iPhone 13’s cinematic mode will let you manipulate focus like a pro
The iPhone 13 could make your mobile footage look a lot more like Hollywood films. Apple’s new phones feature cinematic mode, which can mimic the focus capabilities from professional cameras. It can automatically focus your video scenes on specific subjects — for example, making someone in the foreground look completely clear, while everyone in the background is blurred out. Even better, cinematic mode is smart enough to push focus to someone in the background if a foreground character looks at them. And, of course, you’ll also be able to manually choose focus points if you want.
Apple says cinematic mode is possible thanks to the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic processor. As usual, the company claims it’s far faster than competing mobile chips (50-percent better, in this case), which opens the door for entirely new software features. The iPhone 13’s camera also has optical image stabilization tech from last year’s 12 Pro Max, along with far better sensors, all of which help make cinematic mode possible.
It’s unclear just how advanced cinematic mode is at this point. (Notably, it’s limited to 1080p and 30fps, according to Apple’s specs.) But if it works as advertised, it could be a major upgrade for home videos and pros looking to shoot with iPhones. Professionals can also take their footage to another level with the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, both of which support ProRes video.
At this point, it looks like cinematic mode could go the way of portrait capabilities, a feature that every smartphone maker will race to replicate. (And yes, we know that first arrived on Android phones.)
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