Lately, I’ve been on a mission to find a small camera to bring with me on travels and walks. One that is not heavy as my big DSLR camera, and that can take better photos than the iPhone.
I always end up just taking my iPhone when I’m on the go, and leaving the Canon EOS Mark 5 at home because let’s be real; it’s super heavy. With a large lens attached it can easily weigh 1,5kg!
But when I come back home from a trip or walk, and look at the photos I took, I almost always regret that decision because I wish the photos were better.
And even though I’ve been practicing hard on taking decent iPhone photos, they are never going to be as good as the high quality DSLR images.
So I thought; why not find a small compact camera that can do better than the iPhone and get closer to the image quality of a DSLR photo? And at the same time I can take it with me everywhere without being concerned about it being clumsy or heavy to carry.
Also, when I’m at a public location with people around I don’t want the attention of me swinging that big camera around. Especially not if I also have my dogs with me, which can be pretty chaotic sometimes when trying to take a picture and holding them at the same time.
I just want to go unnoticed, preferably with a tiny + silent camera which I can discretly slide out of my pocket without anyone noticing.
On this mission to find this small miracle camera, I decided to test some of my older cameras that I’ve had for some years and I hardly never use.
Today, the focus is on the Canon G7X Mark ii which was first released in 2016. It’s a tiny point-and-shoot camera no bigger than my hand. It weighs about 300 grams and comes with a 24–100 mm (4.2×) f/1.8–2.8 zoom lens.
I originally bought the Canon G7X Mark ii camera for the pure purpose of using it for video, filming tutorials, behind the scenes stuff and vlogging. I wanted something super simple and this was it. The footage that comes out of it is so good I don’t have to edit it, nor colorgrade it, which makes my workflow super fast.
Actually, I loved it so much I bought one more of the exact same model, simply to be able to film the same scene but from two different directions. I’ve been very pleased with this setup.
The funny thing is, that even though I’ve had these two Canon G7X Mark ii cameras for some years I’ve never taken a photo with any of them! Until now!
I don’t want to give you a traditional camera review with all the technical specs, you can read about that in so many other blog posts or see it on Canons own homepage. Instead I want to show you the images, so you can see for yourself.
In my personal and professional opinion (and this is not sponsored), I find the Canon G7X Mark ii camera to be a nice camera for the price. The photos in this post is simply shot with automode and then edited on my iPhone.
Why? Because I want a clever, fast, and easy to use camera that I can quickly pull out and snap away with. Often I only have a second to snap that photo and I don’t want to play around with the camera settings when I’m on the move with my dogs or if I’m in a crowded location.
It feels like the Canon G7X is quicker to use than the iPhone. With the iPhone I often have to put a little more effort into getting the light right, setting the focus and exposing the scene correctly. With the Canon G7X I just turn it on and tap my finger on the screen exactly where I want the focus to be, and as I tap to focus it takes the photo immediately – I only have to tap one time!
Compared to the photos I can take with my iPhone camera the Canon G7X image quality is better. I love the depth of field and the softness with Canon which is hard to create with iPhone.
It is possible to add softness in photos taken with the iPhone camera, but then I have to go into settings and use the portrait mode, and adjust further – perhaps adding more softness in editing as well. Often I need to take some test shots until I get something I like, which also takes time.
Also, the white balance and colors are much better straight out of the Canon G7X camera compared to iPhone. And therefore the photos are faster and easier to edit.
That being said, the photo quality is not as good as when I compare to my Canon EOS Mark 5 dslr camera, but I didn’t expect than anyway.
This is definitely a camera that I will be using much more in the future, and explore as a small compact travel camera.
The only downside I can find with this camera is that I don’t like the look so much for still life. It performs fantastic for interior, travel, nature, landscape, portraits but for those closeup still photos that I love it lacks something that is hard to explain. It’s something to do with the dimmensions and size difference between the objects.
But since I will be using my big DSLR for still life at home in my studio, I don’t need the Canon G7X Mark ii mark to perform well in this area. What matters is how it performs when I’m travelling, hiking with my dogs, at an event, or biking around the city. For those situations I think it’s close to being the perfect camera.
