The Best iPhone Camera Settings for Amazing Photos (2026)
I’m obsessed with getting the best possible photos out of my iPhone. Over the years I’ve tried pretty much every setting and feature, and I’ve landed on a setup I’m really happy with.
I like my photos to look natural. The iPhone is great at that, but only if you set it up properly. So here are the exact camera settings I use, how I set up the Camera app, and how I edit my photos afterwards.
I’d recommend a Pro model iPhone if you can. The Pro models just have more camera features. A few settings in this post are also new and only work on the iPhone 18 Pro. I’ll point those out as we go.
Step 1: Change these iPhone camera settings first
Before you even open the Camera app, go to Settings > Camera. Apple has put almost everything in here now, so this is where most of the setup happens.
Camera Control and Photographic Styles
I have Camera Control set to open the camera. To be honest, I don’t use it for much else.
Photographic Styles are worth a look this year. I wasn’t too interested in them last year, but Apple has added some really useful options. They’re great if you don’t want to edit your photos in another app. I leave my default style on Standard, but tap Customise to play around. There’s a Palette section to change the look, and a Texture section where you can adjust skin and even add grain. Just try things and see what you like.
Record Video settings
| Setting | What I use |
|---|---|
| Record Video | 4K at 60 fps |
| Show PAL Formats | Off |
| Enhanced Stabilisation | On |
| Action Mode Lower Light | Off |
| HDR Video | On |
| Auto FPS | Off |
| Lock Camera | Off |
| Lock White Balance | On |
I shoot my YouTube videos at 24 fps. But for Instagram and TikTok, 4K at 60 fps just looks really good.
Enhanced Stabilisation is a must. Your footage is so much smoother when you’re walking or panning around.
I didn’t used to turn on HDR Video. Now I do, because Instagram and TikTok support it really well and it looks amazing on both.
Lock White Balance is personal preference. White balance changes with the light and colours in your scene. I lock it so it doesn’t shift when I move from one shot to the next.
Slo-mo, Cinematic and sound
| Setting | What I use |
|---|---|
| Record Slo-mo | 4K at 120 fps |
| Record Cinematic | 4K at 30 fps |
| Record Sound | Spatial Audio |
I don’t use slo-mo or Cinematic mode much. I might switch Cinematic to 4K 60.
Sound is a big one though. I used to record in mono. But iPhone audio has got so good that I now use Spatial Audio. It lets you change the audio after you’ve recorded. For example, you can keep only the sound from what’s in the frame and block out everything else. It’s unbelievably smart. I’d highly recommend it.
Formats
| Setting | What I use |
|---|---|
| Camera Capture | High Efficiency |
| Photo Mode | 24 MP |
| ProRAW Format | JPEG-XL Lossy |
| Apple ProRes | On |
| ProRes Log Video Encoding | Log 2 |
This section matters. I want the highest resolution, so Photo Mode is on 24 MP. For ProRAW I use JPEG-XL Lossy. It keeps your RAW files small, so they don’t eat up your storage. Log 2 is just the latest version of Apple’s Log video, so that’s what I use.
Preserve Settings
I love this one. So many times I’ve opened the Camera app and wanted my settings to still be there. Preserve Settings does exactly that. Here’s what I keep on:
| Setting | Preserved |
|---|---|
| Camera Mode | On |
| Photographic Style | Off |
| Creative Controls | On |
| Depth Control | On |
| Macro Control | On |
| Exposure Adjustment | On |
| Lens Aperture (18 Pro only) | Off |
| Night Mode | On |
| Portrait Mode | On |
| Action Mode | Off |
| ProRAW Resolution & Control | On |
| ProRes | On |
| Live Photo | On |
I leave Lens Aperture off for now because I don’t mind the iPhone changing the aperture for me. That might change.
Composition and lenses
| Setting | What I use |
|---|---|
| Grid | On |
| Level | On |
| Mirror Front Camera | Off |
| View Outside the Frame | Off |
| Fusion Camera | 24 mm default, 35 mm on, 28 mm off |
Definitely turn on Grid and Level. They help you line up your shots and stop you taking wonky photos.
View Outside the Frame is usually on by default. I turn it off because I find it distracting. I just want to focus on what I’m actually shooting.
For the Fusion camera, I don’t want to flick between three different lenses. So I keep it simple. 24 mm for wide shots and 35 mm for everything else. 35 mm is one of the most natural looking focal lengths, which is why it’s so popular.
Everything else
| Setting | What I use |
|---|---|
| Portraits in Photo Mode | On |
| Prioritise Faster Shooting | On |
| Lens Correction | On |
| Macro Control | On |
| Lens Cleaning Hints | On |
| Reference Image | On |
Turn on Lens Cleaning Hints. Your iPhone will tell you when the lens is dirty, so you’re not taking blurry photos without realising.
Reference Image is brand new. Your iPhone captures a reference image from the main sensor alongside your photo, so it can be verified as authentic. Basically, it lets you prove your photo hasn’t been altered with AI.
