Video producer loved his iPhone XS. Then he tried the iPhone 11 Pro

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Koss commercial shot with iPhone 11 Pro
The iPhone 11 Pro kept the highlights in check.
Photo: Martin Moore/Koss

When Martin Moore shot a commercial for Koss headphones with the iPhone XS last October, he was “blown away” by the results.

Moore shot another Koss commercial Wednesday, this time with the new iPhone 11 Pro, and his XS now seems primitive in comparison.

“It is remarkable the leaps Apple has made,” Moore, a content producer for Koss, told Cult of Mac. “I can’t imagine what (the iPhone camera) will be like in five years. No wonder point-and-shoots are dead.”

The iPhone 11 Pro has been out less than a week, but there is no telling when people will stop talking about the quality of the camera. The 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max feature a three-camera array framed by a square bump on the rear plate.

iPhone 11 Pro video camera left him ‘giddy’

While a third camera, with an ultra-wide lens, is a noticeable change, the big leaps Moore and others speak of relate to software and the bump in image quality. The software provides greater dynamic range for near-perfect exposures, truer, more saturated colors, and improved image stabilization.

“I was kind of surprised,” Moore said.”I didn’t think the image stabilization and dynamic range were going to be as dramatic and improvement as it is. I was giddy.”

Moore said the final shot in his 54-second commercial for Koss noise-canceling earbuds shows the change in dynamic range. The model wearing dark clothes was perfectly exposed while the morning sky in the background retained a true blue. The sky would have been blown out on the iPhone Xs, he said.

The iPhone 11 Pro is not without some disappointment. The ultra-wide lens is not sharp enough to be used for more than a one- or two-second b-roll clip, Moore said. It’s also so wide, part of the 3-axis gimbal he used to keep the footage extra smooth, was visible in the frame.

With ultra-wide cameras becoming a regular feature on smartphone cameras, gimbal makers may have to alter their designs to keep it out of the shot.

Moore shot the commercial with the Filmic Pro app, the gimbal and Final Cut Pro for editing.

Koss content creator Martin Moore and the iPhone 11 Pro
Martin Moore and his kit.
Photo: Koss

He said he made minor adjustments to increase contrast, set white balance and saturate the colors. There was no added sharpness, he said.

“The reason I like for people to see this is there are so many companies, start-ups, who think they have to have $50,000 in equipment and a team of people to produce quality content,” Martin said. “All you need is one person who knows how to tell a story. You can create legit shit with an iPhone.”

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