iPhone 18 Pro - Best Camera Settings (Photography & Video)

In this blog, I will share what I believe to be the best iPhone 18 Pro camera settings for photography and video. It must be said that this is based on my personal use case with the phone, and it might not apply to everyone.

I use my iPhone 18 Pro as a daily carry point-and-shoot. While I have my dedicated camera for when I want to focus on photography, the iPhone is my trusty everyday companion for documenting my life and the moments in between.

The best approach is to read this blog, take what applies to you, and discard the rest.

Know The Limitations

Before getting into the details, it’s worth understanding the limitations of what an iPhone can do. While Apple is great at making it seem like the best camera in the world that can do everything, the reality is a little different.

By far the biggest limitation is the small sensor size. Whatever fancy marketing Apple uses, and whatever AI computational 50-layer image processing software they implement, there’s no way to get around physics.

To squeeze the most out of this sensor, you need to shoot in places with ample lighting. More light will result in cleaner, sharper images that are more pleasing to the eye. Lower light will prove more challenging, so if you’re shooting at night, pretend to be a moth and gravitate towards areas with lots of street lamps, shop windows, and so on. Your goal is to maximise the amount of light that can hit the sensor. This is especially critical on the ultra-wide and telephoto lenses, which have smaller sensors and pixel sizes.

On the iPhone 18 Pro, you have three lenses: the main wide lens, an ultra-wide, and a telephoto. As mentioned, the main camera has the largest sensor and the fastest lens. So while all lenses share the same resolution, if you want the absolute best image quality, stick to the primary lens.

• Larger sensor = more area for light to hit.

• Larger sensor = larger pixels = more light they can absorb.

• Wider aperture = more light can pass through the lens and hit the sensor.

• More light = better image quality.

Another important point relates to the crops. Depending on your phone, you might have 1.2X, 2X, etc. These are not physical lenses. They are digital crops of a wider lens. For example, the 2X crop is nothing more than a punched-in version of the 1X lens.

It goes without saying that while these can be helpful, you will be taking a hit on image quality and resolution. I’m not saying don’t use them, as I use them all the time, but keep in mind that they are not physical lenses.

Apps

I use the default Camera app for 95% of my photos and videos, as ultimately this is a point-and-shoot camera. On previous phones, I relied on third-party apps for manual controls. Thankfully, with the 18 Pro, I can adjust settings right in the main Camera app. After trying so many different apps, I always default back to the standard Camera app.

With that said, I’ve found the Moment app gives me the most control over photography, the Blackmagic Camera app is the most comprehensive for video, and the Leica LUX app has the best straight-out-of-camera JPEGs.

Photography Settings

In this section, I’ll cover the essential settings you need to get the most out of your iPhone for photography. This won’t cover everything. For that, check out the iPhone Photography Guide.

Camera Control – The iPhone 18 Pro carries over the Camera Control button, and while the promise is life-changing, in reality, limiting its capabilities will actually help you get more out of it. I personally use it for opening the Camera app and taking photos. All other control features, such as exposure, focus lock, etc., are switched off.

ProRAW – Make sure this is switched on to get the best quality image for editing. If you don’t plan on doing any editing, then by all means leave it off. Head into the Formats section, then enable ProRAW. You’ll also want to make sure JPEG Lossless (Most Compatible) is selected.

Preserve Settings – This section allows you to select which settings are remembered when you quit and restart the Camera app. I only enable Macro Mode, ProRAW, ProRes, and Live Photo. Whatever changes I make to these will be remembered, while all other parameters will reset to default when I restart the app.

Grid & Level – I have both of these switched on to help with composition.

View Outside Frame – I always switch this off, as I find it incredibly distracting when trying to compose.

Fusion Camera – Here you can change the “focal length” of the main camera. You can choose 24mm, 28mm, or 35mm. Of course, these are just digital crops of the main 24mm camera, but the quality holds up well. I personally keep it set to 28mm, as that’s what I prefer for day-to-day shooting.

Photography Camera App

Global Exposure – For this, we need to exit Settings and open the Camera app. In the top left, you’ll see a small exposure icon. You can also access it through the Control Menu by swiping up next to the shutter button. Here, you can set the default exposure level.

If I’m shooting in harsh light, I might drop it to around −0.3. On dull, cloudy days, +0.3 is enough. In low light, I can drop it down to −1 to preserve highlights. With that said, leaving it at 0 will also be fine. The key here is to experiment and see what works best for your style and how you edit.

Focus & Exposure – Probably the most useful tool at your disposal is focus and exposure lock. If you tap on the screen, you can focus and expose for that area. Tap and drag up or down to adjust the exposure level. Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure on that spot. This is great for focusing, exposing, and recomposing your shot.

Top Icon Bar – The iPhone 18 Pro now gives you a top bar where you can keep key settings. If you press and hold one of those icons, you can customise what’s there.

This is how I set mine from left to right:

• Format

• Flash

• Night Mode

• Focus

• Aperture

• Shutter Speed

• Exposure

For me, this is a game changer, as I now get an overview of what the camera is doing as well as direct control over the most critical settings.

