iPhone 8 Plus + Zhiyun Smooth Q | Test Footage

Today we went to the Forks again! You can often find us hanging out and skating there in the winter months. This time we went with the intention of trying out a new piece of gear! The Zhiyun Smooth Q paired with an iPhone 8 Plus! We had intended to shoot test footage, and document the shoot on one of our Sony's, but after leaving home we realized that we had left all our cameras at home! So not only did we shoot the test footage on iPhone, all of our photos were iPhone too!

We paired the Zhiyun Smooth Q and iPhone 8 Plus with the FiLMiC Pro app. We had downloaded the cinematographers kit last month, but we finally had a chance to put it to use! We'll be posting a Smooth Q review next week, but there are a few things worth pointing out about FiLMiC Pro and the iPhone. 

1. iPhones Don't Perform Well in the Cold

This is nothing new to Canadians. Every single time we skate at the Forks, we pull out our phone for a selfie and it freezes, literally freezes. It's long been common knowledge that iPhone's can't handle the cold, but today the iPhone 8 Plus held out much longer than expected! It was roughly -4 Celcius (the warmest day so far this year), and the 8 Plus never shut down! However, about 20 minutes into filming on the FiLMiC Pro app I noticed a lag while recording. I thought it was simply the cold affecting the display, but when I pulled all the footage into post-production it appeared like it had been recording with a lowered shutter speed, the footage was in fact choppy and unusable. 

2. FiLMic Pro Cinematographer Kit is Worth the Investment

The $15.99 spent on the cinematographer kit gave access to colour profiles, log recording and a host of other features. Being able to have such command of iPhone footage was awesome! I'm not sure if there is another app out there that can do what this app can. If you intend to shoot anything on your iPhone and want to have some room to play with it in post, this is your app. 

3. The Smooth Q Performs as Advertised

Simply put, the Smooth Q does exactly what Zhiyun says it will do: it'll take your iPhone movie making to the next level. Our full review is being worked on and we'll make sure to share it then, but this is a piece of gear we're happy to have in our bag! 

We're big fans of the Smooth Q, the iPhone 8 Plus and the FiLMiC Pro app! We would recommend on all three counts! Until next time,

Lauren and Jordan