The iPhone 6's camera is good enough to replace a camera entry level, however, it can always be done better. The Camera and Photo apps have several settings that can improve the quality of shooting and make the life of a mobile photographer easier.
The resource has made a selection of 8 key functions iPhone cameras, which are useful to know about. Many of them work in all modern models, not just the top-end iPhone 6.
1. Video recording at 60 frames per second
By default, video in the iPhone 6 is recorded at 30 frames per second, but the camera is capable of 60. To enable 60 fps, go to Settings -> Photos and Camera -> Record video at 60 fps. If, when recording a video, the inscription 60 fps is visible in the upper right corner, then you did everything correctly. Why record video at 60 fps? If only because the human eye does not have any “frames per second” and for it, the more of these frames in the video, the better. Someday we will live to see YouTube videos with 150 fps.
2. Recover deleted photos
If you (or someone else) mistakenly deleted photos and videos in the Photos app, they weren't actually deleted—the iPhone waits a full 30 days before actually deleting the footage. Click on the Albums option at the bottom right of the screen and scroll down to Recently Deleted - this is where all the footage that has been "deleted" is hidden. They can either be restored, or actually deleted - now “with the ends”.
3. Search by Photo
In the Photos application, you can search by date, by name if you have enabled face recognition, and by location if you have enabled the option to save shooting coordinates. Just in album view mode, click on the search icon in the upper right corner and search.
4. Use a grid
There is a very important function in the camera settings itself - the grid. You can find it in Settings -> Photo and Camera -> Grid. Turning it on splits the screen into six areas that help you take photos according to the “rule of thirds.” Its essence, in a nutshell, is that the main subject of the photo should be either strictly in the center, or at one of the intersections of the lines - then the composition of the photo looks much better.
5. Manual exposure adjustment
The iPhone 6 camera allows you to use “knobs” to adjust the exposure. Just tap on the screen and a yellow square with a sun icon will appear. To increase or decrease the exposure, simply swipe your finger up or down and the viewfinder will immediately adjust to the new value. Useful when shooting in extremely low/high light conditions.
6. Share “Moments”
7. Choose the best photo in burst shooting
The iPhone 6 has a burst shooting option that allows the camera to shoot at 10 frames per second. The camera then analyzes each shot and selects the best one. She usually does it well, but you can do it better. To personally view all the captured frames, click on “Select...” at the bottom of the screen and, in fact, look at the shots taken for yourself. The one that the iPhone has chosen itself will be marked with a gray dot, but no one is stopping you from making your choice by simply marking required photo. Or “necessary photos” - you can save at least everything.
8. Viewing enlarged thumbnails in the “By Years” mode
When you need to quickly find a photo you're looking for that you only remember taking this year, switch to the Years view in the Photos app. After that, just look at the thumbnails with your finger, and they will enlarge in a funny way. This allows you to browse very quickly a large number of photo - and find what you need.
The iPhone 6's camera is good enough to replace an entry-level camera, but it can always be improved. The Camera and Photo apps have several settings that can improve the quality of shooting and make the life of a mobile photographer easier.
The resource has made a selection of 8 key iPhone camera functions that are useful to know about. Many of them work in all modern models, not just the top-end iPhone 6.
1. Video recording at 60 frames per second
By default, video in the iPhone 6 is recorded at 30 frames per second, but the camera is capable of 60. To enable 60 fps, go to Settings -> Photos and Camera -> Record video at 60 fps. If, when recording a video, the inscription 60 fps is visible in the upper right corner, then you did everything correctly. Why record video at 60 fps? If only because the human eye does not have any “frames per second” and for it, the more of these frames in the video, the better. Someday we will live to see YouTube videos with 150 fps.
2. Recover deleted photos
If you (or someone else) mistakenly deleted photos and videos in the Photos app, they weren't actually deleted—the iPhone waits a full 30 days before actually deleting the footage. Click on the Albums option at the bottom right of the screen and scroll down to Recently Deleted - this is where all the footage that has been "deleted" is hidden. They can either be restored, or actually deleted - now “with the ends”.
3. Search by Photo
In the Photos application, you can search by date, by name if you have enabled face recognition, and by location if you have enabled the option to save shooting coordinates. Just in album view mode, click on the search icon in the upper right corner and search.
4. Use a grid
There is a very important function in the camera settings itself - the grid. You can find it in Settings -> Photo and Camera -> Grid. Turning it on splits the screen into six areas that help you take photos according to the “rule of thirds.” Its essence, in a nutshell, is that the main subject of the photo should be either strictly in the center, or at one of the intersections of the lines - then the composition of the photo looks much better.
