iPhone 15 Pro Max Super minimal 4K 60 Rig + Log discussion

[Ryan P]

A super minimal 4K 60 rig. I’m using a Crucial X9 2TB, mounted via MagSafe. Can get 144min for 2TB. The X9 really good bang for buck. $70 for 1TB.

Crucial X9 Pro 2TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s Read and Write - Water and dust Resistant, PC and Mac, with Mylio Photos+ Offer - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT2000X9PROSSD902

Accelerate your workflow with the powerful performance of the Crucial X9 Pro Portable SSD. With space to store thousands of photos, files, and videos and the speed to edit and retouch your portfolio quickly, the Crucial X9 Pro provides support for even taxing workloads along with durability and s...

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Kuaguozhe Sticky Magnetic Wall Mount Compatible with MagSafe Mount, Adhesive Wall Mount Holder for iPhone 15 14 13 12 Pro Max Plus Mini - Ultra Thin & Secure

Kuaguozhe Sticky Magnetic Wall Mount Compatible with MagSafe Mount, Adhesive Wall Mount Holder for iPhone 15 14 13 12 Pro Max Plus Mini - Ultra Thin & Secure

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Afterplug Short USB-C to USB-C Fast Charger Cable, 5 inch, 20 Gbps, 100W, Thunderbolt 3/4/5 & USB4 Compatible, for iPhone 15 & 16, iPad, MacBook, Samsung Galaxy, Tablets, Laptops

The Afterplug USB-C to USB-C USB3 Gen 2 Flat Cable is your travel-friendly solution to charge Type-C devices on-the-go. Featuring USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 data transfer (up to 20 Gbps), PD fast charging (up to 100W), and 4K 60Hz video output, the USB C cable is your must-have accessory for any Type-C devi...

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Purluct Magnetic Slim Designed for iPhone 15 Pro Max Case[Compatible with MagSafe],Thin Finish Skin Hard Back Case [Non Yellowing] Ultra Protective Fit Cover with Camera Protection 6.7 Inch (Clear)

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The mount comes with 2 options. A thick really strong MagSafe and a paper thin, probably strong enough MagSafe. Digging the ultra thin case as well.

If someone finds a 3.5” super flexible USB-C cable, let me know! It has to be flexible or it will pull the drive off the MagSafe.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Cool setup. The usb cable you list seems like a good match — are you concerned that it might pull on the drive too much?

Also, what do you think of the SmallRig cage or similar for a “case”? They are pretty minimalist, and you would have options to connect accessories.

 

[Ryan P]

Cool setup. The usb cable you list seems like a good match — are you concerned that it might pull on the drive too much?

Also, what do you think of the SmallRig cage or similar for a “case”? They are pretty minimalist, and you would have options to connect accessories.

The good/bad thing is if any excessive pressure is applied it will just pull off the MagSafe. Virtually no pressure as set up though. The bigger surface mount, increases the profile, but makes the MagSafe much stronger. With the slim one I am using, it is strong enough to handle moderate shacking of camera, but sometimes comes off in my pocket.

I'm just enthusiast level videographer, but going to try and see if I can grade some of the log footage I took today. Ideally, can do it on M2 iPad, but also have Resolve on Mac Pro. I'd like to be able to do professional looking travel videos as travel a lot.

 

[dsteve]

Thanks for the top pic showing the relative size of the drive to the phone. This looks really promising.

 

[Ryan1524]

Very cool!

 

[Ryan P]

This is a USB-C port on a Bose portable speaker I destroyed. Doesn't take too much, so want to go with a solution that minimizes chance of doing it to iPhone port.

 

[Ryan P]

I managed to get the Apple ProRes Log footage into Davinci Resolve 18.6 on OS X. The needed preset are not currently on the iPad version. I kinda managed to get it looking good, but would be wonderful if someone who knows wtf they are doing did a tutorial on it.

Previewing on a 32" 4K monitor, the quality seems quite high, not quite at the level of my Sony FF with big glass, but it is not bad. Not very noisy in moderate lighting. Also, all the over sharpening seems gone.

Testing both with the Apple Camera app and the Black Magic app. Both seem to work well, but you have far more control with the Black Magic app, and you can apply LUTS in Phone.

 

[Ryan P]

Slight modification. The black USB-C cable I linked is actually slightly shorter than the same cable I already had in white. Good as it is sleeker, but I needed to put a little ziptie to reduce the pressure when bent. I also added a couple drops of super glue to the adhesive on the MagSafe ring, as it gets pretty warm right there, and it was causing the stick on adhesive to come off.

Also I figured how to correct the ProRes log in Davinci. Can do it either in the timeline settings, or as color node "Aces Transform"



From the testing done so far, the log mode yields much less processed results than the HDR or SDR ProRes modes. The results look more like a professional camera than an iPhone.