I’m still on a mission to see if I can find a camera that can do even better that the Canon G7X Mark ii and you’ll be the first to know, if and when that happens 🙂
What do I do for fun you ask? I compare cameras 📷 Yes, I’m such a nerd😆 To be more specific I like to take the same photo with different camera models. My perhaps unrealistic goal is to one day find a small camera that can produce (or outperform) the results I get with my big and heavy Canon DSLR camera. I haven’t found it yet but I’m having fun getting a little closer and testing different options.
Lately, I have been playing with the iPhone camera as well as a small compact “point and shoot” camera. I thought it would be fun to show you the results because maybe you also have a secret dream to one day replace your heavy camera with something much lighter.
I love to capture everyday life; little details of nature, what’s blooming in the garden, what naughty things my dogs are up to, changes I make in the home, and beautiful views I spot on my walks. It keeps my creative mind fresh to have these small projects that I shoot just for me and not for my professional work.
But I don’t want to carry my heavy Canon DSLR with me for those daily snapshots. It’s too much. Not only is it heavy to carry (about 1,5 kg with a big lens), it also draws attention because of the size. Not to mention that I often have the dogs with me on my photo walks and trying to tackle them and shoot with the big camera is almost impossible without help.
So mostly, I just use my iPhone camera, which works well for those quick snaps. But lately, I’ve been thinking “what if I can find a tiny camera that is super lightweight, perhaps smaller than my hand, that takes incredible photos and then easily transfer the photos to my phone”? Then I can have higher quality photos, that fits my style + taste better but without the time-consuming workflow of working with a DSLR.
I don’t want to feel like I’m working as a professional photographer when I take photos for fun. I want the workflow be to be hassle-free, super simple and creative!
So I started playing around with different types of cameras, to explore how close I can get to the photos that comes out of my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. Are the photos similar in quality or very different? Absolutely! But with some creative editing it’s possible to get very close to a decent result.
Comparing Image Quality: DSLR vs Compact Camera vs iPhone
The 3 photos above are captured with Canon Eos 5D Mark IV and edited on the computer with Lightroom. Three things which are so hard to beat with this camera is its ability to produce amazing colors, perfect white balance and the delicious softness + depth.
The next three photos are taken with Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III compact camera and edited on iPhone with the VSCO app. This camera is a great camera for the price. I originally bought it for video production and only just recently started testing it for photos. It’s super tiny. Smaller than my hand and weighs 300 gram.
I’ve started carrying it with me everywhere, along with my iPhone. It doesn’t take up much space in my small handbag, and I can also easily fit it into my jacket pocket. It’s doesn’t draw attention when I shot out and about where there’s other people.
The softness and depth is actually not bad with this camera, because it goes all the way to f/1.8. But for still life and food photos I personally find that it distort the things in the scene a little and make them look smaller. For the larger scenes like travel, interior and landscape it does do a really good job though.
The last three photos are from iPhone 11 Pro max. Shot with the portrait mode feature and edited with the apps Snapseed and VSCO.
The portrait mode feature help create blur and depth of field. It’s doesn’t always look good, often more fake. But if you’re lucky to find the right angle and distance it can make a huge difference and give you a beautiful photo.
I find, that in order to get an iPhone image that look similar to an image taken with a dslr I have to use 2 or 3 different editing apps. I tend to play around until I find something that come close.
I really like the Snapseed app for the brush feature because I can paint light and shadow in specific areas of the image or reduce or boost saturation on an item.
I’m not a huge fan of the Snapseed app presets though. So for presets I will often use VSCO for the dark and moody look and the VN editor for more bright and airy look.
Alright, so what’s my verdict of these images when I compare them? From a professional point of view I would say they are all good. If you saw just of them in a magazine, without the opportunity to compare, you would properly not know what camera they were taken with. Am I right?
That being said, when you compare them and see the photos lined up together, and you look closely, you begin to SEE that they are different – it’s all in the details. The dslr photos take the first price for best depth of field, softness, white balance, texture and sharpness. But, to be honest; it’s a close call, and I find that to be absolutely fantastic news!
I can’t wait to test other cameras and see how close I can get to a dslr photo. Next, I’m planning on testing an older digital Fujifilm camera. More specifically the Fujifilm X-M1 mirrorless from 2013. So this camera have been in my cabinet for 10 years. It will be so much fun to dust it off and test it!
And I just ordered a Sony RX100 Mark 7, a small compact camera. A high performance camera with all the new technology. So stay tuned for more comparison projects, if you’re curious to see the outcome.
