Apple’s new iPhone 15 series includes several new camera features, but not all of them will be visible to casual photographers, and Apple says it relies on third-party developers to make these additional controls accessible to enthusiasts and enthusiasts. filmmakers.
In an interview with PetaPixelJon McCormack, Apple’s vice president of camera software engineering, explained the company’s rationale behind this middle-of-the-road approach, while also highlighting some of the decisions it made when finalizing the iPhone 15 feature set.
“It’s really about, in my mind, allowing people to pursue their vision and that goes from the concerned parent of a toddler where their vision is, ‘can I put my child in the frame while ‘he’s taking his first steps’ all the time. to a professional or creative who has a very specific artistic vision in mind and wants to get there as quickly as possible,” McCormack said.
“Behind the big red button…what you care about is the frame and the moment because honestly, that’s the most inspiring part of any photograph or video.”
iPhone 15 Pro focal lengths
iPhone 15 Pro users can choose from 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm focal lengths when taking photos, simply by pressing the 1x button in the Camera app. However, for technical reasons, these focal length options are not available when recording video and the camera offers a zoom ring instead.
“When you shoot [photos]”, we gather a bunch of data to allow you to continue filming and then kind of continue the processing in the background, so we have more time and that’s just something we can’t do in video ” McCormack said. PetaPixel.
Log video encoding
When encoding video in log mode, the camera uses a logarithmic curve to more effectively compress colors to provide a wider dynamic range. This allows filmmakers to maximize dynamic range as much as possible without overexposure, or push shadows back as much as possible to minimize noise.
“We’re going for mid-level exposure,” McCormack said. “When you access the log, there is no tone mapping, so you can have much more precise control over your exposure.”
However, while the iPhone can now take photos in ProRes Log, there are no on-screen controls or waveform in the native Camera app to control exposure. Instead, Apple relies on third-party app developers to offer these controls to power users, keeping the standard camera interface clean. Apple announced that it will also provide LUT profiles to publishers on September 22.
External video transfer via USB-C
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max support USB3 transfer speeds from the new USB-C port, but only ProRes files recorded at 4K at 60p can be saved to an externally connected SSD. All other video and photo modes must be saved to the iPhone first and transferred later. Apple told PetaPixel that this was an internal design decision focused on supporting ProRes workflows.
24 versus 48 megapixels
Last year, Apple limited the default camera settings to 12 MP, but this year they are limited to 24 MP, despite the 48 MP capabilities of the main camera sensor. The reason for this, McCormack explained, is that there is a slightly greater dynamic range when shooting at 24MP.
“When we shoot at 24 megapixels, we shoot at 12 high and 12 low – we actually take several – and we select and then merge. There is, basically, a bigger range between the 12 high and the 12 low .48 is “wide dynamic range”, as opposed to “high dynamic range”, which simply limits the amount of processing. Because just in the little processing time available [in the 24 megapixel] we can get a bit more dynamic range in Deep Fusion. So what you get with the 24 is a bit of a ‘Goldilocks moment’ in the sense that you get all the extra dynamic range that comes from the 12 and the detail transfer that comes from the 48.”
McCormack also said that there was no shutter lag when shooting at 24 megapixels, while shooting at a maximum resolution of 48 megapixels did not provide instant shutter.
Keeping Photography Accessible
Ultimately, Apple’s goal is to ensure that iPhone photography remains accessible, according to Maxime Veron, senior director of iPhone product marketing. “For the vast majority of our customers, our goal is to simply process everything in the background so that the process is invisible and out of the way so people can take great photos and videos and capture beautiful, lifelike moments in one just click. click,” she told PetaPixel.
Veron added that at the same time, Apple wants to meet the ever-increasing demands of its passionate customers, allowing them to use the same hardware to capture images that can grace the cover of a magazine.
The full interview is available at PetaPixel. All of Apple’s new iPhone 15 models are now available to order and launching this Friday.