I also tested vs the Blackmagic app, and it is pretty awesome, as long as you are going to lock the white balance and exposure down for each shot. If you want to let those adjust dynamically, then the Camera app does a much much better job of it.

Blackmagic does let you choose which ProRes codec you want to use, so you can save some space and use 422 LQ. It also let's you apply a LUT in phone so you can see something closer to the final result.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

I was thinking about getting this SSD. I have an old 2010 MacBook Pro which I doubt will update the firmware of this drive. Any advice? They don’t have an iOS app where you can update it connected to the phone so they? Thanks

 

[Ryan P]

I was thinking about getting this SSD. I have an old 2010 MacBook Pro which I doubt will update the firmware of this drive. Any advice? They don’t have an iOS app where you can update it connected to the phone so they? Thanks

You don't need to plug it into a Mac for it to work. It comes formatted with exFat and works as is. You just need usb-c ports, which I don't think you have. Really if you are going to work with the footage, the best bet is one of the Apple Silicon Macs as they have ProRes decoders. It is pretty intensive to work with, especially at 4K 60.

 

[StoneJack]

This is a fascinating thread, thanks OP! I bought iPhone Max Pro 13 for cinema video, sadly due to corona, did not use it that way too much (mostly used my Nikon Z 6 for video), but I have a small gimbal ready, and still have the paid version of the video app (forgot its name). I would mostly take smaller shots with the internal memory, but your experience is great! For video editing I use MBA m2 and a large Intel desktop with i9 10850 32GB of memory, the app is Final Cut Pro and sound is on Logic Pro.

 

[Duradrum]

How did you apply LOG in the Blackmagic app? I can’t see an option for LOG in it.

 

[Ryan P]

How did you apply LOG in the Blackmagic app? I can’t see an option for LOG in it.

It's in the Color Space section.

 

[Duradrum]

Weird mines not there

 

[Ryan P]

Weird mines not there

On a 15 Pro model? Just checked on my 14 Pro, and I don't see the log option.

 

[Duradrum]

4K 60 bitrate is nice

 

[Duradrum]

On a 15 Pro model?

Pro Max

 

[Duradrum]

Scrap that - just deleted and reinstalled the app and it’s there now. I downloaded the app when I had my 13 Pro, so I assume it needed a fresh download on the 15 PM to load the LOG mode.

 

[Duradrum]

Next question! Did you manage to find the Apple LUT for iPhone?

 

[Velin]

You legit could shoot a good movie with just that setup.

 

[Duradrum]

Seems I can actually record in 4K60 LOG direct onto the phone in Blackmagic App.

I thought external SSD was required for this.

 

[Ryan P]

Next question! Did you manage to find the Apple LUT for iPhone?

Yes, I think it is free from Apple somewhere, but I was struggling to find it, so bought it for $25 in a LUT pack.

It is from the YouTuber here. It works well, in the app, but shouldn't be needed elsewhere, as the editors all supporting it natively.

 

[Ryan P]

Seems I can actually record in 4K60 LOG direct onto the phone in Blackmagic App.

I thought external SSD was required for this.View attachment 2277725

I saw that, didn't test it. Probably is a viable option, if you go with a lower bitrate codec or have a high storage iPhone. They support a lot that Apple isn't... I think their app is doing way less computational photography, likely freeing up the resources.

If you are doing a film, their app makes a ton of sense. If you are walking around your house taking videos...the ability of the Camera app to seamlessly adjust the exposure and white balance is nice. You can't even tell when the Camera app adjusts, but is very obvious if you let the Blackmagic app adjust those.

 

[zach-coleman]

Any problems with it blocking the ultra wide?

 

[Cloudyskies22]

You don't need to plug it into a Mac for it to work. It comes formatted with exFat and works as is. You just need usb-c ports, which I don't think you have. Really if you are going to work with the footage, the best bet is one of the Apple Silicon Macs as they have ProRes decoders. It is pretty intensive to work with, especially at 4K 60.

Thanks for your reply, I’m actually just wanting to use it for extra storage, not your implementation of the 4K 60 ProRaw video capture. I have a 128GB 15 Pro and yeah my laptop is the 2010 MacBook Pro which can no longer link up with new iPhones to get any data off them. The only way I can move data to that Mac anymore is to literally upload to iCloud and then download from iCloud to the Mac. It’s basically useless due to no more software updates for like 8 years or whatever it’s been now.

Isn’t this drive capable of formatting to APFS? Wouldn’t Apple’s file system be better compression or something? Also, I read some reviewer on Amazon state that they got higher read/write after updating firmware, but maybe they aren’t correct on that.