iPhone camera basics

Learn how to take photos with your iPhone camera. Choose from camera modes such as Photo, Video, Cinematic, Pano, and Portrait, and zoom in or out to frame your shot.

Open Camera

To open your iPhone camera, do any of the following:

Siri: Ask Siri something like, “Open Camera.” Learn how to use Siri.

Note: For your security, a green dot appears in the top-right corner of the screen when Camera is in use. See Control access to hardware features.

Take a photo

  1. Open Camera on your iPhone.

  2. Tap the Shutter button or press either volume button to take a photo.

    Camera is open in Photo mode. The Camera Controls button is in the top-right corner. The Photo and Video Viewer button is in the bottom-left corner. The Take Picture button is at the bottom center, and the Camera Chooser Back-Facing button is in the bottom-right corner.

    On supported models, click the Camera Control to open Camera, then click it again to take a photo.

    With supported models of AirPods and AirPods Pro, you can press the AirPod stem to take a photo. See Use AirPods or AirPods Pro with supported camera apps in the AirPods User Guide.

    If you have an Apple Watch, you can use the Camera Remote to take a photo. See Use Camera Remote on Apple Watch in the Apple Watch User Guide.

Switch between camera modes

When you first open Camera , Photo mode is selected and Photo and Video modes appear onscreen. Tap Photo or Video to switch between the two, or swipe left or right to choose other modes.

Depending on your iPhone model, you can select from the following modes:

To set a mode other than Photo as the default mode when you open Camera, see Save camera settings on iPhone.

Zoom in or out

  1. Open Camera on your iPhone.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Pinch the screen to zoom in or out.

    • Touch and hold the zoom control at the bottom of the frame, then drag the slider left or right.

    • On supported models, tap 0.5x, 1x, 2.5x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 8x to quickly zoom in or out (depending on your model).

    • On supported models, lightly double-press the Camera Control to open an overlay that shows the available camera settings. Slide your finger to select the Zoom setting, then lightly press it. Slide your finger again to zoom in and out.

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