iPhones and Formula 1 cars may not seem an obvious match, but it's been revealed that for the Apple Original movie, F1, starring Brad Pitt, Apple constructed a custom-made on-board camera comprised of iPhone parts.
Read more: the best iPhone for photography
On-board cameras on Formula 1 cars have been a fixture for decades, with the camera module often located on the side of the car's air box, just behind the driver's head. However, these cameras are designed to transmit video footage for live television broadcasting, whereas the production team behind F1 required the movie video to be shot at a higher resolution, using a different color space and recording codec. Apparently it was easier to construct a new on-board camera designed especially for the job than convert/upscale footage from existing on-board broadcast cameras.
The camera that Apple came up with doesn't resemble an iPhone externally, as it had to fit within the existing aerofoil-shaped camera housing that attaches to the side of the car. The new camera even had to be built to a pre-defined weight, in order to not upset the finely-tuned balance of an Formula 1 car. Although Apple hasn't revealed the exact specs of the camera it created, it's been speculated that it may feature the same 48MP primary camera from the iPhone 15 Pro, as well as its A17 Pro chipset. This is because Apple has previously used similar cameras mounted to Formula 1 cars during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The cameras used for the movie production apparently also contained a neutral density filter to enable better control over exposure, while video is said to have been recorded in log with Apple's ProRes lossless video codec, in order to give editors more color grading freedom for matching the look of footage captured by other cameras.
As the camera module doesn't contain any form of wireless transmission, the only way to communicate with it is via a custom iPad app connected via a USB cable. The app then allowed the production team to change camera settings such as frame rate, exposure and white balance, and to start and stop recordings. The iPhone-based camera module also needed extensive testing to ensure it could cope with the demands of recording video while mounted to a Formula 1 car. You'd normally choose a vehicle with supple suspension to effectively absorb bumps and keep your video smooth. A Formula 1 car is exactly the opposite: hard and unforgiving, therefore Apple presumably required some next-level image stabilization to counteract the extreme camera vibrations.
The use of iPhone tech in a major movie production isn't unique to F1. Other filmmakers have utilised this relatively accessible means of filmmaking before, and even the upcoming Danny Boyle horror blockbuster 28 Years Later has been partially shot on iPhone. And it's thanks to the increasing use of camera phones in movie making that Apple has now implemented features like log encoding and the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) color workflow into iOS.
Of course, if you do fancy giving movie-making a go, just because a current iPhone has the ability to record in a professional video format doesn't mean you'll instantly end up with Hollywood-grade footage. The right lighting, stabilization, and a tripod will also likely be required, as well as a creative eye of course.
Story credit: Wired
