zarmanto
macrumors 65816
I feel like this is the prelude to an announcer saying, "All these questions answered -- and more! in our exclusive behind the scenes look at the making of..."
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 17 Pro Will Make Sports History This Weekend
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Spiffyis5150
macrumors regular
As a fellow broadcast video engineer(Apple is one of my customers too), I said the exact the same thing as soon as I read the front page. They must have told the actual production crew to go home because they couldn't stop laughing. Talk about a PR stunt!
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
Sounds like a somewhat shortsighted take to me. I don't think it's reasonable to assume that professional production will always be the purview of large expensive videography hardware.
I would suggest thinking of this less as a PR stunt (which it still is, to some degree) and more as a full immersion test of a new methodology. If this test proves out, production studios could be flocking to follow this example. After all, with professional videography cameras ranging from the high thousands on up into the tens of thousands of dollars, the potential savings on equipment costs could be substantial.
(Fancy that... an Apple device proving to be the less expensive option, for a change?? Ha!)
indychris
macrumors 6502a
That's just how I carry mine! Of course I did have to find jeans with a bit deeper pockets and now I wear suspenders!
CalMin
Contributor
This is, of course, a total marketing exercise and a bit of a hardware/software flex by Apple. I mean we all know that no true professional would ditch their broadcast setup and buy an iPhone instead.
But all jokes about rigging aside, it IS pretty remarkable that the sensor and encoding in the iPhone can even do this. We'll get solid 4K quality images at 60fps (or more for slo-mo's) with acceptable dynamic range and little in the way of compression artifacts. That a phone can even do that has to be applauded.
But all jokes about rigging aside, it IS pretty remarkable that the sensor and encoding in the iPhone can even do this. We'll get solid 4K quality images at 60fps (or more for slo-mo's) with acceptable dynamic range and little in the way of compression artifacts. That a phone can even do that has to be applauded.
We’re really stretching the definition of making history with this one.
I guess it’s true in the sense the bowl of Raisin Bran I ate is making history in my stomach.
I guess it’s true in the sense the bowl of Raisin Bran I ate is making history in my stomach.
Steve Adams
macrumors 68020
If you want to see how it all works. Samsung made the same sports history capturing the Paris Olympics with the s2x ultra. Nothing new with this news. They used the devices on both the opening ceremonies and capturing different events throughout the Olympics.
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
During the Paris Olympics, the majority of the video coverage was reportedly accomplished with multiple models of Sony HDC series cameras, while Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra phones were used in a very small subset of footage. (source) If Apple's press release is accurate and not embellishing the facts, then the "new" herein is embodied entirely in the word "exclusively"... suggesting that no other cameras will be used.
I, for one, have little to no interest in sports in general -- but I absolutely will be reading the after reports on this event, to see if Apple's claims herein prove out, and if this little experiment of theirs meaningfully turns any heads within the industry.
Spiffyis5150
macrumors regular
Umm, no not short sighted. I've worked 20+ years in the broadcast world including events like Super Bowl, World Cup and Olympics down to small stuff like C-USA and smaller college events. I know the technology, I know how the trucks work and how broadcast productions are produced. I live it everyday. I love tech and my iPhone 17 Pro Max is amazing, but it's not a full blown camera like we use in broadcast. It doesn't even support HD-SDI(the standard for all broadcast cameras and trucks for raw video). Sure you can do stuff like HDMI to HD-SDI conversion and you can ignore stuff like how much detail the camera sensors have in the iPhones, but it's vastly inferior to most major cameras. You(the viewer) who are watching TV at home(especially stuff like HD/4K with HDR that everyone wants these days) will not be happy because it's not realistic. Could be someday, but for now, it's a PR stunt. Will be interesting to see how it looks, but at the end of the day, it's not a serious thing to consider in the world of broadcast, no matter how big Apple is.
szw-mapple fan
macrumors 68040
Let’s not pretend a professional camera won’t also have to be in that rigging equipment if it’s used in something like this.
caliguy
macrumors 6502
Sure, but then why skimp on the camera sensor at that point? It’s like putting street car tires on a race car.
"With cameras positioned throughout the venue, the broadcast will deliver the pristine video quality fans expect, alongside dynamic new perspectives that bring viewers closer to the action, made possible by the small form factor of iPhone."
Um, no. And I get that this is a PR opportunity for Apple.
Um, no. And I get that this is a PR opportunity for Apple.
- We've had stellar 1080 quality broadcasts in the USA for at least 15 years. While some very select sports events are in 4k because broadcasting (everything between the camera and your tv) in 4k is still very expensive. So unless AppleTV is broadcasting in 4k there is nothing better than existing 1080.
- Once you start zooming in on an iPhone (I have the 16 Pro), it gets grainy/noisy pretty quick. Regular tv cameras provide far, far, far better quality than the iPhone 17. So unless Apple is attaching external lenses to the iPhones and keeping the iPhone recording set to 1x, it's not gonna look good to zoom in a bit (presumably from a few hundred feet away from the action). My bet is Apple will, in fact, attach all sorts of expensive external zoom and wide-angle lenses and other accessories (like they have done in other we-shot-it-all-on-iPhone activities) but the viewer is never going to realize this.
AgeOfSpiracles
macrumors 6502a
Of course it will. But it will still be using the iPhone sensor and image processing done in the phone.
My Nikon Z9 is pretty useless until I attach the proper lens and accessories for video recording (monitor, audio interface/mics, focus & zoom motors, focus wheel, external battery).
And then I attach it all to my gimbal/chest support/arm.
DogHouseDub
macrumors 6502a
The 17 Pro can do a 200mm equivalent, which is the normal big lens. Do they use a 500mm to get shots of the catcher/batter?
They have to have a grip, because adjusting the zoom level on the phone is awkward.
bigheaddoug
macrumors regular
You can pair focus wheels (this is the one I use) with the Blackmagic Camera App to control focus or zoom.
BGPL
macrumors 65816
This is not making history. It's like a pianist saying "instead of playing on a Steinway this evening, I'm going to play on an upright Yamaha". Using an inferior camera is just marketing, nothing more. The cameras they use to film these events cost over 100k - using an iPhone isn't something to be in awe of, it's just a publicity stunt and as someone paying for MLS (can't imagine anyone would, but I guess they're out there), I would be pissed that you're being used as a marketing tool.
Also, they're using high end production tools by skilled a skill production team. This isn't just a bunch of iPhone video clips being pieced together in near real-time.
Also, they're using high end production tools by skilled a skill production team. This isn't just a bunch of iPhone video clips being pieced together in near real-time.
