As promised… a review of the Amazon Echo is on the way.
I want to live with it a few weeks longer before I decide if we should stay together permanently.
If things go well, this could be the first relationship I’ve had that works.
When you use the iPhone camera, you’ve probably noticed symbols at the top and bottom of the screen. Some are recognizable… others are odd and mysterious looking.
What Does It All Mean?
First, you should know that symbols are white when off and yellow when on.
At the top of the screen you’ll find:
Flash
The flash can be turned On, Off or put in Auto mode. Auto mode initiates the flash if light levels in the frame are too low. The flash on the iPhone is designed to create the exact color temperature of white light needed to match the light you’re shooting in. It’s a brilliant piece of engineering and works extremely well.
Personally, I leave the flash turned off on almost all occasions. Unless a flash is bounced or diffused correctly it generates harsh shadows and creates an unnatural separation between subjects and the background. Basically… it looks like you used a flash.
HDR
This stands for High Dynamic Range. The idea is to improve the results when you’re shooting images that have areas of very deep shadow or high brightness.
When you take a HDR photo, the camera actually takes 3 photos:
- An image with standard exposure.
- An overexposed image that allows good shadow detail.
- An underexposed image that pulls down brightness levels so white areas avoid blooming and show detail.
The final image is a composite of the 3 that provides good exposure in all areas. Pretty clever, eh…
You can place HDR in On, Off or Auto mode which triggers when lighting conditions are appropriate.
Live Photo
Currently this feature only works on the iPhone SE, 6S and 6S Plus.
Live Photo takes a photo and shoots video 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 seconds after the photo is captured. The result is a photo that moves when the iPhone screen is tapped or pressed on.
Special moments can be used as an iPhone wallpaper! This way you can watch your baby splash in the bath or your teen embed their first car in the garage wall, every time you pick up your phone.
Note that Live Photo is on by default and that Live photos take up more space than standard Photos.
Timer
Set the timer to 3 or 10 seconds and then make a mad dash to get into the picture. 3 seconds is for Olympians and the 10 second setting for the inebriated.
Camera Rotate
Switch views between the front-facing and back-facing camera. The front-facing camera is always capable of producing better quality photos and videos, but… the back-facing camera is perfect for selfies.
At the bottom of the screen you can swipe through the following modes:
Photo – Standard camera aspect ratio of 4:3
Square – Square images like your Mom used to take.
Pano – Used to take Panoramic Photos. Want to know how? – How To… Shoot A Panorama With Your iPhone Or iPod Touch
Video – Shot in 16:9 aspect ratio that matches your widescreen TV. Video settings are adjusted in iPhone Settings and this is detailed below.
Slo-Mo – You can swipe in and out of Slo-Mo as you record standard video. Slo-Mo settings are adjusted in iPhone Settings detailed below.
Time-Lapse – Your iPhone takes pictures at pre-set intervals. When played at normal speed the action appears greatly speeded up. The iPhone sets the interval between shots based on the recording duration. You can’t adjust this… so just enjoy the results.
On the bottom of the frame you’ll find:
Photos Library – Takes you straight to the Photos Library on the iPhone.
Shutter Button – In Photo mode press the shutter once for a single picture. Keep your finger on the shutter to take a burst of photos. It’s perfect for catching a fast-moving image. It’s very easy to shoot bursts accidentally. No worries… you can always delete them later.
Filters – This only appears in Photo and Square mode. Tap the icon and you can apply a choice of 8 filters: Mono, Tonal, Noir, Fade, Chrome, Process, Transfer and Instant.
There are a few camera settings that are harder to find, but worth knowing about:
Exposure Control – Placing your finger anywhere on the screen will focus the camera on that point and also set the exposure level based on light levels in that area. To control exposure simply swipe up or down. An exposure slider appears and responds to the movement of your finger.
Focus and Exposure Lock – Tap and hold your focus point until a yellow box with AE/AF Lock appears. You can now move the camera around with both focus and exposure remaining locked. Tap anywhere on the screen to unlock focus and exposure.
Take a moment to check these out:
- Tap Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Photos and Camera.
