OnePlus One mobile phone vs. 5D mark III

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by Sebastian WöberAugust 19^th, 2014

There was a time when we laughed at the thought of DSLR cameras shooting professional video and challenging 35mm film. That time has passed. But today it seems we’re getting closer to the next shock, when mobile phones come into play.

Here is a side by side video between the new OnePlus One phone and the Canon 5D mark III. Notice how well the phone reproduces the scene and how clean the image is, very much on-par with the 5D mark III, or even better.

Furthermore the image of the OnePlus One video is a lot sharper than the 5D mark III, that is due to the fact that it records in 4K resolution and can on top of that shoot 120fps in 720p. With the right accessories maybe this phone could even become a GoPro replacement.

Certainly one must point out that the phone’s sensor is a lot smaller than the one on the 5D mark III which both affects lowlight capabilities as well as limiting the depth-of-field to be very large, meaning there will not be any natural soft background which cinematographers love to use.
The above video gives only a partial insight to what the phone can achieve as a video camera, limited to wide shots under perfect lighting conditions.

It seems to cost $299 as the 16GB version which seems fairly affordable, both as a phone as well as a 4K pocket video camera.

We can be curious to see where all this is going with the iPhone 6 announcement around the corner that is said to have an even better camera and rumors of lens mounting options.

This is the first phone by startup company OnePlus. “One” is currently only available through an invite system.
www.oneplus.net

The videos were shot by filmmaker Giacomo Mantovani who says:
The reason of this comparison is exclusively to discover how good is the OnePlus One camera in ideal light conditions, compared to a professional DSLR, nothing less nothing more. I wouldn’t use a phone for professional shooting, but for sure this is an incredible device for all filmmakers that want to be able to shoot something great on the go, when they don’t have their professional equipment in the bag.