In this day and age, smartphone cameras are becoming better and better. They’ve gotten so good, in fact, that more and more videographers have decided to shoot their wedding videos on a phone instead of a professional camera. Many people view this as a red flag, however, as smartphones are not generally seen as professional tools. So in this article I wanted to add my two cents as a wedding videographer.
What can smartphones do?
Smartphone cameras have come a long way. The image quality and professional features accessible on a modern phone are unlike anything you could have found even just a few years ago. One notable example is the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which really took smartphone video to a whole new level.
All that is to say: if you were going to shoot a wedding video on a smartphone, there’s never been a better time to do it. The image quality and features available on modern smartphones allow you to capture some pretty good footage. Not to mention accessories; you can buy lenses, lights, filters, stabilizers, and much more to attach to your phone in order to improve the video quality. In addition, there’s more to a good video than JUST the image itself. Things like editing, color correction, and music also have a major impact on the overall quality of a wedding video.
Smartphones are lighter and (usually) cheaper than a professional camera, and they also come as an all-in-one package. You don’t need to buy extra batteries, lenses, etc. Everything is housed within the phone. This makes them more portable and versatile in certain situations.
The limitations of smartphones, and the benefits of a “real” camera.
For how far smartphones have come, there are still some limitations. The biggest limitation is simply that smartphones are not designed exclusively for shooting video; they have a plethora of other uses and features, whereas a professional camera just shoots photos and videos, and is designed for that purpose and that purpose alone.
Smartphones have many other limitation as well; poorer image quality (particularly in low light conditions), lower quality lenses, less manual control, and a body design that isn’t optimal for video shooting, to name a few. In other words, what you gain in convenience and portability, you lose in quality and versatility.
With a professional camera, on the other hand, you have better image quality, the ability to change your lens, advanced video features, a body designed for professional work, and much more. So ultimately, despite how far smartphones have come, they still don’t hold a candle to a professional, high-end camera.
So, CAN you shoot a wedding video on a phone?
The short answer is yes. A skilled videographer will know the strengths and limitations of their gear, and will be able to get the most out of any camera they use. A smartphone isn’t perfect, and objectively will not perform as well as a professional camera. However, a videographer who knows what they’re doing will still be able to get some good footage out of it, even if it doesn’t quite hold up to the more professional gear. At the end of the day, if a couple is happy with their wedding video, then it shouldn’t matter too much how it was shot.
There is one caveat, though. If a wedding videographer does choose to shoot exclusively with a smartphone, I think it’s important that they communicate that from the very beginning. While the “unprofessional” connotation around phones is (mostly) undeserved, it is true that they’re not as capable as a professional camera. So if a couple is expecting their wedding videographer to have a “real” camera, and find that they’re using a smartphone instead, that couple may feel lied to or misled. But if the videographer is open and honest from the beginning about the gear that they use, and shows the couple that they’re still able to make great wedding videos even with a smartphone, then I personally don’t see any issue with that.
