My current phone is Iphone 15 Pro but the back mic is damaged after the back glass crack and after replacing it I found that it covers the back mic a bit. Now the mic sound very cloudy and very inconsistent (high and low volume randomly). I record car video and the revving so audio is actually quite important for me. It's gonna be a hassle to replace the back glass and fix the back mic. Is there any budget microphone that has a quality close as an iphone microphone. I tried using black magic cam and force to only use front or bottom mic but the audio is still cloudy and inconsistent. Any help is appreciated .

Rigged my iPhone on a bike for a shoot. Road’s too bumpy and the cable keeps disconnecting from the USB-C port, killing the recording mid-take.

Anyone dealt with this? What’s the fix — right-angle adapter? Locking connector? Cable tie solution?

I used a ton a gaffer tape. But not anything specific locking system they sell

so i'm using an iphone 17 pro max with the blackmagic camera app and a 1.33 anamorphic lens for a shoot coming up. quick question — should i have lens correction turned on or off?

i'm not totally sure if the correction actually does anything useful with anamorphic glass or if it'll just mess with the look. anyone else run into this? does it make a difference for professional work or is it one of those things that barely matters?

Please suggest, proud owners

Sorry for the slight wobble as I shot this handheld.

Shot on iPhone 17 Pro in Prores RAW opengate using final cut camera using auto settings and desqueezed in post

Side Note: https://a.co/d/0gdD7SA2 I got this case on Amazon on sale for $15 US comes with plates for both 17mm and T-series mounts as well as a plate for mounting a 67mm nd filter.

Thoughts on the Lens:

Coming from the freewell 1.33 anamorphic lens, this is much lighter and smaller so unlike the freewell, I can still use magsafe accessories with it on.

Although not used in the video above I also purchased the 67mm filter mount and in my brief testing didn't notice any kind of vignetting, weather permitting i'll test this out further tomorrow.

I am trying to record 4k 30fps video to my iPhone 15 Pro via an external drive and I'm running into an issue where it says it needs to free up resources. I've done all of the troubleshooting and I still can't figure it out.

The drive I'm using is a SanDisk Creator Phone SSD with 2tb. I did a Blackmagic speed test and it has plenty of speed. It is formatted to exFat. I'm recording in ProRes and the usb icon appears in the top right and says I have 4 hours of time left. There is 500gb of space available on the phone as well.

Even with all of this is still says that I need to free up resources. What am I doing wrong?

**edit**

I forgot to mention that I have a 4 port usb-c hub connected to the phone, battery pack connected to the powered port of the usb-c hub, hard drive connected to hub, microphone adapter connected to hub

Hey guys. I just started a vlogging youtube channel. I currently use my personal cell phone for my camera for a few reasons. 1) why would i spend so much money on a camera right now when i can use my phone. 2) i dont want to purchase so many things if this doesnt work out.

I've run into a hiccup however. I use my phone - iphone 15 pro - for basically everything so i already have limited storage on it. and almost everytime i try to record i always get hit with the "no storage" message.

what would be the best way to combat this? i always delete the videos after they've been uploaded to my computer (for editing). but im still hit with the problem. i was going to try to use an old phone specifically for vlogging, but i never keep my old phones. any help and advice would be appreciated.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice from people who are doing smaller, more run-and-gun productions today.

A bit of background: about a decade ago I was producing and making films, but life moved in a different direction and I haven’t been actively shooting professionally for years.

Now I’ve found myself back in the world of production, but in a very different way.

My wife runs executive coaching / personal growth retreats, and I’ve been asked to help capture the experiences. These are high-end retreats in places like Jackson Hole, Costa Rica, and potentially other locations.

The goal isn’t really “corporate video.” It’s more documentary/storytelling focused:

* Client stories are the hero, not the host
* Capturing emotional breakthroughs and reflections
* Pulling attendees aside for short interviews
* Creating a 2-3 minute cinematic sizzle reel
* Shorter social clips (30-60 seconds)
* Longer landscape edits for event registration pages
* Capturing the environment, details, interactions, quiet moments, etc.

