MASTER VIDEO, SLO-MO, LIVE PHOTO AND MORE
Capture the world in motion
YOUR iPHONE DOESN’T just take stills. You can also use it to shoot video clips in up to 4K resolution, “live” photos, slo–mo clips, time–lapses and more. The iPhone 12 models can also shoot video in a High Dynamic Range (HDR) Dolby Vision format. This new 10–bit format enables you to capture clips with a wider contrast range and more detail and color than you’ll see in the 8–bit SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) clips captured by older iPhone models. To activate HDR go to Settings > Camera and tap on Record Video. Toggle on the HDR Video (High Efficiency) option. Choose a size such as 1080p HD. When you switch to the Camera app’s Video mode you’ll see an HD icon at the top–left (when shooting in landscape). Tap on HD to choose a larger 4K resolution. A 4K HDR clip will look amazing on a 4K HDR TV, with more vibrant colors and richer tones. One downside of shooting and viewing HDR clips on your iPhone is a shortened battery life, so take a charger if you’re on a location shoot.
The iPhone provides many ways to quickly swap from recording video to stills and vice–versa, so you won’t miss a thing! While filming video footage you can snap a photo by tapping on the white circle next to the red video record icon. (This won’t interrupt the flow of your footage.) In Photo mode you can drag the shutter button right (or up if you’re holding the phone horizontally) to quickly record video footage. Another quick way to
record video while using the Camera app is by pressing and holding the Volume Down button.
When shooting action photos it can be hard to capture the perfect moment. In Photo mode, hold your finger down on the shutter icon and slide left if holding the iPhone vertically, or down if shooting horizontally. You’ll hear multiple shutter clicks and see a counter indicating the burst of consecutive stills you’ve captured.
You can also capture a burst by pressing the Volume Up button if you go to Settings > Camera and toggle on Use Volume Up for Burst. After capturing a burst of shots go to the Photos app and you’ll see a thumbnail with a Burst label. The amount of shots in the burst appears in brackets. Tap Select and swipe through the images. Tap to mark the best shots then tap Done to keep your favorites while deleting the rest.
When shooting video your iPhone captures 25, 30 or 60 frames (or images) per second and plays them back at the same rate at which they were recorded. This reproduces movement at a normal speed. Your iPhone’s Time–Lapse mode causes the camera to capture a series of frames at wider intervals. As there’s a gap of time between each captured frame the action plays back at a much faster speed in the resulting time–lapse video clip. Time–lapse is an effective way to record the ebb and flow of traffic at a junction. When shooting time–lapse footage a tripod is essential as any camera moves with be exaggerated. In the Camera app swipe to Time–Lapse mode and tap the Record button. To capture a 20–second time–lapse clip you’ll need to leave the iPhone recording for 10 minutes. At this duration it will capture one frame every second and play them back at 30 fps.
There’s also a hybrid between still and video thanks to the Live Photo option. A Live Photo captures a three–second video of your subject. In Photo mode tap the Live Photo icon and a LIVE label will appear. Tap the shutter button to snap the Live Photo. To see and hear it, hold your finger on the image in the Photos app.
As Live Photos are a series of still frames you can do more with them using the Photos app. For example, if your subject has their eyes closed you can tap the Edit button, tap the Live Photo icon and scrub to a frame where they have their eyes open. Tap Make Key Photo. You can even use Live Photos to add DSLR style long exposure motion blur, as we explain in our walkthrough.