Top 5 iPhone Camera Settings for Better Looking Photos

Mobile Is Here to Stay

Anyone can snap away with their iPhone out of the box, but taking the images to another level is a different ballgame. Whether you’re shooting for Instagram, capturing precious family moments, or simply documenting everyday life — getting the most out of your iPhone’s camera is essential. Lucky for you, all Apple devices come with a few neat (and sometimes hidden) settings and features that can drastically improve the quality of your photos. Below are the tips that have helped us, and many other professional mobile creators, effortlessly elevate their mobile photography. And if you need a similar article for better-looking iPhone videos, take a peek at our top tricks.

1. Shoot in RAW Format

Switching your iPhone to shoot in RAW format gives you greater control when editing your photos. RAW files capture uncompressed image data straight from the sensor, preserving more detail in highlights, shadows, and colors. This means higher dynamic range and more data to work with, allowing for richer edits and better-looking photos in your favorite editing apps, like VSCO or Lightroom Mobile.

What Is Apple ProRAW?

Apple ProRAW takes things a step further by combining RAW image data with the iPhone's computational photography features, like Smart HDR and Deep Fusion. Shooting in RAW normally means you miss out on these enhancements, but ProRAW gives you the best of both worlds.

Smartphone cameras have smaller sensors compared to pro-level cameras, which means they capture less light and can struggle in low-light conditions. Apple's computational photography helps override these challenges by merging multiple images to enhance dynamic range and reduce noise.

This means that when you shoot in ProRAW, you can more effectively adjust white balance, exposure, and colors in post-production.

How To Do It:

1. Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
2. Turn on ProRAW:
   • Tap the RAW button (it might say RAW Off). When it's on, it will display RAW On.
3. Snap your photo as usual.

You can toggle ProRAW on or off anytime by tapping the RAW button.

Keep ProRAW Enabled

If you want your iPhone to remember your ProRAW setting:

1. Go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings.
2. Turn on Apple ProRAW (or ProRAW & Resolution Control, depending on your model).

Set ProRAW Resolution and Format

On supported iPhones like the iPhone 16, 15, and 14 Pro series, you can choose your ProRAW resolution:

1. Navigate to Settings > Camera > Formats.
2. Enable ProRAW & Resolution Control.
3. Tap ProRAW Resolution (or Pro Default) and select:
   • ProRAW 12 MP
   • ProRAW 48 MP
   • HEIF Max (for high-efficiency images)

Pro Tip: Remember, RAW files are larger than JPEGs! Ensure you have enough storage or regularly back up your shots. If you need a breakdown of what RAW files mean, check out this article for greater education.

2. Adjust Exposure

A good photo is only as good as the light — remember this! While your iPhone does a solid job automatically, sometimes you need a little tweak to make your shot just right. Adjusting the exposure lets you brighten or darken your image, enhancing details and skin tones exactly how you want them.

How To Do It:

Before you take a photo, the iPhone camera automatically sets the focus and exposure, and face detection balances the exposure across many faces. If you want to adjust the focus and exposure manually, do the following:

In Apple's Settings...

1. Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on your subject to set the focus and bring up the exposure slider.
3. You'll see a small sun icon next to the focus square.
4. Slide the sun icon up or down:
   • Slide up to make the image brighter.
   • Slide down to make it darker.

If you're using one of the newer iPhone 16 models, there's an even smoother way:

1. Double-press the Camera Control to open additional settings.
2. Swipe to the Exposure setting.
3. Tap to select it, then slide your finger to adjust the exposure.

Pro Tip: Want to lock your focus and exposure settings? Press and hold on to the focus area until you see AE/AF Lock at the top of the screen. This keeps your settings consistent for multiple shots. To unlock, just tap the screen again.

In the Moment Pro Camera App...

1. Download and Open the Moment Pro Camera App
   • If you haven't already, download the app from the App Store and open it up.
2. Familiarize Yourself with the Interface
   • The app displays various icons representing different settings at the top and bottom of the screen.
3. Adjusting Exposure
   • Exposure Compensation (EV):
     • Tap the EV icon.
     • Slide your finger left or right to make the image brighter or darker.
4. Shutter Speed and ISO
   • Shutter Speed (S):
     • Tap the S icon to adjust how long the camera's sensor is exposed to light.
     • Slower shutter speeds can create motion blur; faster speeds freeze action.
   • ISO:
     • Tap the ISO icon to adjust the camera's sensitivity to light.
     • Lower ISO reduces noise; higher ISO helps in low light but can add grain.

3. Turn On Macro Control

Macro mode on the latest iPhone devices allows users to capture really detailed and sharp up-close images of subjects. It's specifically engineered to be as close as 2cm away with a precise focus range and zero vignetting. This is great, but sometimes you don’t want the camera to switch to the ultra-wide lens automatically. Turning Macro Control on in your camera settings gives you more control.

How To Do It:

1. Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
2. Get close to your subject —as close as a few centimeters.
3. When you're within the right distance, a macro icon (it looks like a flower) may appear on the screen.
4. Tap the macro icon if you want to toggle automatic macro switching on or off.
   • Macro On means your iPhone will automatically use the Ultra Wide camera for close-ups.
   • Macro Off lets you control when to use it.
5. Adjust as needed:
   • If the image is blurry, try stepping back slightly.
   • You can also tap 0.5x to manually switch to the Ultra Wide lens.

4. Preserve Camera Settings

Remember when you tweaked a few settings, took a perfect shot, and wanted to recreate it later? Only to realize the camera had reverted to its default settings? Luckily, there's a way to preserve all your previous settings, so it always opens to your preference.

How To Do It:

• Open Settings > Camera.
• Scroll to "Preserve Settings".
• Here, you can keep your last mode (like Video or Pano), the last-used filter, or the Live Photo setting.

Pro Tip: Use this if you often switch between specific modes. It’ll save you time and keep you from missing a shot.

5. iPhone 16 Only: Camera Controls

The latest iPhone 16 devices have “Camera Controls,” which allow you to open your iPhone camera and access your most common camera settings on the fly. You can quickly plug and play certain adjustments, such as file type or HDR settings, and set them as the default settings whenever you open the camera app.

How To Do It:

1. Open the Camera App:
   • Tap the Camera Control button to launch the Camera app.
2. Access Additional Settings:
   • Double-tap the Camera Control to open an overlay with available settings like zoom, exposure, or focus.
3. Select and Adjust a Setting:
   • Swipe over the Camera Control to scroll through the settings.
   • Tap the setting you want to adjust.
   • Slide your finger to fine-tune the setting to your preference.
   • The setting is saved and will be ready the next time you use the Camera Control.
4. Capture Your Photo:
   • Tap the Camera Control to take your shot with the new settings.

Customize the Camera Control Clicks:

Prefer a single tap instead of a double tap to access settings?

1. Go to Settings > Camera.
2. Tap Camera Control.
3. Choose between Single Tap or Double Tap as your preferred method.

Adjust Accessibility Options:

You can also modify how the Camera Control responds to your touch:

• Pressure Sensitivity: Change how hard you need to press.
• Tap Speed: Adjust how quickly you need to tap for double taps.

To customize these, go to Settings > Accessibility > Camera Control.