Our reporter Chen Yueqin and special contributor Su Sinan

On September 28th, Honor officially released the Honor Magic9 series jointly developed with German professional film camera brand Alei.

From the Lumi è re brothers filming 'The Train Enters', to Hitchcock creating a' dizzying effect 'through camera movement and zoom, to' 1917 'reconstructing the sense of time with' one shot to the end ', changes in filming tools continue to expand the possibilities of visual expression.

However, a mobile phone does not become a true movie camera just because it has higher pixels and colors that are closer to the texture of a movie. What creative barriers has it lowered, and what barriers still exist?

Save one equipment list

The parameters of Magic9 Pro Max are almost configured according to a traditional shooting equipment list.

The 200 million pixel gimbal level main camera is responsible for image acquisition, and the screen with a reflectivity as low as 1.5% can be used for on-site monitoring. The movie grade gun microphone improves the simultaneous sound reception effect. In the 4K 60FPS recording scenario, the battery life given by the press conference is 7 hours and 43 minutes; As a comparison, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is 5 hours and 15 minutes.

In 2024, the Magic6 series will mainly promote "DSLR level Hawkeye cameras", focusing on motion capture, dynamic range, and full focus image quality; Magic7 combines a 200 million pixel telephoto lens with cloud based collaborative computing for photography; The Magic8 series further incorporates AI color tracking and image post-processing functions.

With Magic9, Honor's benchmark device shifted from DSLR cameras to movie cameras, and its selling point extended from taking a good photo to the video production chain consisting of images, colors, sound, monitoring, and accessories.

However, 'movie phones' are already a crowded track.

The iPhone 18 Pro offers ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, 4K 120FPS Dolby Vision, and can be integrated into professional production processes; The vivo X300 Ultra supports 4K 120FPS 10 bit log across all focal lengths and comes with 200mm zoom lens accessories; The OPPO Find X10 Pro Max adds formats such as Open Gate, 8K 10 bit Log, and ND filter, and provides extension devices such as a focus controller. As the camera, log format, and external accessories gradually become the common direction of flagship phones, Honor needs to find different ways to express similar professional abilities.

From this perspective, the first type of creative threshold lowered by Magic9 Pro Max is the device threshold.

However, undertaking the same production process does not necessarily mean having the same capabilities, and there are still differences in performance and usage scenarios between it and professional monitors, recording systems, and stabilizing equipment.

Take one less shot, take one less step

Another type of creative threshold comes from repetitive labor.

For video creators, making videos is not just creative, but also a physical activity. The Magic9 Pro Max adopts a square format front facing lens, which can generate different proportions of images such as 16:9, 4:3, and 1:1 in one shot. Alei Movie Live uses a 2.39:1 format, supports 3-second recording, and applies 87 ARRI Look models.

MagicOS 11's AI agent is capable of timed screening of short video topics. According to the press conference presentation, YOYO can record video clips, generate subtitle puzzles, and convert videos to live. These features can shorten the processing flow of lightweight content, but whether they can replace PC based post-processing in reality still depends on more factors.

The focus of competition among manufacturers is shifting from "whether they can shoot" to "whether they can shoot all at once" and "quickly process and distribute".

The Center Stage front camera of iPhone 18 Pro can adjust the horizontal and vertical composition without turning the phone; OPPO retains more original images through Open Gate for easy post production cropping; The role of AI in imaging is also extending from noise reduction, HDR, and portrait processing to topic selection, composition, color grading, and material organization.

The threshold lowered by Magic9 Pro Max is the cost for users to obtain stable images, movie colors, synchronized sound, and long-term shooting capabilities, as well as the operational cost of transitioning from materials to finished films.

(Author Chen Yueqin)