The iOgrapher has changed how we film our videos!
5 Reasons to DITCH your DSLR for an iOgrapher
Today we’re going to give 4 reasons to ditch your DSLR in favour of an iPhone 6s Plus setup with the iOgrapher. We’ve been using this setup exclusively for a dozen videos on our YouTube channel in the last month, so these reasons are based on our experience of ditching the Canon 70D’s for approx. 120 hours of video production.
The TL:DW version of this video is this: The iOgrapher has changed how we capture video for the channel. We’re big fans of the product and after will plan on keeping it in our video production process but there is a hurdle that 1-person setups may not be able to overcome with an iOgrapher setup. We’ll elaborate on that point after the 5 reasons to ditch your DSLR for an iOgrapher.
We’ve done a full review for this product so if you’re wondering what we thought of it, find it on here.
#1 – The iOgrapher is easier to handle
The entire iOgrapher setup is smaller and easier to handle than the the Canon 70D. We shoot in a variety of different places so the portability is nice. With the improved handling, it has allowed us to be a little more creative, to film a little more often because we’ve got a solid, mobile camera setup.
The increased handling of the iOgrapher has also given us the confidence to take our iPhones out into the field via Periscope (see our first ever Periscope here). The ability to use mics with an iPhone and the handles on the case allows us to shoot live video quickly and efficiently. For you guys, it means that you get to see Aaron do more stupid things on the internet!
The entire setup is also easier to manage. The iOGrapher setup resulted in our camera bag being lighter due to the absence of extra chargers and batteries, and there are no SD cards to manage. We go through SD cards like nobodies business so being able to leave that out of the video production process is awesome (and cheaper!)
[divider][/divider]
#2 – The iOgrapher is a cheaper setup
The entire iOgrapher setup is cheaper. You’ll save on SD cards as we mentioned above but if you’ve got an iPhone already and want to have a video recording rig, spending $100 bucks on the case and two lenses is way more cost effective than spending thousands of dollars on a DSLR setup.
Now you might argue that the quality of the DSLR may be better but if you’re loading footage up to the internet, it gets re-rendered, so most of the finer details of DSLR footage disappears. The belief that DSLR’s shoots better footage may not even be true in a couple of years as we’ve seen current 4K comparison videos that give that hat-tip to the iPhone.
[divider][/divider]
#3 – The iPhone screen is way bigger than any DSLR preview screen
Shooting with a larger preview screen was one of the biggest things we noticed with the iOgrapher. There is no way we’re going back to shooting product closeups with a DSLR. The larger screen of the iPhone in the iOgrapher made capturing the footage easier and quicker. You see more on your screen, the quicker it is to figure out which shots you need.
Rather than capturing approx. 8-10 mins of closeup footage, we were able to get most product shots done in approx. six mins. This increase is mostly due to the auto-focus of the iPhone, which is much quicker than the auto-focus on the 70D (which was amazing when we first got the cameras).
[divider][/divider]
#4 – Shoot better footage with the iOgrapher
Don’t get us wrong, we love our DSLRs. We love taking them out and finding the perfect shot with the perfect settings. We upgraded our 60D’s with 70D’s in 2013 because solely because of the auto-focus feature of the 70D. The camera at the time was better than shooting footage on the iPhone 5 and 5s, but we feel that the technology in the 6s is as good for videos, if not better, than the Canon 70D.
The camera in the iPhone is going to get better every year which means that with each iteration of the iPhone, you will capture images that will be higher in resolution, better in contrast and color clarity, and quicker. You can easily fire up the iPhone’s camera quicker than firing up Canon 70D.
[divider][/divider]
#5 – The world needs more you!
Being able to capture, edit and share your video footage on one device means that you have more opportunities to share what you do. With a DSLR setup, to share footage to Instagram, you have to download the footage, edit it, load to your device before sharing it. With footage captured through iOgrapher, you don’t need to transfer any footage to any other devices. All you have to do is edit on the iPhone and share it.
Removing the need for footage to be transferred from the DSLR means that you’ll be able to share more of what you do quickly, which is important in this hyper-connected world that we live in. If you’re not on top of things, you’re going to be forgotten and/or ignored unless you’re producing interesting content for your fans/viewers/subscribers. The iOgrapher allows you to do that quickly, well and safely.
[divider][/divider]
Why you shouldn’t ditch the DSLR’s for the iOgrapher
The only reason that we could find to keep your DSLR’s around is if you’re a 1-person crew who films themselves (this reason will only apply to DSLR’s with a movable preview screen like the Canon 70D). Trying to ensure that your footage is framed/exposed properly with the iOgrapher is very difficult because you can’t see yourself.
There are apps that can help such as Camera Plus which has a functionality called AirSnap which allows you to stream a live preview from one iOS device to another, but the app itself doesn’t allow for complete control of the footage, unlike MoviePro and FilmMicPro.
Aaron had to re-shoot three videos because of improper exposure and focus which is something that would not have happened when shooting with the DSLR’s.
Now this issue isn’t a deal breaker as it is not a hardware issue but rather an issue with finding the right app to use. If you’re a videographer who stays behind the camera, all the time then this isn’t an issue for you.
[divider][/divider]
That’s all we got for this video. Do you have questions or comments about the 5 Reasons to DITCH your DSLR for an iOgrapher? Please ask them on our Google+ page or our Facebook page or our About Us page.
Deidre
December 27, 2015 at 11:51 pm
Are you using any app other than the stock iPhone camera app to do your videos?
Thank you for your work in your reviews. I’m learning a lot from this site.