in it's latest iPhone, Apple added "Rack Focus" to its abilities...
Apple went out of its way, at least with the production value of its video showcase for their "Event." Drone shots and various scenic locations throughout California accompanied a soulful rendition of California Dreaming. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just show me what's under the hood!
On top of the new A15 Bionic chip and series of iPads, Apple released its latest iteration of the iPhone, in iPhone 13. There are four members to this release:
iPhone 13 mini
iPhone 13
iPhone Pro
iPhone Pro Max
The Specs
The Display
All of the members in this series have brighter screens for visibility and HDR. 1000 nits for the iPhone 13 and 1200 nits peak on the iPhone 13 Pros. And for the notch haters out there, it's still there, but Apple shrunk it by 20%.
The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max both come with 120 Hz displays. They are pro-motion displays with variable refresh rates from 10 Hz to 120 Hz. Now a camera snob like myself, this sounds great, but I wonder if this matters to the typical consumer or noticed by them.
Battery Life
According to Apple, they expect the iPhone 13 Pro to last upwards of 1.5 hours longer than iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max to last 2.5 hours longer than iPhone 12 Pro Max. Now, this sounds great, but check back with me when I use these phones in real-life applications, so excuse me if I sound skeptical.
The Cameras
The layout of the phone now has the cameras diagonally set from one another. Both the 13 and 13 mini cameras are:
12MP Wide
New 1.7 sensor
47% more light-gathering
f/1.6 aperture
26 mm focal length
7-element lens
100% focus Pixels
12MP Ultra Wide
New, faster sensor
f/2.4 aperture
13 mm focal length
5 - element lens
120-degree field of view
Sensors shift object optical stabilization to the primary sensor. So theoretically, pictures should be more stable even in low light.
On the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, you have three cameras:
Telephoto
77 mm focal length
3x optical zoom (Up from 2.5x in last years iPhone 12)
Ultra-Wide
f/1.8 aperture
6-element lens
Autofocus
Up to 92% improvement in low light (I have no idea how they quantitatively measured this)
Wide
f/1.5 aperture
1.9 um pixels
Up to 2.2x improvement in low light (again OK)
All of the cameras have night mode now. The Ultra Wide in the Pro Max can shoot macro photos.
Video Mode
I come from a film production background, so I'm somewhat snobbish when it comes to cameras, whether photos or video. However, I'm OK with the video output from iPhones of the past.
With the iPhone 13, Apple is adding to new video modes, Cinematic Mode and ProRes Video.
Cinematic Mode has focus tricks and tools to help users control focus. Such as smooth focus racking. Smooth focus uses A.I.-based depth detection to create a level of fake blur and depth of field. Smooth focus allows the camera to focus rack between subjects in a way that safely moves the blur.
Again, being the camera snob, I instantly saw the focus racks "hunting" a bit during Apple's demo. In close-ups, you can see the edges of the frame move. And again, I'm picky, iPhone lenses aren't par-focal, and they don't need to be. At the end of the day, it's a phone. While it's a cute gimmick, good enough to trick typical viewers, this is not proper Rack Focus.
So, WTF is rack focus, you ask? At its bare meaning, it's when a lens changes its focus during a shot. Something in focus goes out of focus, while some out of focus go in focus within the scene.
For example, here we go from the woman and wine glass in focus and fireplace out of focus to the fireplace in focus and the woman and wine glass out of focus:
On set, the 1st Assistant camera operator does the focus. They start with a high F-stop to achieve "Deep DOF" (Depth of Field). Then by lowering the F-stop to get a "Shallow DOF," one thing is usually in focus, and everything is not. It's easy to do, but the setup can take some time. You have to measure the objects you focus on from where they are in the scene to the camera lens, then mark the focus ring on the lens. That way, you'll quickly know where to stop for one object then the other.
The iPhone 13 mimics this enough where your typical viewer thinks it was captured on a professional camera.
OK, so I get it, but how can I use this?
Your typical fetish video doesn't have many situations for Rack Focus; however, I know where it would fit in certain conditions. A model could start from her face then rack straight to her toes or vice versa without panning. Take a shoe dipping scenario, for instance. You can have an onlooker "tortured" by the tease of her toes going in and out of her shoes. The iPhone points at her feet, then Rack Focus to the onlooker. Such techniques can move story and in a way adds to the production value.
Our community has such talented content creators and producers. So I know that this feature will find its way into numerous productions to come.
Pricing
So when all is said and done, how much are we talking?
128GB iPhone 13 Mini - $699/$729
128GB iPhone 13 - $799/$829
128GB iPhone 13 Pro - $999/$1029
128GB iPhone 13 Pro Max - $1099/$1129
And if you're pockets are deep for the maxed out, geeked up:
1 TB iPhone 13 Pro Max - $1599
So, should I get the damn thing or not?
Without holding the new phone, and using it and purely going by the specs, if you have an iPhone 11 or iPhone 12, I don't feel there's a need to upgrade. I mean, miles may vary, but for the new features in this series, you're good with an 11 or 12.
However, if you have an iPhone 10 or older, the 120 Hz pro screen is enough, in my opinion, to move up. The crisp colors and bright screen will make reviewing and possibly editing video and photos easier before posting to Instagram, fans sites, or various platforms.
I will do a thorough test when I get my hands on one. Hopefully, we will rack focus to some pretty toes in low light, golden hour, and under some incandescent settings. Hopefully theres a subject willing to participate! Stay tuned.
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