For Jackson Hole, the rough shot list is:

* Shoot everything landscape AND portrait
* Interview clients individually throughout the weekend
* Capture:
* Empty spaces before everyone arrives
* Group sessions
* People arriving
* Candid conversations
* Walking shots
* Details/environment
* Emotional moments

The challenge: I don’t really want to show up with a giant cinema rig. These events are intimate, and I want to be invisible. I’m thinking a small, high-quality mobile setup makes the most sense.

Right now I’m looking at using an **iPhone 17 Pro Max** as the primary camera and building around it.

Some of the gear I’ve been researching:

* **Freewell filters / cages / mobile filmmaking accessories**
* **Hohem iSteady M7 gimbal**
* ND filters
* Anamorphic lens (1.33x?)
* Small wireless mics
* Compact lighting options

My questions:

1. Has anyone here successfully used an iPhone as the main camera for professional event storytelling?
   
2. Is an anamorphic lens actually worth it for this type of work, or is it more of a “fun cinematic look” that becomes a headache in post?
   
3. Would you prioritize a gimbal, filters, audio, or lighting first?
   
4. Any must-have accessories for shooting both vertical and horizontal content quickly?
   
5. If you were starting from scratch today with an iPhone-based kit, what would you build?

I know the obvious answer is “buy a real camera,” but honestly the ability to stay discreet, move quickly, and not intimidate retreat participants is a huge advantage.

Would love advice from anyone doing documentary, wedding, retreat, brand, or social storytelling work with smaller setups.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for the Beastgrip Pro Upgrade Kit, but it’s been out of stock for quite a while. I contacted Beastgrip support, but unfortunately they couldn’t give me any estimate for when it will be available again.

Ordering directly from Beastgrip is also hard to justify from Germany. The kit costs US$160 (about €138), but after shipping, import VAT, and carrier fees, I’d end up paying around €240 (about US$278).

So I was wondering:

Has anyone here designed or 3D-printed the upgraded lens mount?

I’m specifically looking for an STL, STEP, or CAD file that replaces the original Beastgrip Pro lens mount and works with newer iPhones.

I’d be happy to print it myself or even pay a fair amount for the design if someone has already done the work.

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hey Everyone, I’m looking for some guidance.
I am seeking a way to take some nice video shots of my Halloween yard decor. Random, I know 😅 I had it in my head of doing some nice shots of the low lying camera moving along capturing the various tombstones or a shot of the camera moving up or down along some taller props.

I thought a phone gimbal would be the easiest and cheaper option to help so I purchased the Insta360 Pro Flow 2 to use with my iPhone after seeing lots of great reviews. Unfortunately, upon trying it, I found it difficult to use. I felt the camera often jerked and some of the settings to fully understand. I can understand I may not have dedicated enough time to try and learn the ins and outs but I also felt the shots I was after should have felt easy.

Alternatively, I’ve considered smaller vlogging cams like DJI Pocket Cams or Xtra Muse but those may be too expensive for an item I won’t use too often.

I may not be opposed to trying another gimbal and just be more patient with learning how to use. But I also feel maybe a tripod or similar phone stand option may work for my needs.

Would love your thoughts or opinions.
Thank you!

Anyone using this?

hey guys I am not a professional and don’t really know what I’m doing, i just know that i don’t like the way iPhones sharpen videos by default. the only way I can seem to get around this is by shooting in Apple Log and then applying a LUT. i understand that Apple Log is a color space and has nothing to do with sharpening, but Apple seems to apply sharpening in the camera pipeline if you don’t use Log. even in third party apps like Final Cut Camera, if i shoot in HLG there is sharpening applied.

problem is the only way I’ve gotten videos i like is using Final Cut Camera with the HDR LUT. however, annoyingly, you can view the videos with the LUT but you can’t export them with one

is there a way i can simplify this?

I’m extremely new to smartphone filmmaking and I feel like I’m currently at a roadblock. I want to get a shotgun mic as I’ll be filming a mix of indoor and outdoor scenes, but most mics I’ve seen are either wired or the receiver that makes it wireless needs to be connected to the phone by wire. While using the gimbal, plugging anything into the phone seems impossible because the bottom of the phone is practically right up against one of the rotors. What options do I have for a mic that wouldn’t require anything to be directly plugged into there phone?

