It is usually easy to determine immediately whether a video has been filmed with a smartphone or with a "real" camera. The big difference is selective focus, whereby the cameraman can choose to blur the front or background in order to literally direct the focus on the subject.

How the Cinematic Mode works

Whereas in the past complex cameras or professional cameras with large sensors were needed to obtain an efficient bokeh, blurring can now be created through the software processing of modern smartphones. Yes, some Android smartphones have been offering portrait mode for years: but it simply doesn't work as intuitively and efficiently in the competition as with the cinematic mode of the new iPhone 13.

The big trick is that the iPhone 13 records a depth map at the same time as the videos. The raw videos recorded by the smartphone are clear from the foreground to the background. However, if it is the iPhone itself or the user who makes the focus in the video, the cinematic mode is in the foreground or in the background depending on the situation.

Since the iPhone records the raw videos separately, the depth map and the defined focal point, the focus of the video can also be modified later, not only on the iPhone 13 itself, but also on other devices.

As far as the recording itself is concerned, the Cinematic Mode is currently available for the rear wide-angle camera and telephoto lens as well as for the selfie camera. The cinematic mode is supported by the following iPhones:

How to use Cinematic Mode

The Cinematic Mode is located in a prominent position in the camera application of the new iPhones, between the "video" and "idling" modes. All you have to do is press the first time to activate the mode and then press the recording button to start filming.

By default, the camera application marks all recognized faces during recording as well as animals. During recording, the cinematic mode tries to determine the most active person and adjust the focus accordingly. However, it is possible to modify the focus manually by touching the screen.

In the following video, you can see that the focus only changes automatically when Ben talks to the camera in the foreground, otherwise the cinematic mode keeps the focus on Fabi until we manually change it by pressing the screen.