The Ultimate Smartphone Filmmaker’s Equipment List
Guest writer: Tristan Pope
I have been asked frequently to recommend equipment to make iPhone Films. Well, here it is!
A full image gallery of the equipment I own and use depending on the project. I still stick to my thoughts that the best equipment is that which fits your specific project. But if you want it all; here is a great starting point!
- Fly-X3 Plus Electronic Gimbal Stabilizer
- Feiyu Steady Gimbal with carbon fiber extension rods for some amazing sweeping, overhead, crane shots.
- GripGear’s IndieSolo Steady Cam Rig (really quite amazing and an amazing company!)
- Beastgrip Rig. Including DoF adapter and my canon lenses mainly use my 50mm 1.4 (allows the attachment of DSLR lenses to your iPhone. It truly is a BEAST)
- Olloclip Lens attachments (polarizing lens being the most used piece of glass I utilize)
- Lens Baby Lens attachment for those crazy shots
- Glidecam Steadycam
- Amazon Basics Tripod for basic still shots (you can get ball head attachments and stronger tripods, which I own too, but for the lightweight iPhone this works fine!)
- Zoom H1 Recorder and Lav (off camera sound is always the way to go although the next item is making me change that thought, although I will always say stick with Zoom products they are high quality!)
- Zoom iQ5 (this little beast plugs directly into the lightning adapter and has truly amazing sound, rivaling the H1 and lav)
- 2 iPhone 6’s the Plus and regular 6. It is important to have a backup and dedicated shooter with any shoot.
- iPad Air (uses are often for clapboard, shotlisting, etc)
- Blackwing Gun handle mounts. Great for run and gun or standing pans, tilts, etc.
- Shoulder rig for those music video shots. No specific brand, they all do the same thing.
- Gorilla Pod, so many uses! Check the Behind the Scenes from Romance in NYC to see it in use!
- A ton of iPhone holders for attachment to tripods, rigs etc. My main one being Reti-Cam (super solid design)
- Anker Battery Backup (can charge the phone from 0-100 8 times)
- APC battery backup (cheap on ebay and works great charged phone 2 times)
- iClever car charger with four ports to charge all accessories.
- A selfie stick for… yeah still not sure why, my parents got it for me for Christmas as a joke lol
- a GoPro for behind the scenes and wide angle shots(includes a ton of body rigs)
- Desktek 3D headset, can be drilled to have a hole for the camera so you can shoot some great PoV
- Extra tripods, monopods, mini tripods, etc.
- Cat
I plan to add some rail systems and 3 axis gimbals to the mix soon to accommodate the Beastgrip.
As you can see, even when shooting on an iPhone or mobile device it is important to have the proper equipment, filmmaking 101 knowledge, and know how to apply it. However your equipment gets smaller, is easier to travel with, and can spur some truly creative shots!
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Tristan Pope is an Emmy-Award winning director and photographer in New York City. His recent festival-bound iPhone short films “Romance in NYC” and “Dancers of New York”, have demonstrated his work as an innovative cinematographer/director. Sought after as a speaker/presenter at Apple Stores as well as the Toronto International film festival, Pope is thrilled to be able to share his creative vision with an increasingly widespread audience. Visit tristanpope.com.
Eager to learn more?
Join our weekly newsletter featuring inspiring stories, no-budget filmmaking tips and comprehensive equipment reviews to help you turn your film projects into reality!