Shutter Speed – This allows you to set a specific shutter speed or leave it on auto. For most shooting scenarios, I leave it on auto. I would decrease it to around 1/20 for capturing motion blur, or go even lower for more abstract photos. I could also increase it to around 1/500 if I want to freeze most things in the frame. For the telephoto lens, I suggest 1/1000 or faster.

Aperture – Most of the time, I have it set to auto, but I would open it up to f/1.48 for the softest image and the most background blur. I would then close it down to f/4 if I want more in focus.

Focus – I have it on auto most of the time. However, I would lock it in manual when I’m shooting reflections or abstract shots, as the camera can sometimes get confused.

White Balance – You can either leave it on auto, which is what I do 99% of the time, or lock it to one of the presets. If you’re shooting with multiple cameras and want to ensure consistency, this is a useful tool. It’s also helpful if you’re shooting in the presence of strong colours, such as during sunset, as locking it will prevent shifts between photos.

iPhone Photography Guide

If you’re enjoying this blog and finding the information useful, may I recommend the iPhone Photography Guide. It’s your one-stop resource for getting the most out of the iPhone.

It goes deep into setup, settings, and techniques, and also includes a collection of iPhone-optimised presets and free lifetime updates. As new phones are released, you’ll continue to receive updates automatically. This is the most direct way to support my work and keep this blog ad-free.

iPhone Photography Guide & ProRAW Lightroom Presets

£18.00

This iPhone Photography Guide is designed to save you time and help you get your camera set up and working just like mine.

What’s Included:

• Detailed setup guide for the Camera app and settings

• Photography guide covering lighting, composition, settings, and more

• 10 Lightroom presets designed for ProRAW photos

• Free lifetime updates as new iPhones and iOS updates are released

What’s Supported:

• This guide is based on the iPhone 18 Pro running iOS 27

• Most settings and features carry over to other recent iPhones

What’s Not Included:

• Dedicated settings for older iPhones and individual iPhone models

• Third party camera apps or accessories

• The Apple Photos app or other aspects of the iPhone outside of the camera

• A dedicated guide to filmmaking. I cover video settings in detail, but this isn’t a “how to make videos” guide

You will learn what the major camera features do and why I have chosen to set them up in a certain way. I also cover photography essentials, so even if you’re a total beginner, this guide will help you better understand light, composition, and storytelling.

Finally, you will get 10 Lightroom presets specifically designed for ProRAW photos. These are the presets I use myself to edit my iPhone photos. They also come with a guide explaining how to get the most out of them.

This is a digital download and not a physical product. The download is approximately 36 MB.

Please note that due to the nature of digital products, refunds are generally not accepted. However, if you experience any issues, feel free to contact me and I’ll review your situation individually. You are welcome to use this product for personal or commercial projects, but you may not copy, distribute, or resell the files in their original or modified form.

Finally, I want to say a massive thank you for supporting me. Buying this guide is the most direct way you can support my work, allowing me to make more videos, photos, and tutorials for you.

Thank you for your support!

Add to cart

Video Settings

Record Video – This is where most of your settings will be. There is no correct resolution or frame rate, as it ultimately depends on what you’re shooting, where you are, and what you plan to do with the videos.

I personally shoot at 25fps in 4K. If you’re in the USA, Japan, or any other country running on 60Hz, then select 24fps or 30fps.

Lock Camera & Lock White Balance – I recommend switching both of these on to prevent accidental shifts in the footage.

Formats – I select High Efficiency for the better codec and quality. If you want the absolute best image, then going for ProRes LOG 2 will achieve that. However, the file sizes will be astronomical, so only use it if you need ProRes for heavy colour grading or matching with other cameras.

Video Camera App

Focus & Exposure – Probably the most useful tool at your disposal is focus and exposure lock. If you tap on the screen, you can focus and expose for that area. Tap and drag up or down to adjust the exposure level. Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure on that spot.

This is particularly useful for video, where you don’t want the focus or exposure changing unexpectedly during a clip.

Top Icon Bar – The iPhone 18 Pro now gives you a top bar where you can keep key settings. If you press and hold one of those icons, you can customise what’s there.

This is how I set mine from left to right:

• Format

• Flash

• Focus

• Aperture

• Shutter Speed

• Exposure

• White Balance

For me, this is a game changer, as I now get an overview of what the camera is doing as well as direct control over the most critical settings.

Shutter Speed – One of the easiest ways to make your video look high quality and less like it came from a phone is to have the correct shutter speed locked for the frame rate you select. So, if you shoot at 25fps, your shutter speed should be 1/50. This is where having an ND filter becomes essential when shooting during the day.

Aperture – Most of the time, I have it set to auto, but I would open it up to f/1.48 for the softest image and the most background blur. I would then close it down to f/4 if I want more in focus.

Focus – I have it on auto most of the time. However, I would lock it in manual when I’m shooting long takes, such as timelapses or talking heads.

White Balance – When it comes to video, white balance plays a critical role because if it shifts mid-filming, it can be very difficult to fix and could ruin a take.

For that reason, when I’m shooting a very long clip, such as a talking head, I will always lock it to the most suitable preset so it doesn’t jump around. This is also useful when shooting with multiple cameras or using lights.

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