The iPhone X/10 vs. the RED Epic W

Every now and then, I hear about how phone cameras are picking up speed to be on par with digital cinema cameras. In the video above, co-founders of Corridor Digital, Niko Pueringer and Sam Gorski look into the differences and "what makes a camera good?" between the iPhone X and the RED Epic W 4K camera.

There are five main points to be made:

1. Resolution - refers to how many pixels your image has. The more pixels, the more detail is available. The RED Epic W holds 8K, which is double the amount of pixels in comparison to the iPhone X's 4K. So, naturally, when the image is zoomed in, in this particular example, certain details are lost, such as the bricks on walls, and the STOP sign at the back. In this aspect, the RED stands strong. However, from a distance the iPhone and RED's quality differences are minor.

2. Dynamic Range - how well does the camera deal with differences in light and dark before being either overexposed or underexposed. The RED outperforms the iPhone, so much so that, even when bringing the ISO down in post, the details in the background are still present. The iPhone "clips out", but still does a decent job at exposing the subject and some of the background.

3. High Frame Rate - lots more data to be processed by the camera, as there are more Frames Per Second (FPS) than when shooting normally. The iPhone X can shoot up to 240FPS, as can the RED. In the example, the iPhone can't read all the pixels off its sensor at 240FPS, so it skips pixels, creating a flickering effect. The RED on the other hand maintains its quality throughout.

4. Low Light - Shooting in low light does have several elements to consider. On a cinematic digital camera, you've got ISO, shutter speed, aperture (t-stops), resolution and of course, light sources placed specifically for it. In the video, the RED is set at 6400 ISO, and due to the large sensor size, the noise (or grain) becomes hardly noticeable. The iPhone holds up decently, but nevertheless has somewhat more noise present in its image when zoomed in.

5. Codec Test - This is where it gets very techincal. Codec refers to the way in which the camera translates and compresses the data that it receives on its sensor into something that you can look at. During the slow motion test, the RED picks up the small heat-waves data, which is otherwise lost in the iPhone's data.

Ultimately, phone cameras have improved tremendously in the last few years, and it would not be impossible to shoot a decent film - as was done with the film Tangerine. And while there are limitations to be aware of, and they shouldn't be underestimated, it would be perfectly reasonable to assume, as in the video, that phone cameras will eventually reach the same level of quality as cinematic cameras. The iPhone X is arguably being promoted and sold to people taking images or shooting video to show to their friends or to be posted onto various social media - resulting in shortcuts being made. But who's to say that those shortcuts will stay there forever? With technology constantly changing, there is no reason why we won't see a 4K, high dynamic range, cinematic phone within the next 10 years.