I've had an iPhone X for several months now, and I have to say that I'm impressed with its performance as an everyday camera.
Is it as good as my Nikon D850? No...
But it's certainly got tons of features that enable me to take some pretty nice photos.
Here's a few tips for taking control of your iPhone to get improved results.
Adjust the Exposure
If you're new to the iPhone universe (or simply didn't know already), you can adjust the exposure with just one tap of your phone's screen.
Simply tap the phone's screen as you would to focus the shot, but then swipe your finger up to brighten the image or down to darken it.
It's not as effective as manipulating the exposure in post-processing, but if you need a quick adjustment in-camera, it works quite well.
Learn More:
- iPhone Photography Tips: 5 Tricks to Master Landscapes With Your iPhone
- 5 New Things in Photoshop CC 2018 That You Must Know
Use Focus Lock
One of the biggest problems with so many images is that they simply aren't in focus.
There are plenty of reasons why a photo might be blurry - a shutter speed that's too slow for a moving subject, an aperture that generates a depth of field that's too shallow, and camera shake among them.
Another culprit of blurry photos is simply not having the focus right.
On an iPhone, you can easily correct this problem.
Instead of tapping to focus like normal, tap and hold to lock the focus. Once you do that, a yellow bar will appear that says "AE/AF Lock."
At that point, you can move the camera around, and your iPhone's camera will retain focus on the intended subject.
Get Better Lenses
I appreciate that my iPhone X has improved cameras and lenses (including dual front-facing cameras with wide-angle and telephoto capabilities).
But just like the kit lens on your DSLR doesn't perform as well as an upgraded lens, the iPhone's native lenses can benefit from better glass, too.
That's where iPhone lenses by SANDMARC come in.
I've played around with these lenses for a few weeks now, and to say that I'm impressed is an understatement.
In years past, I've tried lenses with prior iterations of the iPhone, and I was left wanting in the performance department.
Some of those lenses had complicated case mounts that were difficult to use (and ugly, too). Others had poor quality glass that degraded the quality of the photos I took.
SANDMARC has solved both of those problems, though.
These lenses can be used in one of two ways - as a clip-on lens or attached to a case.
But don't think that this case is like those big, ugly, complicated ones from the past. In fact, SANDMARC's iPhone case is the slimmest case mount in the world.
Not only that, but the lenses themselves offer superior performance.
I took the photo above with my iPhone's native wide-angle lens.
Then I clipped my SANDMARC wide-angle lens to my phone and took the photo below.
As you can see, there's a big difference in the field of view. That's thanks to the 2x field of view you get with the SANDMARC wide-angle lens.
With an effective focal length of 16mm and a magnification of 0.56x, it's the ideal iPhone lens for capturing gorgeous landscapes.
And the use of premium multi-coated optics means that with these lenses, you'll get clear, sharp, crisp images.
What's not to like about that?!
Learn More:
- Get the Specs and Pricing on the SANDMARC Wide-Angle iPhone Lens
- Essential Tips for Better Photos With Your iPhone X
Use HDR
If you ask me, one of the best features of the iPhone X is its improved HDR capabilities.
Since I shoot a lot of landscapes, I appreciate that my phone does such a good job of overcoming dark landscapes and bright skies with the HDR function.
Essentially, the phone takes several shots, each at a different exposure level, then blends them together into one HDR image.
It's extremely helpful in many situations, particularly when there's tons of shadows, like sunrise or sunset.
So, for improved results, remember to shoot in HDR, lock the focus, and adjust the exposure. Add in some great iPhone lenses, and you have a recipe for success!