5. Manual exposure adjustment
The iPhone 6 camera allows you to use “knobs” to adjust the exposure. Just tap on the screen and a yellow square with a sun icon will appear. To increase or decrease the exposure, simply swipe your finger up or down and the viewfinder will immediately adjust to the new value. Useful when shooting in extremely low/high light conditions.
6. Share “Moments”
7. Choose the best photo in burst shooting
The iPhone 6 has a burst shooting option that allows the camera to shoot at 10 frames per second. The camera then analyzes each shot and selects the best one. She usually does it well, but you can do it better. To personally view all the captured frames, click on “Select...” at the bottom of the screen and, in fact, look at the shots taken for yourself. The one that the iPhone itself selected will be marked with a gray dot, but no one is stopping you from making your choice by simply marking the desired photo. Or “necessary photos” - you can save at least everything.
8. Viewing enlarged thumbnails in the “By Years” mode
When you need to quickly find a photo you're looking for that you only remember taking this year, switch to the Years view in the Photos app. After that, just look at the thumbnails with your finger, and they will enlarge in a funny way. This allows you to very quickly view a large number of photos and find what you need.
According to NPD Group, more than half of the pictures and videos on the Internet are taken using the built-in camera mobile devices. While mobile photography are on the rise, the use of traditional cameras is losing popularity.
The 8-megapixel cameras of iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S allow you to create quite high quality photos, compared to previous Apple phone models, and considering that over 5 million images taken on Instagram are uploaded daily mobile gadgets, we can say that this is the easiest way to share your pictures.
While having a good smartphone camera is no guarantee of high-quality photos and videos, with the right camera setup you can take the quality of the photos you take with your iPhone to the next level.
1. Take care of lighting
One of the main problems with the built-in cameras of any smartphone is the low quality of shooting in low light. To fix this and not leave dark objects in your photo, you will have to put in a little effort.
Of course, there is nothing better than natural lighting, but on cloudy days, shooting is unlikely to be possible without additional light sources. In the process, you should turn your back to the light source, and the objects, on the contrary, should be directed towards the light. If you're shooting indoors, aim the light at the subjects you're about to photograph and away from walls and windows.
2. Use flash with caution
While flash can help solve lighting problems in many situations, too much brightness can make the people in your photo look like ghosts. It's better to always take two pictures just in case - one with flash and one without. Later you can look at both options and choose the best one. Or don't use flash at all and use the following tip.
3. Lock your exposure
Instead of turning on the flash, try increasing the exposure time using third-party photo apps like Camera+ if you're shooting in a dimly lit room. Extended exposure time will allow you to get more bright photos with best quality when environment not well lit.
Additionally, you can lock the exposure by pressing and holding a special area on your screen. When using other applications, simply increase the brightness settings to achieve the desired effect.
4. Use HDR mode
Another option supported by iPhone is High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode. By using HDR, you'll be able to capture a significantly wider range of tones and colors, resulting in better-quality photos than using your phone's flash.
5. Clean the lens
While the lenses of regular cameras are protected from accidental impact thanks to special cases, fingerprints can often be seen on the iPhone camera.
Wipe your lens with a tissue, otherwise your photos will show up dirt from your lens.
6. Don't use digital zoom
Optical zoom honestly enlarges the objects in the picture, while digital zoom only spoils the quality of the picture. You're better off just getting closer and then, if necessary, cropping or enlarging the frame with the same effect as with digital zoom.
7. Keep your iPhone level
Hold your iPhone steadily while you take photos to avoid blurry images. There are several ways to ensure a stable camera position. Some apps use the phone's built-in accelerometer, which senses the device's movements, to take a photo only when the camera is at rest. Be sure to enable this feature.
To ensure a stable position for your body and your smartphone, hold the gadget with both hands. If there is a surface nearby, such as a table or shelf, use it as support.
8. Adjust white balance
Balance white– Another potential drawback of a smartphone camera when shooting in low light. By default, the camera automatically adjusts the white balance before turning on the shooting app. If your photos look unnatural, try locking your white balance to improve the quality of your shot in that lighting.
9. Adjust color balance
To adjust the color balance, you will also have to use third-party apps from App Store. Fine-tuning saturation, contrast, and sharpness can give your photo a completely different look when the default settings don't produce the desired results.
