Curious how the video quality and color science of the new iPhone 13 compare to the Arri Alexa? Me too, so I did a quick experiment.
There are many incredible cinema cameras out there, but the Arri is generally considered superior when it comes to color science. Alexas and Amiras’ shots have a natural film quality that’s easy to grade and pleasing to the eye.
If you were to evaluate the color science of any camera these days, one way to do it (at least subjectively) is to compare it side by side with the gold standard: the Arri Alexa.
Just picked up the iPhone 13 Pro Max and I was curious to test it against my iPhone 13 Pro Max. Alexa Plus 4:3. I wasn’t expecting a perfect match, but I did want to see how close I could get the image… and the results really surprised me.
experiment
I always like to do test shoots in an informal way to mimic my process in a real scene. Shooting test charts in the lab is great for other purposes, but not particularly helpful for understanding real-world effects when shot in various formats.
With that in mind, I just set up the Arri Alexa and iPhone 13 Pro Max side by side and took some test photos around my house, aiming to get them to match up as well as possible in camera.
equipment used
Besides the Alexa and iPhone, the only other gear I used for testing was my 24-105mm Canon lens (for the Arri Alexa) and the DJI Osmo stabilizer for the iPhone.
I shot in 24mm using my Canon to match the “23mm equivalent” standard iPhone lens. It’s definitely not an exact match in terms of field of view, but it’s close enough for the purposes of this test.
The DJI Osmo really just works as a tripod, allowing me to turn off any internal stabilization that might affect image quality.
One thing I didn’t use was an ND filter.
I didn’t have an exact ND match for Alexa and iPhone, and using mismatched NDs would complicate things by adding an extra variable to the color correction process.
Instead of using an ND, I adjusted the shutter speed on both cameras to get the correct exposure. This ensures that the ND filter doesn’t cause weird color changes and helps the camera match the best possible way.
Movie Pro
To give the iPhone the best fighting chance, I recorded all the video files through Filmic Pro. This stunning app lets you use manual controls, record color spaces, and record at high 4K bitrates.
Of course, I shot at the highest resolution (4K) and highest quality record setting (Filmic Extreme).
This is the first time I’ve used Filmic Pro in quite some time, and I’m impressed with how the app has matured over the years. This is an incredible tool to have a movie camera in your pocket at all times. I will definitely be using it more often after this experiment.
Results: iPhone 13 Pro Max vs. Alexa Classic
Now for the fun part – how does the iPhone 13 compare to Alexa?
Going into this test, I thought the cameras would be far apart…but with the right approach in DaVinci Resolve, they’re actually pretty close.
I first used my rig to take the Alexa footage out of the log and into Rec 709 color space. CINECOLOR Alexa Classic LUT. From there, I made some other subtle adjustments to color balance and contrast to create a working baseline.
I then manually adjusted the lens on my iPhone to match the Alexa lens. This is where things get interesting.
One of the subjective metrics I use to judge color quality/color science is the sensitivity of the material When rating. With low-quality footage, even slight color adjustments can completely ruin the color palette and produce undesirable results.
But to my surprise, the iPhone rated very well. It’s easy to make subtle little adjustments and end up with the same shot as Alexa.
When grading I gave myself a time limit of 3 minutes per shot.
If you have a whole day, you can pull color keys and create masks and take any photo from any camera the way you want. But again, I want to simulate real world processes. I want to know if I can make my iPhone look like Alexa in a short amount of time reasonable A lot of time and effort.
The answer is yes.
Here are a few photos comparing the two cameras. In each example, the first image is of an Arri Alexa, followed by an iPhone.
Discover
Apparently, there are differences between the Arri Alexa’s footage and the iPhone 13’s footage, even after matching. But the difference wasn’t as big as I expected.
In fact, most of the differences I noticed (at least the obvious ones) had more to do with the iPhone’s sharpness and internal HDR processing.
For example, Alexa will make highlights disappear naturally, while iPhone will restore details comprehensively. You can see this when comparing the viewport in the background of the first example I shot above.
Those differences aside, Apple’s foundation in color science does seem impressive. With very small primary color adjustments, you can match the color of your iPhone within the reasonable range of Arri Alexa.
This is largely due to the Filmic Pro’s excellent performance, which squeezes every detail out of the tiny sensor.
Does this make your new iPhone a true cinema camera replacement? Of course not. There’s no getting away from the fact that the iPhone still essentially has the look of a small sensor phone camera…
But the fact that iPhone colors can be matched to Alexa with relative ease is very encouraging. I can’t say that about many digital SLR/mirrorless brands that struggle with color (despite their overall excellent image quality).
I can only imagine that the gap in color science between iPhones and cinematic cameras like the Alexa will continue to shrink over the next few years. If Apple decides to release a dedicated camera with a larger sensor, things will get very interesting.
Don’t forget to check out the full range of color grading LUTs available here.
What are your thoughts on the iPhone as a filmmaking tool? Leave a comment Secondoops!
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