Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
The iPhone 12 Pro Max has great video quality, but I was interested to see how it visually compares to a popular DSLR like the Canon 7D Mark II. This is an informal test of the cameras, pitting the Canon 7D Mark II against the iPhone 12 Pro Max in a well-lit outdoor scene.
See the watermarks for the important settings of each video clip.
All of the iPhone's settings were left on automatic.
For the 7D, auto-focus and aperture settings were left on automatic in this example. Shutter priority 1/250 was used. A better shutter setting for video would be 1/50 for 24fps video or 1/60 for 30fps video. Even better would be 1/48 for 24 fps video which is a setting that doesn't actually exist on the 7D.
All shots were handheld, and were filmed standing in the same spot. This gives you and idea of the image stabilization available in the iPhone and in the 7D's EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens. It also gives you and idea of how "zoomy" the iPhone's lenses are when compared to a popular Canon lens.
You can also see what the iPhone's "zoom" looks like when it switches between its three different lenses (0.5x, 1x, and 2.5x). In my opinion it is generally not a good idea to switch the iPhone's "zoom" during filming of 'cinematic' footage. The transition can be jarring.
This video is rendered in 4K H.265, and the 1080p clips were scaled up to fit the frame size. The 7D can't shoot in 4K, so there is also an example clip of the iPhone shooting 1080p for a fairer side by side comparison.
All audio is raw out of the camera. You'll note that the iPhone has less motor noise since it has virtually no moving parts (not counting the sensor stabilization). In a professional environment, you'd want to use an external audio recorder with either of these cameras to obtain the best quality audio.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max has great video quality, but I was interested to see how it visually compares to a popular DSLR like the Canon 7D Mark II. This is an informal test of the cameras, pitting the Canon 7D Mark II against the iPhone 12 Pro Max in a well-lit outdoor scene.
See the watermarks for the important settings of each video clip.
All of the iPhone's settings were left on automatic.
For the 7D, auto-focus and aperture settings were left on automatic in this example. Shutter priority 1/250 was used. A better shutter setting for video would be 1/50 for 24fps video or 1/60 for 30fps video. Even better would be 1/48 for 24 fps video which is a setting that doesn't actually exist on the 7D.
All shots were handheld, and were filmed standing in the same spot. This gives you and idea of the image stabilization available in the iPhone and in the 7D's EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens. It also gives you and idea of how "zoomy" the iPhone's lenses are when compared to a popular Canon lens.
You can also see what the iPhone's "zoom" looks like when it switches between its three different lenses (0.5x, 1x, and 2.5x). In my opinion it is generally not a good idea to switch the iPhone's "zoom" during filming of 'cinematic' footage. The transition can be jarring.
This video is rendered in 4K H.265, and the 1080p clips were scaled up to fit the frame size. The 7D can't shoot in 4K, so there is also an example clip of the iPhone shooting 1080p for a fairer side by side comparison.
All audio is raw out of the camera. You'll note that the iPhone has less motor noise since it has virtually no moving parts (not counting the sensor stabilization). In a professional environment, you'd want to use an external audio recorder with either of these cameras to obtain the best quality audio.