- Scroll down to reach the Camera section.
Here are your options:
Grid – This places a grid over the viewfinder. It won’t appear in the final image, but it’s extremely useful for lining up shots.
Record Video – You have 4 options: 720P at 30fps, 1080P at 30fps, 1080P at 60fps and 4K at 30fps. As the resolution gets higher you eat up more storage space on your iPhone. 60fps should provide less blur during motion, but it also requires more light to get a good exposure. 4K provides an outstanding image, but is only worthwhile if it’s going to be viewed on a monitor capable of showing a 4K picture.
Record Slo-Mo – You have 2 options: 1080P at 120fps or 720P at 240fps. Here it’s a trade-off between resolution and how slow you want to go. Generally, you’ll get great results with either, but 720P at 240fps really slows the action down. The key is to experiment. No single setting works best for all occasions.
In the HDR (High Dynamic Range) section you get one option:
Keep Normal Photo – When this is turned on the normally exposed photo is kept as well as the HDR image which is a composite of 3 different exposures.
That’s it. If you want to learn more about general iPhone symbols check out – iPhone Symbols – What The Hell Do They Mean?
Thank you very much for your help.
FINALLY!!a website that answers “simple”questions” like what the symbols on my phone mean! THANK YOU!!!
Cheers for the info
So concise and easy to understand. Thank you!
Please could you tell me which one i should have my phone on when recording and then using this on social media ex: putting a video on facebook. I can only put videos what are under 1 minute at the moment so very confused, Yet i see other peoples videos and they are minutes ling. Why is this?
720P at 30fps, 1080P at 30fps, 1080P at 60fps and 4K – all very confusing to me!
Hi Wendy – The lower the resolution (720p) and frame rate (30 fps) the less room it takes up and the more likely you can post it to Facebook. My guess is that other people videos that are minutes long have been exported to iMovie and dropped in resolution to 480p or lower so the file size is smaller. Hope this helps. – John
Hi John,
I have no idea how to fix these thingz. I am trying to apply for a passport on-line with a digital photo.
I am using an iphone 6 which the passport trouble shooting lady said was fine.
How do I find out the quality of my photo for more than 50kb and change it to that please?
Would that have affected my photo appearing as though it is B/W which it is of course NOT. Are there even such things anymore unless you have film?
The light could Not Be More Natural. It was taken in the afternoon with bright sunlight streaming in front and back windows.
I have discovered the off-flash now.
I have No Idea what Filter Settings they are talking about.
I wish I could upload my photo so you can see the criticism but I hope the auto reply will do. I of course can’t get to the Closed Anyway photo studios due to this COVID closure and must renew now. Thanks. Odette.
The photo is rejected because:
The lighting is too dark or uneven
Try:
standing further away from the wall to avoid shadows
switching the flash off
standing where there’s more natural light
Your photo quality is too low
You need to use a photo that’s between 50kb and 10mb.
It looks like your photo is black and white
Try:
switching off your flash and filter settings
standing where there’s even lighting
There’s a problem with the colour in your photo
where you stand and your camera settings can affect the colour
switch off your flash and filter settings
try standing where there’s more natural light
Hi Odette – I’m not sure of what help I can provide as there are so many factors involved here. I will send you an email with an address you can email the photo to. – John
Great advice clear and precise many thanks!Meryl
Great info many thanks! Meryl . My camera is showing a “blur” and not able to take any shots? What have I done wrong please help. iPhone 6
My iPhone 6s Plus will now not display text or pictures horizontally. I have googled snd tried everything. Please help!
I do not have a rotate screen anywhere.
Here’s a video that should help – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm-ak2aehLY
Hi John,
After downloading a video I recorded a white circle appeared on the screen with a black square in it. which has a zig zag line what does that indicate?
Hi Rebecca – Can you email a copy of the image to info@noproblemmac.com I need to see what you are looking at before I can answer. Thanks – John
Can you tell me why almost all iphone camera images sent to my iphone via text are named
Img_123_1.jpg (what I wrote is not an example – they are all named Img_123_1.jpg EXACTLY).
This has started happening more and more in the last few months until now almost all are named this way. I need to rename every picture (almost) in order to save to laptop.
