Why Rian Johnson made a photo app

Nov 4, 2026 · Summarized Nov 4, 2026

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Key takeaways

Rian Johnson created Chromograph Camera because he wanted the convenience of a phone camera with the raw capture and custom image processing associated with his films.
Johnson and cinematographer Steve Yedlin concluded that digital could reproduce their desired film look while providing more control, consistency, and lower development costs.
Johnson argues that film is not a magical fixed look: stock, scanning, processing, grading, and printing all contribute to the final image.
For personal photography, Johnson now feels a smartphone can deliver images good enough to share without carrying a Leica or larger camera system.
Both speakers see cameras as a meeting point between technology and craft because they reward understanding how systems work and experimenting with their components.
Johnson dislikes HDR that overrides a filmmaker’s intended contrast and highlights, and he believes digital filmmakers must understand the technology to control the result.
The episode treats unusual cameras—including 3D-printed bodies, screenless digital cameras, and a homemade anamorphic Leica lens—as evidence of a current camera renaissance.

Summary

Rian Johnson is still waiting for the iPhone Duo

David Imel opens by asking Rian Johnson what he thinks of the iPhone Duo. Rian says he set an alarm for the preorder, but the delivery date slipped to late November during the 35 seconds it took him to enter his address. He likes the larger form factor and says panoramic photos look especially good on it, but he is nervous because it lacks a telephoto camera, the lens he uses most. David agrees that the device is appealing but questions its usefulness for people who rely on optical reach. Rian’s excitement is partly practical and partly the novelty of changing his iPhone form factor for the first time in years.

Why Rian still shoots with a Leica M6

Rian says his main camera is a used Leica M6 he bought on eBay while making Looper, intending to use film on set. It became his workhorse, and he mostly shoots black-and-white film with it, taking it onto every movie set to photograph the production and people around it. He likes that film cannot be reviewed immediately, so nobody gathers around a monitor and the moment moves on. David mainly shoots film too, while acknowledging that the best camera is often the phone already in one’s pocket. Rian also owns a digital Leica M11 but uses it in waves rather than consistently.

The article that led to Chromograph Camera

Rian contacted David after reading his Verge article about taking better smartphone photos. He had been using Apple’s Camera app, then editing in Snapseed, but felt he was hitting a ceiling and often could not explain how he reached a finished image. David recommends Lightroom Mobile or Darkroom, arguing that Snapseed is friendlier to people who do not know Lightroom or Photoshop terminology. Rian explains that his cinematographer and longtime friend Steve Yedlin had already created tools for applying his movie image processing to still photographs. After David’s article, Rian persuaded Yedlin and collaborator Eric Cameron to adapt that process into Chromograph Camera, which captures raw images and applies Yedlin’s film-oriented look.

Why Rian Johnson and Steve Yedlin switched movies to digital

Rian says The Last Jedi began as roughly 40% film and 60% digital because a red throne-room sequence was difficult for film stock and effects shots would be digitized anyway. Film-camera problems and fluctuations in the stock pushed the production further toward digital. Once Yedlin applied his custom LUT and digitally generated grain, the finished images looked practically the same to Rian, while digital offered more control and saved development time and money. Yedlin’s argument is that choosing film solely for its supposed look turns an artist into a consumer choosing an off-the-shelf product. Rian still loves film, but accepts digital as a continuation of image science rather than its opposite.

David’s 3D-printed cameras and anamorphic Leica lens

David opens his “magic backpack” to show Rian several unusual cameras. One is a 3D-printed 4-by-5 camera that projects onto a box and uses an iPhone as a viewfinder; another is a screenless digital camera with an APS-C sensor that uses the phone over Wi-Fi Direct and accepts Micro Four Thirds lenses. He also shows the first anamorphic Leica M lens made by a friend, a 50mm rangefinder-coupled lens with blue flares and soft edges. David says these experiments demonstrate a current camera renaissance in which people build new tools, often using modern technology to recreate or rethink older photographic processes.

Film’s imperfections versus digital control

Rian says he does not feel conflicted about shooting film personally even after helping make Chromograph, because the appeal is the physical process and the uncertainty of what will come out. He describes experimenting with T-Max 3200 and accidentally pulling it down to 200, then loving the result. He and Yedlin disagree about film versus digital but reject the idea that the format should define the art. They also question the mystique around film stock: Kodak scientists refined it over decades, so its appearance is science and engineering rather than magic captured in a bottle. Rian says digital can reproduce film characteristics while giving artists more control over the image.

How David and Rian became camera and technology obsessives

David traces his interest to making short documentaries and experimenting with cameras, while Rian recalls getting an Apple IIe from his father, learning BASIC, and trying to program a crude text adventure. Rian’s camera path began with a Super 8 camera, then Hi8 video in high school and film production at USC, where his class was among the last to shoot and edit primarily on film. Both say cameras and technology attract people who want to understand how systems work and control small details. Rian feels less anticipation about each new tech generation because devices increasingly repeat the same functions, but 3D printing and new ways to rebuild old tools still excite him.

Why smartphone cameras can now replace extra gear

Rian says Chromograph exists because he wants better photos without carrying a Leica or a large camera backpack. After using Halide to shoot raw images, he saw that Yedlin’s processing removed the ugly flare and other problems he could not fix in Snapseed. He now feels confident that, for personal use and sharing with friends, a phone can produce a digital image as good as he needs. David explains that Apple’s camera design is unusually strong in practical details such as lens switching, zoom, and HDR bracketing, even though Apple’s multi-frame HDR can make images too flat. Rian wants better sensors and more optical zoom, despite ordering a phone without a telephoto lens.

Film emulation, HDR, and the next movie

Rian praises phone film modes that add halation—the red glow around high-contrast highlights caused by light reflecting from film’s rear layer—but wishes Apple offered a grain-size slider rather than a simple toggle. He strongly dislikes HDR in filmmaking, comparing it to motion smoothing because televisions and projectors can override the intended contrast and highlights. He says filmmakers need to understand digital technically if they want control, while still seeing beautiful work from younger cinematographers. Rian is writing his next film and plans extensive image tests after the script works. A visit to Rochester’s Nitrate Picture Show, with old Technicolor prints, inspired him to explore unusual digital looks without letting technology or visual toys overwhelm the story.

Show notes

Film director and camera nerd Rian Johnson sits down with Vergecast guest host and camera nerd David Imel for an unapologetically nerdy conversation about cameras. They chat about cinematography, Rian's viral Chromagraph Camera app, and check out David's vast collection of quirky equipment. (As of recording, Rian is still waiting for his to be delivered.)