Changing colors on your computer can be a lot easier than fiddling around on your iPhone. This software How Photoshop and iPhoto can help you adjust color balance after you take a photo.
10. Use the Rule of Thirds for Good Composition
Of course, you can capture the subject in the center of an empty frame, but real professionals don't do that, so you don't need to. Instead, use the "rule of thirds" by imagining vertical and horizontal lines dividing the screen like a tic-tac-toe board.
You can easily enable the screen grid on iPhone by turning it on in Display Settings. Then use these lines to correctly position the object and obtain best composition your photo.
11. Check your background
While you may be focusing on someone's face, be sure to check the background of the photo. Objects peeking over someone's head can detract from what you really wanted to capture in the photo.
12. Update your photo app regularly
While the iPhone comes pre-installed with a shooting app, there are more than one app available for download on the App Store. suitable solutions. Such programs provide additional options to customize and improve the quality of your photos. For example, Camera+ offers 16 scene modes, as well as special modes to enhance the quality of shooting in certain environments.
13. Try professional tricks
You shouldn’t give up special techniques to get unique photos just because you don’t have expensive professional photographic equipment. Try the "panning" technique by moving your camera at the same speed as the object or person moving. The background will be slightly blurred, but the subject in motion will be captured quite clearly.
The standard application will also give you the opportunity to take panoramic photos using your iPhone. It's quite simple, you just need to turn on the required parameter and move the camera in a circle, and your smartphone itself will assemble a complete image from them.
But it, unfortunately, is not without its drawbacks: you could not manually change shutter speed, ISO and exposure. Everything changed in iOS 8 and now third-party applications can manually control camera settings, which in turn opens up new possibilities for creativity.
This article will talk about how to use your iPhone's camera to take photos and videos with manual settings.
iPhone as a camera
I think everyone has heard of the old, hackneyed saying that best camera, this is the one that was at hand at the right time. This is true, and in relation to the iPhone, explains great amount photos taken specifically with him in mind. Apple is now the most popular camera manufacturer on Flickr. iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5s take more photos than any other camera.
There are currently four iPhone models on sale: iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 5S and 5c. On paper they are all similar specifications, But latest models are able to produce a higher quality picture. All iPhones have an 8-megapixel camera, however modern models have larger sensors. They all also have a fixed aperture (f/2.4 on the iPhone 5c and f/2.2 on the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus). Considering the crop factor, their lenses are equivalent to 30-35mm lenses in Full Frame cameras.
iPhones have shutter speeds of 1/200–1/2 second. The ISO sensitivity range is in the range of 34–2000 for the iPhone 5s/5c and is slightly different for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus - 32–2000.
As for video shooting, the capabilities of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus allow you to record videos in 1080p up to 60 frames per second and slo-mo in 720p at 240 frames. The iPhone 5s can do everything the same, but with half the frame rate, but the iPhone 5c can only shoot 1080p at 30 frames per second, slo-mo is not available in it.
Taking photos with Manual
To fully take advantage of the new iOS features, you'll need to manually adjust your camera settings. Many third-party photo apps have been updated to include full manual controls, and many new ones have been added. One of the best alternative cameras that have manual settings is Manual. The application costs 66 rubles and can only be installed on iOS 8 devices.
As the name suggests, Manual's developers focused on the ability to have complete control over your iPhone's camera. While most other apps focus on adding various filters and effects, Manual remains fairly simple and focuses on getting the best possible image from your camera.
Manual can fully customize shutter speed, light sensitivity, white balance, focus and exposure. There are also several tools here to help you take better photos: the rule of thirds for framing, a live histogram. I use Manual whenever I need a creative touch in my photography.
Thanks to a competent interface, everything you need is available on one screen. At the top of the screen there are controls for flash, focus, and white balance. You can not only turn on the flash, but also adjust its level. Focus is adjusted manually and automatically. In addition to automatic adjustment, white balance has several presets (sunny, cloudy, incandescent, fluorescent, etc.) or can be manually adjusted to any value in Kelvin from 1000 to 8000.
At the bottom of the screen are controls for ISO, shutter speed and exposure. At first, the abundance of settings may confuse you a little, but over time you will get used to it and will be able to quickly change any of them.
Control is implemented through pop-up sliders that appear when you hold down the icon of a particular parameter. The magnitude scales are quite sensitive; you only need to move your finger a couple of millimeters to switch between adjacent divisions. The set of settings available for change, as well as their range, depends on the model of your device.
Just above the shutter button is an updating histogram that helps you make sure your shot has the right balance of light and shadow.