Some of these settings are personal preference. So go through them, understand what they do, and tweak them to suit how you shoot.
Step 2: Set up the Camera app
The iPhone 18 Pro has new controls along the top of the Camera app. Apple is clearly pushing the Pro closer to a proper professional camera, and I love that. It means you don’t need third party apps as often for manual controls.
The best part is you can customise that top row. Just press and hold on it, then choose what you want there. I have flash, Live Photo, format, white balance, aperture and exposure.
Shoot in ProRAW at 48 MP
This is the most important setting of all. Set the format to RAW and shoot at 48 MP. That gives you the highest resolution photos, and RAW files give you way more freedom when you edit. You can switch between Live Photo and RAW really quickly too.
White balance
You can pick different white balance options depending on your scene. But the iPhone is really good at getting it right on its own. I leave it on Auto most of the time, unless I’m going for a very specific look.
Aperture (iPhone 18 Pro only)
I usually leave aperture on Auto too. There are four options. Pick the lowest number and the aperture opens up, letting in more light. That can also give you a nicely blurred background, depending on how close your subject is.
If you want more of the photo in focus, go up in aperture. That’s ideal for landscapes or group photos. Third party apps give you a few more options, but for most people Apple’s four are completely fine.
Exposure
This one is personal preference. I like to keep my exposure a bit lower. I like photos with deeper blacks and more contrast, and lowering the exposure gets you that. If you want that darker, moody look, this is the setting to play with.
Step 3: Edit your RAW photos in Lightroom
Once you’ve shot in RAW, import your photos into an app like Lightroom. This is where you really shape the look of your photos.
I start with one of my own presets. You don’t have to use mine. There are loads of free presets online. Mine just have the style I like, from film looks to darker, moody ones.
I don’t want my photos to look over edited or AI generated. I just want to give them a bit of flavour. So after the preset, I usually only touch exposure, highlights, shadows and sometimes colour temperature. That’s it.
Here’s how I edited a few photos from the video:
| Photo | Preset | What I changed after |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait in Japan | Film 7 | Small exposure, highlights and shadow tweaks. Kept a slightly blue colour temperature. |
| Street in Hong Kong | Travel 9 | Made it much bluer, shifted the hue in Colour Mix, lowered exposure and shadows, adjusted the curves. The result looks almost cyberpunk. |
| Another travel photo | Film 4 | Raised highlights, added contrast, lowered whites and brightened the whole image. |
| New York from Top of the Rock | Dark Aesthetic 4 | Raised exposure and shadows, turned off HDR, cooled it down for a gloomier feel, and made the yellows more orange. |
| Portrait in Bodrum, Turkey | Collection 01 | Nothing. The preset did the job. |
| My car | Dark Aesthetic 5 | Raised exposure, cropped in tighter and cooled the colour temperature. |
The Bodrum shot is a good example of what the iPhone can do now. Zoom in and my face and sunglasses are really sharp, but the background is nicely blurred. The preset just gave my skin and the leaves a bit more richness, so it actually looks like a holiday photo.
Common questions about iPhone camera settings
What are the most important iPhone camera settings?
Shoot in ProRAW at 48 MP, turn on Grid and Level, and set up Preserve Settings so the Camera app remembers how you like it. If you only change a few things, change those.
Do I need an iPhone 18 Pro?
No. But some of these settings, like ProRAW and ProRes, only work on Pro models. A few, like the aperture controls, only work on the 18 Pro. That’s why I’d recommend a Pro model if you can.
Should I shoot video at 24 fps or 60 fps?
It depends where it’s going. I use 24 fps for YouTube. For Instagram and TikTok, I shoot 4K at 60 fps because it looks really smooth.
Is ProRAW worth it?
Yes, if you edit your photos. RAW files give you much more freedom to change the look. Set the ProRAW format to JPEG-XL Lossy so the files don’t take up too much storage.
Do I need Lightroom?
Not if you don’t want to edit in another app. This year’s Photographic Styles let you do a lot right in the Photos app. I use Lightroom because I like applying my own presets.
Where to start
If you do one thing today, go into Settings > Camera and turn on ProRAW at 48 MP. Then import a few RAW photos into Lightroom, try a preset and see the difference. It makes a big difference.
There’s only so much I can fit into one post. If you want to go deeper, check out the iPhone Creator Kit.
The presets are the big one. The Film, Travel and Dark Aesthetic presets I used in this post are all in there. The Basic Kit comes with 20 presets, from clean and modern to vintage and gritty. The Ultimate Kit has over 180, organised into collections for pretty much any photo you’ll take. Travel, film, product, cars and more. It’s the best way to get the look you saw in this post without spending ages on sliders.
You also get a cheat sheet with all of these settings, 14+ lessons on getting the most out of your iPhone camera, and LUTs to colour grade your Apple Log video. It’s a one-time payment, no subscription.
