As filmmakers and photographers, we're always looking for ways to elevate the content we create, especially when we're working with smartphones. Recently, we had the chance to experiment with the iPhone, paired with the SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens. Here’s a breakdown of my process and how this setup helps to achieve stunning, wide-field shots.

The iPhone is already a powerful device for capturing video, but adding the SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens enhances its capabilities even further. This lens expands the field of view, creating a much wider perspective. The horizontal space it captures makes video footage feel more immersive and cinematic. Whether shooting landscapes or action scenes, the anamorphic lens enhances depth and visual appeal.

The SANDMARC 1.55x squeeze Anamorphic Lens seamlessly attaches to the SANDMARC Case. To set it up, users simply slide the iPhone into the case, ensuring the lens is properly aligned for a distortion-free, flat image. However, as with any anamorphic lens, image wobble can occur when moving the camera, presenting a common challenge for filmmakers.

Using an anamorphic lens on any camera—including the iPhone—introduces the risk of image wobble. Any shake or jitter in movement can be magnified due to the lens’s wide field of view, potentially affecting footage quality.

To counteract this, the SANDMARC Film Rig provides essential stabilization, minimizing shake during simple panning shots or when the camera remains stationary. For more dynamic movements, such as walking or tracking shots, using a gimbal is highly recommended for smoother footage.

The Insta360 Flow Gimbal is particularly effective for stabilizing iPhone video. The combination of the SANDMARC Film Rig and the Insta360 Gimbal helps reduce wobble and shake, allowing for smooth, cinematic shots while maintaining the anamorphic lens’s wide aspect ratio.

The Blackmagic Camera App is a significant tool for mobile filmmakers, especially when paired with the iPhone. This app utilizes Apple's Log profile, providing greater control over video settings and enabling ProRes recording for professional-grade footage.

While ProRes delivers superior image quality, it also consumes significant storage space. A full day of shooting can easily require 200GB of storage, making it impractical for all situations. To balance quality and storage efficiency, shooting in ProRes 422 is recommended. For even more compression, ProRes 422 LT can reduce file sizes by up to 30%.

One of the standout features of the Blackmagic Camera App is its seamless external recording capability. Setting up external storage is straightforward—users can navigate to settings, select "Save Clips To," and choose an external SSD or SD card. Once connected, the app provides real-time monitoring of available storage and recording time, maximizing the iPhone's potential as a filmmaking tool.

After capturing footage, post-production is the next step, and DaVinci Resolve offers an efficient editing workflow. With the latest update (18.6), DaVinci Resolve now supports Apple Log color space transform, simplifying the color grading process.

Users can easily apply the Apple Log color space transform to their clips, select the Rec 709 output, and begin grading. This integration streamlines the transition from filming to editing, eliminating the need for extensive manual adjustments and bulky equipment.

The combination of the iPhone, SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens, and the Blackmagic Camera App provides a professional yet accessible filmmaking setup. Whether capturing expansive landscapes or cinematic sequences, this configuration delivers high-quality video without the need for a large camera rig.

To see the full 4K cinematic video created with this setup, check out the video below!