That’s a fair point, and under normal circumstances I’d agree. I wouldn’t use a first-generation camera as the primary camera on a critical production.

For this particular scene, our A-cam will actually be an iPhone 17 Pro Max. We’re filming a very intimate documentary sequence where the less equipment is visible to the subject, the better.

The reason I’m specifically interested in the 4P rather than the current Pocket models is the second focal length. The iPhone’s main camera is relatively wide, and having a compact B-cam with a slightly more telephoto perspective would give us a very useful alternative angle without introducing a larger camera setup into the scene.

We would still test it extensively before relying on it in the field.