Guest Reviews | Originally Written in Japanese by Japanese Influencer takumifone
The smartphone industry is seeing dramatic improvements in camera performance every year. Among them, “Apple Log” was a breakthrough in the industry. Apple Log is a Log that can be shot and recorded on the iPhone 15 Pro series and iPhone 16 Pro series. Not only can you easily record with your iPhone, but it is also optimized for the iPhone sensor, so the performance as a Log is also very high.
A reel of footage I shot with Apple Log
Meanwhile, Samsung announced the new “Galaxy S25 Ultra,” and at the same time, they also announced “Samsung Log.” Log shooting, which was previously only available on the iPhone, is now possible on the Galaxy. Log shooting on smartphones is now becoming the norm. In this review, I borrowed the S25 Ultra and compare the performance of the iPhone 16 Pro Max with Apple Log.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: What’s new?
Compared to the previous Galaxy S24 Ultra, the processor has been changed from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy to the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. As for the camera, the number of pixels of the ultra-wide-angle camera has been updated from about 12 million pixels to about 50 million pixels. There is no update to the main wide-angle camera of about 200 million pixels, the telephoto camera of about 50 million pixels, the telephoto camera of about 10 million pixels, and the front camera of about 12 million pixels.
You can choose from 12GB of memory and 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB of storage. If you compare the bodies of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the S25 Ultra, they are almost the same size.
The thickness of the body is almost the same, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max is slightly heavier.
Last year, when the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max were the latest models, there was a clear difference in the direction of each model, with Galaxy aiming to evolve its hardware and Apple’s unique approach of optimizing its software for its own hardware. However, this time, with the Galaxy also having its own Log, there are similarities between the direction of the iPhone and the Galaxy.
Samsung Log
Log shooting on smartphones was possible even before the appearance of Apple Log using third-party apps, but Apple Log was a breakthrough for original smartphone Log shooting. Samsung followed suit and announced Samsung Log. The Galaxy’s original Pro Mode camera app also now has a button in the top left corner of the screen that allows you to turn Log shooting on and off.
Comparison with Apple Log
This is a long introduction, but I compared the Apple Log on the iPhone with the Samsung Log on the Galaxy. The app used on the iPhone 16 Pro Max is Final Cut Camera, which I previously reviewed on PRONEWS . This app is a free camera app released by Apple that not only allows you to adjust detailed settings such as shutter speed and ISO on your iPhone, but also allows you to use your iPhone as a multi-camera when linked with Final Cut Pro for iPad.
On the other hand, the Galaxy S25 Ultra was shot using the original camera app in the Pro mode, which allows for detailed settings. I shot in Apple Log and Samsung Log, respectively, and applied the LUTs released by Apple and Samsung for color correction.
From iPhone 16 Pro Max
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Next up is the Galaxy S25 Ultra
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Both smartphones were shot with a fixed color temperature and the codec was set to HEVC. The image shot by the iPhone 16 Pro Max has natural edges of objects, just like what the eye sees, while the image shot by the S25 Ultra has sharper edges.
Right: Galaxy S25 Ultra
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Comparative Table – Samsung Galaxy S25 vs iPhone, Apple Log vs Samsung Log
Taking this comparison into consideration, I compiled the Apple Log and Samsung Log in a table that looks like this.
| item | Apple Log | Samsung Log |
| Target Device | iPhone | Galaxy devices |
| the purpose | Faithful preservation of captured data, for post-production | Maximized dynamic range and color editing flexibility |
| Transfer Function | Logarithmic + parabolic (specialized for retaining negative signals) | S-curve (specialized for maintaining dark tones) |
| Color Space | BT.2020-2, D65, unique RGB coordinates | BT.2020-2, D65, and other color space comparison chart |
| Encoding/Decoding | Floating-point logarithm function, reciprocal is exponential function | Two logarithmic functions, the reciprocal is the exponential function |
| Post-production support | For professional grading | Guide to Rec.709 Calibration on Galaxy Devices |
| Presence or absence of practical examples | none | 3D LUT application and in-device editing guide |
In other words, although there isn’t much difference between Apple Log and Samsung Log, Apple Log is intended to be grading in post-production, while Samsung Log is intended to be applied to Log footage shot on a smartphone.
As shown in the image above, on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra it is possible to change Log footage to Rec.709 within the camera app.
Also, Apple Log is a minimal process for recording video, while Samsung Log aims to maximize the dynamic range. This explains why the edges of objects in the S25 Ultra’s video were sharp. It’s easy to see that even if they’re shooting in the same Log format, the direction of each company is not necessarily the same.
Further analysis was carried out
Next, I’d like to compare low-light performance and further compare the two Log shooting methods.
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There doesn’t seem to be much difference between the two images, but the image taken with the iPhone 16 Pro Max has less noise, while the image taken with the S25 Ultra seems to preserve details in the dark areas. Furthermore, when shooting during the day, the image taken with the S25 Ultra is better at preserving highlights in the high-brightness range.
What did you think of the comparison between the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max? Log shooting has appeared not only on the iPhone but also on the Galaxy. Will cameras be replaced by smartphones in the near future? This report made me, an iPhoneographer writer, even more interested in following its progress for a while.
Originally Written in Japanese by takumifone (Yamazaki Takumi) | Profile
iPhoneographer, videographer, writer, director, editor (Japanese and English). His main job is to shoot corporate promotional videos and music videos with the iPhone and create videos that don’t look like they were shot with an iPhone. He also holds seminars and writes articles on how to set up the iPhone to shoot cinema-like footage.
Website ● takumifone.com Instagram / X ●@takumifone
