Filmmakers Know That iPhone's Aperture is Really For Us

Among all the other news that has recently rolled out for the new iPhone, there is one bit of news that demands the most attention for filmmakers. The iPhone has added a bladed aperture to its lenses on the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. The camera in the 17 Pro opened to f/1.78, and now the camera can open to f/1.48, while also stopping down to f/4.

That means that, just like your cinema camera, and also like your Fuji X-H2S or Sony FX3, you can adjust the aperture of the lens. This is a tremendous technical feat: to squeeze even more functionality into the tiny little camera that goes in your pocket.

Why Are We So Attached to the iPhone

As the internet always does, some people pointed out that there are other competitors in the mix with a variable aperture. That’s true, but right now in the “cinematic filmmaking” space of people hoping to tell bigger stories with their phone, the iPhone really owns the space. Since Tangerine up through 28 Years Later, the iPhone is the defining “wow, you can do good work on this platform” camera.

Reasons to Be Excited

Well, first and foremost, it lets you adjust your exposure without either changing your ISO or adding external ND filters, and that is huge. Filmmakers care more than anyone else about consistent image quality, and changing exposure by ISO can mean that two shots in the same scene have different noise quality. To change exposure by exposure time can mean they have different motion sensations.

Mixing an f/2 and an f/4 shot in the same scene is so common it happens all the time. Filmmakers are going to love having this level of control without having to change other settings that create image issues they have to polish out later, if it’s even possible.

Why These Specific Apertures

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