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How to use the Pro camera mode on your iPhone
With almost every present-day smartphone launch, manufacturers have been dedicating a lot of time to showcasing their improved camera systems. Apple is no different. With the reveal of the iPhone 13 series, it previewed the Cinematic mode, Macro mode, Photographic Styles, and more. Similarly, the iPhone 14 event also gave us a peek at Action mode, the improved 48MP main sensor on the Pro models, and more. Now, the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max includes a new 5x telephoto lens.
Despite the best iPhones packing powerful camera systems, particularly the Pro variants, many people don't know how to make the most out of them. After all, these phones produce stunning shots by default, and many users don't care about taking it any further. And while there's no manual or Pro photography mode as of iOS 18, there are still some advanced settings that can control the output of your iPhone's camera. Let's take a look at what is currently available.
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Tweaking the Camera settings
Before we start, it's worth noting that the following screenshots were taken on an iPhone 14 Pro. If you have an older or non-Pro iPhone, some of the included toggles and options won't be visible or available to you. If you have an iPhone 15 Pro series smartphone, you'll have more toggles available to you, which we'll cover next.
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Camera settings for iPhone 14 Pro and higher
1. Launch the Settings app, scroll down, and tap on Camera.
2. The first section is Formats. Here you get to switch between HEIF/HEVC and JPEG/H.264 photo and video output. If you exclusively use Apple devices, leave HEIF/HEVC selected, as the media consumes less storage space and is supported across all Apple operating systems. If you depend on other platforms that don't support these formats, then switch to JPEG/H.264.
3. Apart from that, you will find toggles for Apple ProRaw and Apple ProRes. These options, when enabled, allow you to take higher-quality photos and videos, respectively. So, instead of getting 12MP or 24MP photos when using the main camera on an iPhone 14 Pro or higher, you can get 48MP shots. They're ideal for those planning to edit the exposure and white balance of these shots. As expected, they require more storage, and you likely don't want to leave this option enabled for everyday use. ProRes lets you take higher-quality videos, and it's one of the most popular formats among professionals in the industry. For reference, one minute of 10-bit HDR ProRes footage consumes around 1.7 GB for HD video. So you may want to disable this when not working on professional video projects.
4. The three following sections allow you to control the video resolution in regular, slo-mo, and cinematic modes. If you're working on a project, you can go as high as 4K at 60 fps, 1080p HD at 240 fps, and 4K at 30 fps for these video modes, respectively. Apple details how much storage a minute would consume for each resolution, giving you an idea of what to expect when shooting a certain footage.
5. Video resolutions are followed by a Record Stereo Sound toggle. You may want to leave it on, as it'll make your output more immersive and realistic.
6. The following toggles aren't as relevant in the Pro photography department, but, notably, you can enable the Grid option to help you view and control the proportions before taking a shot. The setting adds guidance lines to the viewfinder, which would help you keep your hands straight and see where exactly the subject fits in the frame.
7. Another interesting option you may want to look into is Photographic Styles. When you click this button, you get to preview four different styles, excluding the standard default one. This gives you an idea of what to expect from each option. Each of these styles slightly adjusts the tone and warmth of the output before you shoot, allowing you optionally to opt for richer contrast, more vibrancy, more warmth, or more coolness.
Settings exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max
If you happen to own an iPhone 15 Pro Max, you'll be able to take advantage of Spatial Videos. These are used for playback on the Apple Vision Pro. You'll also be able to change the professional-grade photo format that your iPhone uses beyond just ProRaw.
1. Launch the Settings app, scroll down, and tap on Camera.
2. Select the Formats tab, and look for ProRAW & Resolution Control.
3. Tap to flip the toggle on, then tap the Pro Default menu.
4. Choose between JPEG Max (up to 48MP, ~10 MB file sizes), ProRAW (up to 12MP, ~25 MB file sizes), or ProRAW Max (up to 48MP, ~75 MB file sizes).
5. Back out of that menu, and then look for the Video Capture header.
6. Flip the toggle Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro to use this feature automatically while recording.
These are pretty much all the options you need to adjust to take higher quality or more professional photos and videos on your iPhone. As you may be able to tell, they're pretty limited, as you can't control some elements like the ISO. Instead, iOS automatically adjusts that behind the scenes, based on your environment. So you're somewhat limited to just the resolution of videos and whether you want raw or compressed output.
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Using the iPhone's Camera app
Once you're done adjusting the camera output through the Settings app, you can go ahead and launch the Camera application. Similarly, some of these modes and options I'm about to preview may not be available on your device if you have an older or non-Pro iPhone. To reveal the additional options and customizations mentioned in the list below, you may need to swipe up on the viewfinder once entering camera mode.
1. Towards the very left of the camera shooting options, there's the Time-lapse video recording mode. This, as its name suggests, shoots time-lapses, and there's not really much you can adjust or control here apart from the zoom and exposure. You just stabilize your iPhone and start recording.
2. Next, there's Slo-mo video recording mode. You get to control the zoom in addition to the exposure and output quality. The quality will just be a reflection of the options we've gone over in the Settings app earlier.
3. Followed by that, you get Cinematic video recording mode, which allows you to focus on different individual subjects throughout a recording session. You can even adjust the subject in focus after you're done recording. In this mode, you get to change the zoom, exposure, and depth, in addition to the resolution available in the Settings app.
4. Moving on, you get the regular Video recording mode. Here you get to adjust the exposure and resolution. Additionally, there's an Action mode toggle that allows you to take relatively stable footage when recording in shaky environments.
5. Next, you have the Photo mode, which allows you to enable Night Mode, Live Photos, Timers, Filters, and Photography Styles. You also get to adjust the ratio, exposure, and zoom. If you've enabled ProRaw in the Settings app and are in a well-lit place, then the main camera will output 48MP shots. Otherwise, the resolution is capped at 12MP.
It's worth noting that if you bring your iPhone close to a subject in a well-lit place, then Macro mode will automatically be enabled, allowing you to take a photo that reveals the tiniest details of the subject. You can optionally disable it through the dedicated toggle that appears on the viewfinder.
And don't forget that you can take long exposure shots on your iPhone by relying on Live Photos.
6. Following that, you get Portrait mode, which lets you blur out the background and focus on a certain subject. You can pick between six different lighting effects and several filters. You also get to tweak the timer, exposure, and depth.
7. Lastly, you get Pano mode, which allows you to take a panorama. Apart from the zoom, there's nothing you can control or tweak. You just click the Shutter button and move your iPhone continuously in the same direction.
Should you use professional iPhone camera features?
The iPhone camera is pretty limited when it comes to Pro photography. If you want more control over the camera sensors and settings, you may want to look into third-party apps like Halide Mark II and ProCam 8. Both apps allow you to unleash the full potential of your iPhone's capable lenses, assuming you're familiar with adjusting manual camera settings. You might also want to avoid using the professional features if you're low on storage, because the resulting images can come with enormous file sizes. You won't be able to use some of these features unless you have the most recent iPhone Pro-series models, either. However, if you can use them, these Pro features can help you take better photos.