Hi Ron
What were they named in the past? JPEG exports are always assigned text plus a number or just a number when they are imported into a Mac unless they have been named otherwise in the metadata.
How can I disable the burst setting/function on my iPhone 7? And how can I select the one image of many in a burst I want to keep?
Thank you1
Hi Eleanor – On the iPhone 7, you can’t turn off burst mode. Newer phones offer a more complex shutter setup that helps avoid accidental bursts. To select the photo to keep you have to delete all the ones you don’t want. I know of no other method of doing this. – John
John a good guide needs updating though.
HDR is different on the iPhone 12 – is auto rather than set manually from what i can make out. (Edit – Actually it turns out it can be turned on and off manually as before but you can now set smart HDR in Camera settings)
I’m still trying to work our that the crescent with lines symbol does. which is how I found your site. I think it effects the shutter open time in night mode but haven’t as yet found a reliable explanation.. Edit John, thank you for the link it does do what I thought.
Steve
Hey Steve
This is for night mode – Night Mode
Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.
Thanks
John
I’m confused…why does the iPhone 8 take 10 photos when I use the 10 second button. I only wanted 10 second delay before the camera takes a photo.
Hi – It takes 10 photos to give you choices later. I know… it’s idiotic. Only way around this is to: Set flash to On or Set HDR to On. Not great workarounds… but what can you do. – John
Thanks for info. Sometimes my camera acts like the TIMER is on, but it’s off. There’s an annoying delay before the shuuter clicks. And sometimes I turn on PHOTO but the screen remains blank black. I can shoot photos but they don’t show up as taken.
Hi Madeline – What you are describing seems like very odd behaviour for an iPhone. The first thing I would try is a Force Restart, described here in Apple’s support documents. If that doesn’t work I would call Apple support, but hopefully the restart should fix it. All the best – John
Question: I get a black scree on my camera app. when I switch modes I can get a clear pic on one; but fuzzy on the other. I have tried everything that is suggested; but still not a good screen.
Hi Linda – Unfortunately, this is the kind of issue that could have many possible causes and is pretty much impossible to diagnose in a quick answer. I recommend calling Apple’s free support helpline and having them work through any possible fixes before going to the store. – John
My iphone no longer transfers photos to my Mac autimatically. i need these photos for ebay
Hi Jean – This questions is too complex to answer with a simple comment. There could be many reasons for the problem and it needs a professional to troubleshoot it. The least costly way to resolve this is to contact Apple Support and have them work through the issue with you. – John
trying to take photos on ifone 5se. am blocked by a white square w/ a grey round dial in middle. won’t let me use icons in camera. can’t get rid of it, can’t take photos. how do i get it off ?
Hi Erin – Try to Force Restart the iPhone. instructions are here – https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/force-restart-iphone-iph8903c3ee6/ios
I’m putting together a slide show for my Dads 100th birthday party and some of my photos have the 4 corners of a square with 3 lines inside -on photos with a word in the photo it captures that when pressing down on it. How can I remove that? Or disable it entirely? Thanks
Hey Jillian – I need to know what software you are using and I need to see a copy of the image or screenshot with the problem you are describing. Send to john@noproblemmac.com. – John
I have the same problem. Square at bottom on photo with three lines inside. How can I disable this. What is it?
This is the icon for Live Text. It can recognize information in photos and images. To turn it off go to Settings>Camera and toggle off ‘Show Detected Text’.
I got an iphone 7 when it first came ot. I am just now wondering about all the camera symbols. I am also wondering how I can be so out of it to not even wonder about all of this just before I will probaly have to get a new phone.
Anyway you explained the symols beautifully. The title “what the hell…” definitely caugt my attention.
Thank you so much.
Anyone know best to walk a iPhone in a circle while camera facing up and take photos. I want to take photos of a canyon with the iPhone facing up and I am turning around in a circle. Thanks
Are you talking about Panorama mode?
How do you stop a camera that has frozen and won’t shut off
Try to hard reboot your phone. There are different ways to do this depending on the model of phone, so just do a Google search to find the right method.