£3,000 Sony vs iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Insta360 Luna Ultra… This Was Close!

Duration: 10:47 1699 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

The video presents an in-depth comparison between three distinct cameras: the Sony A7C mirrorless camera, the iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphone, and the Insta360 Luna Ultra pocket gimbal camera. The creator aims to determine whether viewers can actually distinguish differences in quality among these devices when used for content creation, acknowledging that while high-end cinema cameras offer superior broadcast-level image fidelity, modern alternatives have narrowed the gap significantly. The discussion highlights that mirrorless systems like the Sony A7C often cost thousands of pounds and are ideal for professional film productions, whereas smartphones provide excellent video capabilities at a fraction of the price around £1,000. In contrast, the Luna Ultra is positioned as an affordable pocket gimbal option costing roughly half the price of a flagship phone yet delivering surprisingly high-quality footage that rivals its more expensive counterparts in many scenarios. To evaluate these devices, the creator conducts several specific tests starting with autofocus performance and low-light capabilities. During the focus test using a keyboard close-up, the Sony A7C demonstrates sharp results with smooth bokeh but takes about half a second to lock onto subjects depending on the lens used. The Luna Ultra impresses with instant focusing that eliminates hunting behavior, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max offers good quality in macro mode with smooth transitions when using its dedicated features. When testing performance in near-total darkness by turning off all studio lights and blinds, the Sony A7C performs well thanks to its fast F1.8 aperture lens, but the Luna Ultra shines brightest due to a specific "pure video" processing mode that brightens dark scenes effectively without relying on external lighting setups. The final segment of the comparison takes place outdoors in broad daylight under sunny conditions in London to see if environmental factors reveal any remaining differences between the cameras. In this well-lit environment, close-ups from all three devices appear quite sharp with vibrant colors and proper exposure, making it difficult for viewers to tell them apart visually. The creator concludes that since even a budget-friendly device like the Luna Ultra can deliver comparable video quality to high-end gear in most practical situations, there is little reason to fault any of the options based solely on image fidelity alone. Ultimately, the choice depends heavily on convenience and specific workflow needs; for instance, the detachable screen on the Luna Ultra serves as a useful remote control feature that makes it an excellent primary camera for solo filmmakers who prioritize portability over absolute maximum resolution or low-light sensor performance.