Using automatic installations ISO and shutter speed, you can enable exposure compensation. It is located above the shutter speed icon and has 8 gradations. In addition, you can use autofocus by simply tapping on the screen.
Taking photos in Manual is much more troublesome than in the standard Camera application, but you will have significantly more settings and, if used correctly, you can get better photos. If this is exactly what you need, you are on the right track with Manual.
Shooting video with FiLMiC Pro
Features required for shooting good photos different from those needed for good videos. On this moment FiLMiC Pro is considered the best of all and offers everything necessary capabilities. The application costs 269 rubles and works on devices with iOS 8.0 and higher.
FiLMiC Pro gives you almost complete control over video recording from your iPhone's camera. You can't take good photos without Manual, and in the same way, you can't do without FiLMiC Pro if you want to record a cool video. Unlike Manual, here you will not be able to fine-tune shutter speed and exposure, but you will have greater opportunities to customize the shooting and encoding process.
With FiLMiC Pro you can adjust focus and exposure separately. At the bottom of the screen are controls for white balance, focus and exposure - tapping on the icon of any of them will lock the selected option. Next are the media library and settings icons.
The application has a smooth zoom, which can be used using the “+” and “–” buttons; its speed can also be set. Next to the scale there are buttons that allow you to quickly switch between three zoom levels (you can assign specific zoom values to them).
The real power of FiLMiC Pro is hidden in the settings screen. You can choose from over 20 presets with a wide variety of settings, or, if that's not enough, create a preset with all the settings from scratch. Exist ready settings for regular videos, slo-mo and accelerated ones.
The settings also allow you to select the bitrate. The higher the bitrate, the more disk space the video takes up. There are four quality options, from economical with 12 Mbit/s, to extreme with 50 Mbit/s, corresponding to the television broadcast standard. To get the best quality, choose the highest bitrate, but keep in mind that a 16GB iPhone can only hold 10 minutes of video shot at a bitrate of 50 Mbps and 30 frames per second.
FiLMiC Pro allows you to select audio settings and recordings. If you have an external microphone, you can even record in stereo; if not, the built-in microphones will be used.
For the first time in FiLMiC Pro, standard recording settings will be enough for you. Later, with an understanding of what is happening, you can change them if necessary to shoot cool videos. There are people who shoot even small films exclusively on their iPhone with FiLMiC Pro.
Conclusion
The first step towards success in photography perfect photos and video on your iPhone is that you have to do a lot of work before you even start filming. Using apps like Manual and FiLMiC Pro, you'll have much more control over your shot than with a standard app. If you take care of exposure, focus, and other settings in advance, you won't have to worry about them once the photo is taken. If you don't do this, then no filters will help your photos and videos look professional.
I gave only two applications as examples, but if you know other worthy alternatives or have something to complement me with, be sure to express your opinion in the comments!
Apple engineers told us what settings to make so that the iPhone camera does wonderful photos. This instruction will help owners of American products improve their photography skills and they will be able to take not only selfies, but also something more. The material presented below is, of course, familiar to experienced users, but beginners simply need to read the further presentation of the material.
How to take a good photo on iPhone
- Keep the camera still
- Use HDR mode
- Choosing good lighting
- Correct Focus
- Continuous shooting
Most smartphone owners still don’t know how to set up dynamic extended range and exposure control. They cannot record videos while shooting objects at the same time, nor can they select best time to connect to the flash, so below are some tips from the developers that will help you properly set up your iPhone camera for better shooting.
To photograph a subject that is backlit, you should select the HDR function and activate it to optimally focus on more pronounced highlights and shadows. Next, you will need to collect the rays into the focus of the camera by holding your finger on the selected area of the screen. Then you need to touch the screen again and balance to lower the shutter speed. Now everything is ready for shooting.
Advice! If you want to get a great shot that both you and other people will like, then do burst shooting, this way you will get more options for one photo and there will definitely be one that is the best!
For vertical images large sizes you need to switch the camera. After that, turn on the “landscape” mode and switch to panoramic mode. And the last thing to do is to smoothly move the photography tool from bottom to top.
To photograph the external outline of an object (silhouette) with the sunset for the background, you need to focus the photographic device by lightly touching the screen. Next, you need to slide your finger across the display to reduce the exposure time.
If there is enough lighting for shooting, you need to turn off the flash and focus the lens in the above manner and adjust the shutter speed. To obtain a black and white image, it is very good quality You will need to set the initial contrast of the background, as well as the selected subject.