It’s happening, it’s finally happening. As predicted, smartphone camera technology is finally starting to catch up to the rest of the camera market. With the new iPhone 15 in particular (and specifically the iPhone 15 Pro Max), the camera sensor and recording technology specs are starting to look more like a professional video camera than ever before.
Yet, with these new capabilities come new responsibilities.
With the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is able to record ProRes 4K video directly to an SSD, you’re going to need at least some sort of rig to connect and hold your SSD.
That’s where this new solution from CLIFF & KAJUN comes in. With their iPhone 15 Pro Max SSD Grip, ambitious iPhone filmmakers will be able to slide a small external SSD into a sleeve in this 3D-printed mount. Let’s take a look at how it works.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max SSD Grip
Before this turns into a full-on debate about the merits of using the iPhone 15 as a filmmaking camera (more on that below), let’s take a bit to look at this new grip mount by CLIFF & KAJUN.
A husband-and-wife duo in Columbus, Ohio, Cliff and Kajun Curtis, are full-time content creators and business owners of a small production company where they provide drone, FPV, and other types of video and photo services. They also engineer some pretty interesting 3D-printed gear innovations, like this new iPhone SSD grip.
Designed to mount on your iPhone 15 Pro Max with a sleeve for you to slide in a small external SSD, this grip solution looks to be one of the first of many solutions to come to this iPhone filmmaking space, but a solid one to kick things off.
The mount is lightweight and is made with a solid body which includes three 1/4-20″ mounts on three sides that you can use to attach to your tripod in either the horizontal or vertical fashion, or add on more accessories like mics or lights.
Credit: CLIFF & KAJUN
The iPhone 15 as a Filmmaking Camera
Of course though, as is the case with any “smartphone filmmaking” solution, the debate will rage behind the scenes as to whether or not iPhones are really a good option for filmmaking or video production.
We’ve put these iPhones to the test ourselves and compared the iPhone 15 to 35mm film, and the smartphone actually stacks up pretty well.
But, in all honesty, it’s going to take innovative solutions like this 3D-printed mount to really start changing people’s opinions about the merits of smartphone videography. ProRes 4K recorded externally to your SSD though should be a good start and should provide some of the best footage any iPhone or smartphone has offered up to this point.
Credit: CLIFF & KAJUN
Price and Availability
If you’re interested in this SSD Grip for your iPhone 15 Pro Max though, these options from CLIFF & KAJUN are certainly worth considering. The mounts come in three different colors (black, green and gloss black) and can be ordered from CLIFF & KAJUN’s website for $49.95.
