Recording Log video on iPhone?
The built-in iPhone Camera app has grown over the years, but sometimes you want more control. The free Blackmagic Camera app is awesome, with every manual video control you could want. And if you want to record log video on an iPhone 15 Pro, you should absolutely use it, because it lets you shoot Apple Log differently.
A quick refresher
- ProRes is a format that’s very easy for computers to edit. Compressed video like H.264 has to be decoded as it plays, which is hard on underpowered computers. ProRes is easy on the computer, but the files are very large.
- Log is a color profile that captures a wide range of color and brightness, so you can adjust color more easily in an editor.
Apple added ProRes capture with the iPhone 13 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can record ProRes Log. Turn it on in Settings → Camera → Formats, at the bottom, then enable Log in the Camera app.
It looks pretty great, but look at the file sizes: a 17-second clip at 24 fps is 1.42 GB, and a 24-second clip is over 2 GB. That’s about 5–6 GB per minute of 4K 24.
Apple Log in HEVC
Blackmagic Camera records Apple Log in ProRes too, but you can also choose HEVC (H.265). HEVC is compressed like H.264 but newer and more efficient, matching H.264’s quality at about half the space. Many computers, including Apple’s M-series Macs, have hardware decoding, so they edit these files easily. And for most people, log matters more than the codec, because we want to grade the color to our liking. (Mine isn’t great, but I’m trying.)
The difference in size is huge:
| Clip | ProRes Log | HEVC Log |
|---|---|---|
| 17 seconds, 4K 24 | 1.42 GB | 66 MB |
| 24 seconds, 4K 24 | just over 2 GB | 97.8 MB |
| 22 seconds, 4K 60 | 4.58 GB | 146 MB |
Some of you will say professionals would never do this. Two comments:
- If you shoot video on your phone, it’s most likely for YouTube or social media, and their compression will erase any benefit of ProRes.
- The iPhone camera’s physical limits, like sensor size and aperture, matter way more than the codec.
Side by side at 24 fps, there may be slight differences in focus, color or brightness from automatic ISO and white balance, but sharpness and detail look the same, even zoomed in.
CalDigit sponsored this video.
4K 60 without an external drive
Because the files are so large, the built-in Camera app makes you record 4K 60 ProRes to an external SSD, which is a pain to mess with (though getting files off the drive is way faster than USB or AirDrop). With Blackmagic and HEVC, you can record 4K 60 log internally, one less thing to bring.
It doesn’t make sense to me to shoot ProRes Log on iPhone when a perfectly acceptable, much smaller option exists, and it’s free.
Links
- CalDigit’s docks and hubs (sponsored)
- CalDigit TS4
- CalDigit Element Hub
- Get the Blackmagic Camera App
- M3 MacBook Air 15”
- M3 MacBook Air 15” 2 Weeks Later: Almost Pro
- CalDigit is my dock partner
- https://www.threads.net/@jerryschulzeonyt
- My iPhone Art
- Grovemade Desk Mat and Knife (save 10% JERRY10)
- UNLIMITED Cloud Backup for your Mac with Backblaze
Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.
