rolling shutter around 5.1 ms.
Selfie camera has a rolling shutter around 10 ms.

Dynamic Range

The magazine has produced a Youtube video directly and simultaneously comparing the performance visibly to the following cameras:

Arri LF
Nikon Z8 (Tico RAW)
Canon EOS C70

The process starts at ETTR-0 (Expose to the right), followed by lowering the exposure one step at a time, readjusting to ETTR-0 in post in Davinci Resolve. You judge the approach and results yourself via this link:

My personal take can be summed up to: “We surely live in interesting times”.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day

Extended recording quick (ahem) duration test

Recording is started on Apple Camera App. Powered Acasis hub with 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus and fed from a Baseus 100W PD Powerbank (roughly 54Wh effective).

Powerbank displayed 5.0-5.1V and 1.9-2.1A power drain - around 10+W in real life, according to the power bank figures (initial iPhone charging was not measured).

Charging state not tested before use. Continue until power runs down to see, if “iOS too much power warning” issued, will still enable the recording to shut down in a controlled fashion. That seemed to be the case (no guarantee, YMMV).

No special settings for iOS use. Wanted to see, what happened, if “Focus” was not active.

Alarm interfered, and stopping the alarm (at 10:00 and 12:00 local time) also forced the recording to stop (clearly a bug in the Camera App or iOS). iOS version 17.1 was used.

Recordings were done in ProRES HDR, 25fps, UHD, main x1 lens only to external target as specified (323 min remaing capacity according to Apple Camera App). Target aurtomatically selected.

Temperature measurements were done by an infrared thermometer. Same spot on rear (just above Apple logo, toward top). Several places on screen, a central dark spot used as reference. Front varied some, but always below 40C. Theory: Screen content may affect temperature measured).

Total record time at least 4 hours (forgot to note start time) and total recorded content around 603GByte.

Long duration recording results. Including running down powerbank completely.

Extended use table.png (181.91 KiB) Viewed 19273 times

Hope this gives some valuable info for real life, long recording time usage.

Regards

Video timer/alarm bug

This affects the Apple Camera App and the Blackmagic Camera App and other camera Apps as well.

This is tested on iOS 17.1 and iPhone 15 Pro as well as iPhone 12 Pro.

The culprit is the Apple Clock App.

Whether you turn volume down to zero, sound (hardware switch, new StandBy button, or via the control center) it has NO influence on Timers and/or Alarms. They will ALWAYS sound, when active.

If you use the Focus options, and define “Do Not Disturb” (with or without Sound Off) to include BlackMagic Cam (or Apple Camera App or… or…) it has NO effect on Alarms or Timers. Even when NO Apps are allowed to issue any notifications. Timers and/or Alarms will ALWAYS be active.

The list of App’s that you specifically can allow or deny to send notifications does not even include the Apple Clock App.

I have found NO way to disable Timers and Alarms, without disabling each on e manually, or completely remove the App (it is NOT enough to remove it from the Home Screen). The App is what I call "dementia proof" (does the upper echelons at Apple require this "feature" to be in effect?):

Now, IF the resulting effects were only “noise” (until Timer or Alarm was closed), it could be classified as “only a major PITA”. This is not so.

When any Alarm or any Timer is triggered, the video recording is actually terminated.

As shown in this link, where an alarm is set to "one minute later", the Apple Video App is started, video recording is started, and... bummer... when the alarm is issued, any recording stops immediately:

https://youtube.com/shorts/YdJQOEgdp_8

Whatever settings in your system. However long your recording is (1 minute, 1 hour, several hours) and how long your recording is expected to last (with ProRES 422HQ a 2TB Samsung EVO Plus licorice stick will hold between 5 and 6 hours, a Samsung T7 Shiield 4TB between 10 and 11 hours of uninterrupted recordings externally on an iPhone 15 Pro (Max), given enough power (for example via a powered hub, handling the disk and whatnot).

I have found no way to prevent the timer/alarm actions from the Apple Clock App. If you know a way, I’m all ears.

Currently I’ve deleted the Apple Clock App, and I'm testing another App. So far, that App accepts “Do Not Disturb” for the Blackmagic Camera App and the Apple Camera App too. Silence is also effective, when requested. There is a silent notification, not even shown on the video screen. Just in the same list, where all other silenced notifications are kept. Bliss!

A dream come true… except, there are thousands of clock apps - many not maintained for 4, 5 or more years, a few are tracking everything they can think of, and you even have to pay for the privilege to be spied upon.

I’m all ears, if you know a good Alarm/Timer app.

Regards and remember to have a bit of fun every day