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Okay, [music] so over time cameras have gotten smaller and smaller and much better and better in video quality. This is my Sony A7C. This is my iPhone 17 Pro Max and in the middle I have my Insta 360 Luna Ultra. Now, this is a pocket camera, but the quality is amazing. But in today's video, I want to find out to see if you can actually tell the difference between all three of these cameras when you are using it to shoot videos for your content creation. Of course, a mirrorless camera with a high quality lens can cost you thousands and thousands of pounds. And overall, this will always give you the better quality no matter what, but that's more around film broadcast quality, high movie productions. phones and iPhones have been really good at recording video and shooting content, and I can't fault the camera quality on this. This is around a,000 pounds for the Pro and Pro Max models. And then you have something like a pocket gimbal camera like the Luna Ultra, which is around half the price of a phone. And this actually can give you really high quality, just as good as all of these other cameras. So, let's go ahead and test it out. I'm going to bring a triple comparison video up. Before I do that, I want all of you watching this to guess which video is linked to which camera. And then I will give you the titles above the videos. I'm going to crop them as well so you can see them all clearly side by side. Maybe in a 4x3 aspect ratio, maybe a square. I'll just see it in post editing. And then we'll go ahead and test out the focus as well, the autofocus, how quick they are. And also a quick test to see in low lighting conditions when I make my room very dark and see how each of these cameras handle it. This is going to be particularly important if you are looking for a camera for all of your content creation or filming needs and if something like this maybe a little bit budget friendly compared to the others is good enough for you i.e. the Insta 360 Luna Ultra or you are willing to spend a lot more for something like a highquality phone or a mirrorless camera. So let's get into it. Okay, so I have all three videos up on the screen. I'm not going to tell you which one is which. Just going to let it play for a second and I want you all to guess which camera is linked with which video that you're seeing on the screen. Now I have cropped it just so I can show you clearly side by side each of them. But see if you can very easily tell the difference in the quality and which camera is which one. So, this is where, you know, I'm quite surprised with the quality of the various different ways I can start filming my content. But ultimately, it's up to you as the content creator which one you would prefer having as the most convenient camera for whatever type of filming that you do. So, have you had a guess yet? Now, I'm going to reveal which one is which. And maybe for most people it's quite obvious depending on the quality of the lighting, maybe a bit of the grain, but let's just see if you got it right. These are the cameras linked with the videos. To some it might not be a surprise, but ultimately just take a look at the quality of each one, how great that is. Whether you want to shoot with your phone, if you want to shoot with something like a pocket gimbal camera like the Luna Ultra, or with something high-end like the Sony A7C, it's all up to you. And I think I'm going to use each of these for various different reasons for my filming and my tech reviews, whether I go on travels, then having something like the Luna Ultra is probably going to be the best situation for me. But also, not just filming indoors. We will be doing a test outdoors in broad daylight just so you can see how that works. Um, the next test I'm going to do is going to be around showing the autofocus quality because as a tech content creator, I focus in on products and I like to show it close to the camera so you can see all of the key specs and features of that product. So, I'm going to do a quick focus test to see how that works. And then also, I'll show you by turning out all of the light sources in this room. So, my studio light, all the blinds, I'm going to make it very dark and see how each of these cameras perform in very low lighting conditions, which will be quite useful if you want to shoot in dark rooms or outdoors at nighttime. So, we'll kick off next with the autofocus test, and I'll just grab something like this keyboard from my desk, and I'll bring it close to each one of the lenses and showcase how great that looks. So, we'll kick off with the Sony A7C. So you see it takes about half a second for the focus. This is very lens dependent. So depending on the type of lens that you have, the response rate that you're going to get from your mirrorless camera or even DSLR, whichever one you have, and see how close I go before I lose focus. The autofocus is very sharp once it is in focus. So I do like that. And you can see the soft bokeh background as well when you are focused in on the product. Next, the Luna Ultra. It's pretty much instant. You don't get that constant focusing direction for the product. It just goes straight in, which is ultra fast. One of the other reasons why this is called the ultra. So that looks really good. Finally, iPhone So you can see I do a lot of filming with my iPhone 17 Pro Max. Getting close-ups is actually quite good. But again, a lot of the time I would also use the macro mode to get as close as I can. So you can see the smooth transition whilst maintaining that focus. That is very important. Okay. So this is a test with everything dark in this room. how the video is performing. It's just on 1x for my iPhone 17 Pro Max. It's on 1x for my Insta 360 Luna Ultra, but it's in pure video mode, so it handles the darkness very well, which is why it kind of seems quite bright. And also, it's not too bad. With my Sony A7C, I have a Tamron lens with F1.8 aperture, so it's very good in low lighting conditions. For me, just looking around the room, it is quite dark and obviously you won't be able to see that clearly in these video clips. But I just wanted to showcase with each of these cameras, if you are going to shoot in maybe dark rooms, maybe you have a dark studio where you want to do your filming, then if getting a brighter environment without having a studio light is important to you, then just check the quality of this because the Insta 360 Luna with the pure video mode, I believe, is doing the best job brightening things up. It may not obviously be the sharpest because of like the lens quality and the technology behind it with something like a very high premium branded lens for my Sony camera. But it does a good enough job especially if you want to do filming at nighttime outdoors for your travels. So that is the indoor dark test I wanted to showcase. And the final test is now show you outdoors in broad daylight and see if you can actually notice the differences because that will be the best comparison for outdoor filming to see if the quality is very comparative. So let's go ahead and do that now. All right. So we are outdoors now. It's a nice sunny hot day here in London. So, let's go ahead and first of all just test the focus for each. This is a closeup of the iPhone 17 Pro. Good quality. Closeup of the Luna Ultra. What do you think of that? Quite sharp. Nice vibrant colors of the background. And then finally, the Sony A7C looking good. Nice bokeh effect. good aperture, good exposure, and overall when I walk into the bright sun, mostly you won't even be able to tell the difference between each of these cameras, which I think is actually quite important to note because if you are going to spend thousands of pounds on a mirrorless camera with a high quality lens or maybe just500 600 on something like the Insta 360 Luna Ultra, then you're pretty much getting a comparable video quality filming device. So, there's nothing I can really fault about each of these videos. Whether you have them all or you want to just use one of them, that's totally up to you. But ultimately, the purpose of this video is to showcase how great of a video quality and filming camera you can get with just the Insta 360 Luna Ultra. the convenience of having a detachable screen and using that as a remote, especially if you are a solo filmmaker or content creator. That is very important for me and that's something and one of the main reasons why I will generally use the Luna Ultra going forward as my primary camera. But let me know what you guys think. Which one would you use? Which one has the best quality overall? And which one is best value for money? Hopefully you enjoyed that comparison. If you did, give it a thumbs up. Make sure to subscribe and I will see you all next time. [music]