Moment has always been the front runners with regards to developing tools and lenses for mobile phones, and with MagSafe now standard on new iPhones, they’ve knocked it out of the park with their mounts.
They’ve made some great MagSafe Mounts which make using a tripod, mount, or stand much quicker and easier to use. Magnets, one of the unsung heroes of our times, now give us the ability to shoot multiple viewpoints, almost as if you had 3 separate cameras. No more unclasping the tripod mount to release the camera. No more moving the stand around to get a better shot, and no more budgeting to one day buy another camera.
The iPhone can be used as part of your professional toolkit. It’s lighter, less obtrusive, and due to its computational abilities, gives great exposure and video that’s ready to use. This is seriously easy, and if you’re shooting vlogs, tutorials, or podcasts, this method will keep you in your flow, and it’s not necessary to edit with the multiple cameras feature in your NLE. The most you’ll need to do is edit out small breaks between the shots if you want to.
Even if you’re FaceTiming or Zooming using your iPhone, this gives you a better angle, and it frees up your hands to make sure you can jot your notes and to-do’s down during client briefs. All you’ll need is a stand and a desk tripod. This will give you two angles to shoot from, which make your videos more dynamic.
They’ve sent me three of their mounts. The Pro Tripod Mount with MagSafe - Landscape & Portrait, the Multi-Threaded Mount with MagSafe, and the Cold Shoe Mount with MagSafe.
The Build Quality
The machined aluminum construction feels strong and I can’t imagine it ever breaking. It’s got some weight to it, although you probably won’t feel it in your bag and definitely won’t be giving you backaches when you’re out shooting. The magnet is strong, and when you hear it snap into place, you’re left feeling assured that it won’t come off without some justified force. However, I won’t go shaking the iPhone from side to side and I didn’t try. That would not be very professional now, would it?
Using It
You don’t need a Moment Lens iPhone cover to use it, although you can if you’re planning on using their anamorphic lens for some cinematic footage. What’s even better is that I can set the camera up and use my Apple watch to make sure everything is in-frame. The iPhone standard camera app has this ability, but Moment also has an app that’s better to use if you’re shooting with the anamorphic lens and want to see it squeezed in-camera.
The Pro Tripod Mount with MagSafe (Landscape & Portrait)
I’m not going to lie, on its own, it does look like a strange piece of gear. It’s a ball shape and a long rectangular shape that is put together. But, it looks minimalistic when the phone’s mounted and the design aesthetic implemented works very well with that of the iPhone. This type of tool and magnetized mount use case is new, and the first of its kind, so it can look strange. It will most likely become the norm.
The mount can twist to give you portrait or landscape compositions. The magnet has a strong rubber disc, so when you mount your iPhone, you’re safe from any scratches. You also have a cold shoe mount, which is where my mic goes.
The Multi-Threaded Mount with MagSafe
This mount would be used when you want a camera in a fixed area, like at your desk. Just like the other mount, it's got the rubber disc, and screws in smoothly. The difference here is that the screen of the camera is going to be facing you unless you have a special setup. So, you need to be satisfied with the selfie camera’s resolution, which is not ideal. But, it does free up your hands when you’re FaceTiming or having a Zoom call, and gives you a more pleasing angle. My MacBook Pro camera’s camera sits too low, and I never like being filmed from the bottom up. This mount solves that problem and gives me the ability to shoot top-down in case want to show something on my desk.
What makes this mount versatile is that I can twist the camera in any direction, which is great concerning vertical or landscape composition.
The Cold Shoe Mount with MagSafe
Now this one is if you’re planning on shooting more handheld-style footage and if your project requires it. You can have the mic or a light on the cold shoe and get shooting. It’s the most basic mount you’ll carry.
What I Liked
- The design of the mounts are well done. I like taking it out of the bag and getting my phone ready. It’s a pleasure to use, and will most likely be what I use from now onwards.
- It’s small and always in my bag now so I don’t even have to think about packing it.
- When you use the default camera app or the Moment app, you’ve got the ability to see your frame on an Apple Watch. This means you can start and stop recording, and you can also see your frame before you start. This is very convenient, and something I use every time.
- I can shoot in log on the iPhone, so I can also make sure the colors are what I want it to be, and doesn’t look like it was shot with a mobile phone at all.
What I Didn’t Like
- The Cold Shoe mount would’ve been great if it had a thread that could take some type of mount, but that would take the place of the Pro Tripod Mount, so I understand that they were very specific with the design decisions.
Conclusion
My favorite would be the Pro Tripod Mount because it works with any tripod, and I can use it to snap into a rig if I wanted to. I usually shoot landscape videos, but if you want, you can rotate it for vertical video too.
In my opinion, with the new iPhones and their video capturing capabilities and MagSafe, it’s with tools like these that you can master your captured video, and create professional videos. If you’re looking to get producing videos using your phone’s camera, these tools are great to get you started.