Happy beautiful day lovelies and remember, if you need some photography inspiration, I have a FREE 5-day online course for you to enjoy instantly. Just click on the photo below to get started❤️
Tired of capturing dull and uninspiring photos with your iPhone? In this blog post I share 11 pro photography tips for capturing beautiful photos with the iPhone camera.
I love to use my iPhone for photography. Every photo project that is not is not related to my professional photography job I shoot with the phone camera, that includes vacation photos, family photos, everyday life, self-portraits, images for Instagram stories and personal photo projects.
It’s taken me a long time to get convinced about the iPhone camera’s qualities, but this past year I’ve fallen deeply in love with iPhone photography because it’s easy, fast, simple and practical.
Though, I will ALWAYS love my DSLR photos more, there’s also more work going into producing those photos. And sometimes I crave the freedom of a more simplistic workflow which I get with the iPhone.
I feel more relaxed when I work with my phone camera, because it’s often “just” for fun and I don’t necessarily need to use it for my professional work. It takes off the pressure to perform and give me permission to experiment without expectations. It feels like free play.
As my iPhone photography skills have grown better, I’ve also started posting these pictures to my blog, website and social media. And I must say, I love the fast and simple workflow, and with a bit of practice it is very much possible to create beautiful photos.
The photo below is one of my favourite iPhone pictures. I took this photo with an older iPhone model in Tuscany a few years ago. Even though I also took this photo with my DSLR, I always loved this iPhone version better. That was the first time I started taking my phone camera more seriously.
Different Cameras – Same Techniques
Though the phone camera is very different from most other cameras, the same strategies for creating beautiful visual storytelling still apply. That means that the typical photography techniques such as light, shadows, composition, styling, storytelling and editing, play just as big a role.
The difference is that the iPhone camera will give you another look than when working with a DSLR camera. Often the phone images appear more real, flat and boring than if you play with a DSLR and various lenses. But with a few tweaks and a bit of practice you can take beautiful photos with the iPhone camera as well.
Does The iPhone Model Matter?
Maybe you have the latest apple iPhone or maybe you have an older model? It doesn’t matter much, but there might be some features and tips I share that are not available on your smartphone or maybe you have new features that my iPhone doesn’t have.
There are so many different models out there, and in my opinion even the older models take decent photos as long as you have good daylight available.
The camera is NOT what matters most. The camera is a TOOL like a brush is a tool to painter. It’s never the brush that turn the blank canvas into art – it’s the artist’s creativity, personality and experience that creates the painting. Just like a sauce pan is a tool for the chef – but the pan never cooks the meal.
Of course, the better the camera, and the newer your iPhone model is, it can help you capture high quality images, which gives you some amazing benefits. But the truth is, that it’s YOU that create the images.
You create with your creativity, your unique personality, your passions, your experiences and your aesthetic vision. It’s always creativity that makes the art and the tools can make it an easier process to get the look you want.
So let’s dive deeper into the foundation for taking high quality photos with your iPhone.
11 iPhone photography tips for capturing beautiful photos
#1: Always Have The Latest Update
Firstly, it’s important to always have the latest update on your iPhone. Updates often come with camera improvements, so ensuring your iPhone is up-to-date is a good start.
Not updating your phone to the latest software can also give problems when using apps and it can make you vulnerable when it comes to security. So make sure to turn on automatic iOS updates and you will have the latest security updates and the best camera features available to you.
#2: Use The Optimal Photo Format
After you’ve made sure that your iPhone has the latest update it’s time to take a look at your camera settings.
In the camera settings of an iPhone, you have the option to choose between two different photo formats: High Efficiency (HEIF) and Most Compatible (JPEG). High efficiency takes advantage of HEIF/HEIC giving you the best or similar image quality at a smaller size when compared to JPG which is the default image format when you select “most compatible”.
Here’s how they differ:
High Efficiency: is a newer photo format that was introduced with iOS 11. It uses advanced compression techniques to reduce the file size of photos without sacrificing image quality. This means that you can store more photos on your iPhone without taking up as much space. Additionally, HEIF supports features like Live Photos, burst mode, and portrait mode.
Most Compatible: is a standard photo format that has been around for many years. It’s widely supported by most devices and software, which means that you can easily share your photos with others. However, JPEG files tend to be larger than HEIF files, which means that you’ll be able to store fewer photos on your iPhone.
