How to shoot professional video with just an iPhone. Here’s what you need:
- iPhone (Yes it shoots really good quality video as long as you have enough light. I prefer to use natural light whenever possible and haven’t had the need to purchase a lighting kit yet.)
- iPhone 1/4 mount case (update: I use this mount with a Gorilla pod now. It’s universal and fits over most phone cases)
- Tripod (A tripod is essential for still videos. The iphone has no stabilization so any hand held videos will be jittery.)
- Lapel Mic (I use the audio-technica atr3350 corded lapel mic, it’s cheap and sounds great)
- Mic-iPhone Adapter (You need this for the above lapel mic to work)
- FilmiC Pro App (This gives you the ability to lock your focus and white balance so you don’t get refocusing in the middle of your shot.)
- iMovie (It’s free, extremely powerful, has a few limitations but overall is a great place to start. Oh, did I mention it’s free.)
With these 7 things you can shoot full HD high quality video and audio. I relied heavily on this guy to decide which mic to buy that was compatible.
Here is one of my videos that turned out really well with the above setup.
There are however a few limitations.
The biggest being you are limited by the memory on your phone and battery life. If you have a 16Gb phone you might be able to fit about 20-30 minutes of video at one time depending on how many pictures and apps you already have stored. This isn’t a problem if you’re shooting short interviews. But it does become a problem if you want to shoot 2 or 3 interviews in a row. If you are going to shoot lots of videos you may want to pay the extra hundred bucks and get a phone with more memory and purchase a battery pack.
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