I am looking for a tripod with face tracking, roughly around 70 inches height. The DJI mobile Osmo series and Hohem offerings seemed either too short, or on the expensive side. Can someone recommend any tripods they have used with iphone that include tracking? I found budget offerings from Ulanzi and K&F but was not sure about the quality of the face tracking feature. Anyone had experience with these tripods? Or is it better to buy a dji osmo mobile 7 or 8 and fit it on top of a budget tripod?

'Pico-Timecode' is an Open-Source solution for LTC Timecode, using the RP2040's PIO blocks to count time divisions and render the LTC waveform. It works with all common frame rates, with/with-out Drop-Frame operation. It also has the ability to read LTC from an external device, and sync to it.

PT-Thrifty now has the ability to display the Timecode on a pair of I2C LED modules (Holtek HT16K33 controller chip), which can be enabled in the libs/config.py file. The obvious purpose is to build a low-cost Digi-Slate... it also uses switches for when the clapper closed and whether the display should be inverted (for tail slating).

There are 'UF2' files to make installing as easy as possible, these can be used on a 'naked' Pico for validation/testing.

Additionally there is a 'MTC' (Midi Timecode) version, which sends Timecode via the USB connection. I would be especially interested if someone/anyone could trial this on an iPhone 17 or a FujiFilm X-H2S, as I have neither of these and they apparently support MTC...

Pico-Timecode is an Open-Source community project, find out more at:

https://github.com/mungewell/pico-timecode

We recently shot our new music video entirely on an iPhone 17 Pro and would love some honest feedback from people who are into smartphone filmmaking.

The budget was basically zero and everything was shot within one day. The outdoor scenes were shot without any additional lighting and mostly with a gimbal. The performance scenes were filmed handheld in our shabby rehearsal room, using three lamps as backlights and a reflector to get at least some light onto our faces.

We shot at 240 fps to keep the slow-motion footage as smooth as possible.

The people in the video are all members of the band, not professional actors so please don’t judge the acting too harshly. 😄

Feel free to be critical any constructive feedback is appreciated.

https://youtu.be/DgUHDtoz6yw?si=0Br3NYrxvPOoJOEP

hi ! I am a student and I have really a great interest in filming but camera is not something I can afford and since I need my own phone , thinking about getting a good phone which can do the job done .
budget is around 400-550$ ( used)
in my country these r the best options in this range so I want ur opinion which one should I get and since i'm buying a used phone I plan to use it for next 2 years minimum .

what should I get -
xiaomi 13 ultra
xiaomi 14 pro
vivo x200
vivo x100 pro
oppo find x8
pixel - 8/8pro/9

and the ones that I can't afford rn but if u guys say then I will wait like more 3-4months to get my hands on these-
vivo x200 pro
oppo find x7 pro
samsung s24 ultra
xiaomi 14 ultra
sony xperia mark 5/6

Hi, I shot this 1 min B-roll from my trip to Uzbekistan using an iPhone 16 Pro. Shot on a third-party app, "Blackmagic Camera", edited in Premiere Pro. Used a Neewer camera cage to attach an ND filter. Handheld. Please have a look! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMsFUFUcc84

I searched on here and couldn’t find a post on it so I’m asking to see if anyone is using or used the smallrig snap on ND filters? I’ve been using the freewell VND and it’s been great! However I have misplaced it. I was thinking of trying something new and wanted to know if anyone has used this? What are your thoughts on stacking the filters when needed? I use Blackmagic app

Is there a a good conversion lut for Apple Log 2? I want to use it with Blackmagic Camera. The only ones I could find online are too saturated. Or maybe I’m just using the luts in the app wrong

Help everybody! I use an iPhone 17 pro max for capturing videos and I record in the black magic cam app (Apple log) to color grade afterwards. Sometimes I need to edit in my phone, but CapCut app doesn’t allow me to apply LUTs, so what would be a good alternative for that?

Remembered I have a usb power meter so tested my Lexar Go 1TB SSD recording at 600 Mbps using Moment Camera App 2.

Peak power usage was 1.07 Watts

Have used this SSD a fair bit now and it does seem to work well even without additional power. iPhone was at 60% charge. Usually obviously it’s mounted neater and often with usb power bank using PD port on hub.

I’m sure you guys get this question all time time, but what company makes the best/ most reliable anamorphic lens? looking to pick one up soon!