If the iPhone — or iPad — is the best camera you have with you, Camera has to be one of the most important apps. With it, you can capture selfies or elsies, squares or panoramas, 4K to slow motion, all with built in high dynamic range (HDR), bursts, filters, grids and more.
How to quickly access the Camera on iPhone and iPad
Unlocking your iPhone. Going to the Home screen. Tapping the Camera app. It gets you set to take a photo or video, but it's slow. For those times when you're in a hurry, when something unexpected, sudden, and marvelous happens, there's faster camera access. From the Lock screen, from Control Center, with Hey Siri, and with 3D Touch, you can get to the camera more quickly than ever.
- How to use Lock screen fast camera access
- How to use Control Center fast camera access
- How to launch the camera with Hey Siri
- How to launch the camera with Haptic Touch
How to take photos, bursts, and panoramas with your iPhone or iPad
With the Camera app app for iPhone and iPad, you can take photos. You can also take flash photos, high dynamic range photos, timer photos, and selfies. You can even use the volume buttons or a headset remote to trigger the shutter. All that, and more, with just a few taps.
- How to take a photo
- How to use the volume button to take a photo
- How to use a headset to take a photo
- How to take and select 'burst mode' photos
- How to set the flash
- How to enable HDR
- How to set the timer
- How to take a selfie
- How to take a square photo
- How to take a panorama
- How to use zoom on the iPhone 7 Plus and later
- How to use Portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus and later
How to take and share Live Photos on your iPhone or iPad
Live Photos aren't video, but a full-on 12-megapixel photo that animates 1.5 seconds of motion before and after the still. You can take them with an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE or 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and play them back with 3D Touch or a long-press on any iOS device. All you have to do is learn how!
- How to take a Live Photo with your iPhone or iPad
- How to use Live Photo filters
- How to view Live Photos
- How to view Live Photos on an older iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- How to share Live Photos on your iPhone or iPad
- How to set a Live Photo as the wallpaper on your iPhone or Apple Watch
- How to extract a still shot from a Live Photo
How to lock focus, bias exposure, enable grid, and geo-locate with Camera for iPhone or iPad
The Camera app on your iPhone or iPad is simple but powerful. It can automatically focus and refocus, expose and re-expose, on whatever part of the image you like. You can even bias the exposure with a swipe. If you want to better frame your shots, you can turn on the grid. And you can turn geo-location on and off to either track your photos or protect your privacy, whatever you prefer.
- How to lock the focus and exposure in the iPhone and iPad Camera app
- How to adjust live exposure settings with the Camera on iPhone and iPad
- How to enable the camera grid lines on iPhone or iPad
- How to turn GPS geo-location on and off on camera for iPhone and iPad
How to record video, slow-mo, and time-lapse with your iPhone or iPad
Your iPhone and iPad isn't just a still camera, it's also a video camera. It can record standard video in up to 60 fps, and more recent models can even do 4K at up to 30 fps. You can also capture slow motion video, to see every back flip or water drip, and time lapse to watch the sun fly across the sky or a house get built in seconds. It's all up to you!
- How to shoot video with your iPhone or iPad
- How to change video resolution and frame rate on your iPhone or iPad
- How to shoot a slow motion video on your iPhone
- How to change the slow- and normal-speed points for your slo-mo iPhone video
- How to change the slow- and normal-speed points for your slo-mo iPhone video
- How to switch between 120 fps and 240 fps
- How to create a time-lapse video on your iPhone or iPad
- How to take a still photo while capturing video on your iPhone or iPad
How to use the Telephoto lens on iPhone 7/8 Plus and later
iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, and later devices includes two additional features not found in any other iPhone: optical zoom and Portrait mode. Both are thanks to its second, 56mm-equivalent "telephoto" lens system.
- How to use the zoom feature on the iPhone 7 Plus
- How to shoot with the iPhone 7 Plus's telephoto lens
- How to use Portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus
How to shoot RAW and manual-mode photos
Apple provides frameworks for full manual photography, including control over focus, exposure, bias, and aperture, as well as the ability to shoot in RAW. While none of those features are available in the built-in Camera app, you can access all of them with App Store apps.
How to quickly edit and share photos and videos from the Camera app
There's a full-blown Photos app app for all your basic post-processing needs, but if you're in a hurry, you can do a lot right in the Camera app. With just a tap of the thumbnail, you can call up the embedded photo and video editor, tweak your shots, share them right away, or even delete them if you don't want to keep them.
How to quickly edit and share photos and videos
How to use the Camera on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro
With the brand new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pros, Apple introduced some changes to the Camera app due to the new Night Mode feature, as well as the awesome new Ultra Wide camera lens. There are also a few control changes, QuickTake video, and more. It's a bit overwhelming, but don't worry, we have everything you need to know right here!
- How to quickly move between the wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto cameras
- How to take Quick Video
- How to take burst photos
- How to use additional controls in the Camera app
- How to set up photo capture outside of the frame
- How to edit images with data from outside of the frame
- How to switch between close and wide angle selfies
- How to take a slofie
- How to use Night mode on iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro
Any camera questions?
If you have any questions on how to shoot with your iPhone or iPad camera app, drop them in the comments below!
September 2019: This guide was originally published in March 2010. It is updated with information about iOS 13 as well as details on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro cameras.

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