iPhone 8 Plus vs. Galaxy Note 8: Video camera comparison
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The iPhone 8 plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 have some the best cameras on phones right now.
But how does the video compare?
We're gonna test them out in a range of situations to see how they go.
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We tested them out on some kids, farm animals and scenic views at Slide Ranch in California.
Everything was shot at default settings at 1080p, 30 frames a second unless otherwise stated.
Let's start with portraits.
In this scenario, the lighting is varied, and the exposure on both phones changes throughout the shot.
On the Note, skin tones start off quite washed out, but they even out to a more natural look.
The iPhone image has more contrast, and the skin tones are warmer.
But the background does blow out when the lighting changes.
Changes.
The autofocus on the Note adjusts quickly, but it looks a little jerky.
The iPhone is slower to shift focus, but it's much smoother.
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Moving to the front camera, the image is pretty washed out on the Note, and the iPhone has more contrast and color accuracy.
The field of view of the Note is also more narrow which is a little too close for comfort.
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Video ain't video without sound so testing out the microphones is important.
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Listening on the same pair of headphones, to my ears the Note's audio is much more immersive and sounds like a true stereo experience.
The iPhone sounds flat.
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Both the phones shoot in 4K at 30 frames per second, but the iPhone can also shoot 60 frames per second in this resolution.
While I filmed this in 4K, unfortunately the video you're watching isn't exported in 4K, so you can't view it at it's actual resolution My phone produced impressive footage, but again, you'll only be able to get the real benefit if you watch it on a 4K screen.
You can also switch between the wide and the telephoto lenses during filming, and the results appear sharp in both fields of view.
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Moving to slo-mo, the note does 240 frames per second, but only at 720p.
So if you want full HD at 240, you'll want the iPhone.
So here's a tracking shot, to see, there's a sheep in the background.
There's a tracking shot to see how the image stabilization works on both of these phones.
So I do have them on a rig.
But there's still a little hand movement, so see how it compensates for it in both shots.
Both phones have optical image stabilization for still images, but the Note uses a combination of optical and digital stabilization for video.
Each phone compensates for hand shake pretty well, but the Note is particularly smooth.
But here's where I noticed the biggest difference in white balance and color temperature, on the iPhone the image is warmer, which is much more pleasing for outdoor and portrait videos, but landscapes look great on the Note.
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The phones showed big differences in low light, the iPhone produces a cleaner image with less There's also a lot less light bleeding from that bar sign on the iPhone image.
While I was recording it looks like the Note had the better shot because of that AMOLED screen.
But outside the phone the image is not as vibrant or as clean.
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Both the iPhone and the Note have impressive cameras for video.
If you like to use footage straight out of the camera, and like a warmer look, you may prefer the iPhone.
The Note has excellent audio, which makes it better for filming music or voices.
And the video image itself is really sharp.
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