Slowly but surely, HEIF is gaining traction due to its compression capabilities, its ability to match and its presumed ability to exceed the quality of JPEG in less space. This means you’ll be able to store more photos in less storage space, with potentially better quality as well.
The pros of shooting inHigh Efficiency:
When it comes to image quality, HEIF seems to be the winner!
HEIF has more overall depth than JPEG.
Occupies less storage space compared to JPEG
Better for Non-Destructive image editing
Supports up to 16-bit color scheme, while JPEG offers 8-bit
Features like Live Photos are possible because of HEIF
How to activateHigh Efficiency:
Go to settings – then scroll down until to you find the Camera app. After you click on Camera, the first option you see is “formats“. For best quality choose “High Efficiency“.
#3: Use HDR to Properly Lit The Photo
HDR, or High-Dynamic-Range, is a feature available in the camera app on iPhone that allows you to capture photos with a greater range of brightness and detail than in a standard photo.
When you take a photo with HDR enabled, the iPhone takes photos at different exposures and combines them into a single image, which can result in a photo with better detail in both the highlights and shadows.
Here’s how to use HDR mode on your iPhone:
Open Settings and navigate to the Camera app on your iPhone.
Tap the HDR button on the screen to turn it on.
When you take a photo with HDR activated, the iPhone will take three photos at different exposures: one normal exposure, one underexposed, and one overexposed. It will then combine the three images to create a final photo with a wider range of brightness and detail. Very helpful in situations were the light in not perfect.
#4: Hold Your iPhone The Right Way
One of the most important things when it comes to taking sharp iPhone photos is to avoid movement.
The best way to keep the iPhone still while shooting is to tuck your arms in toward your body and hold the phone with both your hands. This helps stabilize the camera.
It’s a normal instinct to hold the phone out in front of us with the arms straight and away from the body. However holding it like this makes the camera vulnerable to shaking hands as well as movement coming from our breathing. So practice holding your elbows close to your body and keep your breathing still while you take the shot.
And if you can lean against anything (a wall, a tree, a door, or whatever) or if you can rest your iPhone against anything (a table, a glass, a book, etc.), that will help as well.
If you want to make sure your camera is 100% still when taking the photo, place your phone on a tripod, or a stable surface, and use the self-timer function. It allows you 3 or 10 seconds intervals. That means that you will not touch or hold the phone while it takes the photo and therefore the image will be completely sharp.
#5: Never Zoom With Your Fingers
Newer iPhones have three lenses and this gives you options. 1x is the normal lens. 0,5 zooms out and allow more in the frame, which is great when you shoot in smaller spaces. Lens 2 zooms in and give you a tighter frame – you get much closer to your subject. ALL three lenses deliver high quality images, so use them all as much as you like.
I personally prefer to use the zoom-in close 2 lens if I have space enough to step back at get the shot framed as I like. I find the compression is more pleasing to the eye.
However, the iPhone also allows you to zoom using your fingers on the screen for sort of a fake zoom. This is called “digital zoom”. But chances are you’ll end up with a somewhat pixelated photo.
#6: Always Clean The iPhone Lens
Another essential tip for taking good photos with your iPhone is to always clean your lenses. A dirty lens can reduce the quality of your photos.
And let’s face it, the iPhone easily gets dirty because we have it with us almost all the time. Especially when I work with food or flowers, my hands get dirty and I often get it on the lens when I’m holding the phone. Suddenly my photos are all blurred and I’m wondering why, and then I realize ohh the lens got dirty.
#7: Use The Front Lens For Best Quality
As you properly already know, the iPhone camera can flip in two different directions; away from you and towards you. For optimal image quality always use the front lens of the iPhone (that’s the lens turning away from you). Even though the it’s very practical that you can flip the lens directly at yourself for selfies, it’s not always the best solution.
Of course, taking selfies with your arm stretched out in front of you and the lens facing you, is super practical and a fast way to get the job done. But in case you want to take your own branding portraits or take better photos of yourself with your friends and family, I recommend using the front lens.
The best way to do this is to use a tripod with an iPhone mount, then activate the self-timer function and use a remote control to take the photo. This is especially important in low light conditions, to reduce any shakiness or movement.
#8: Get The Perfect Focus
When you aim your iPhone’s camera at something, it will focus on what it thinks you want to be in focus. But, it doesn’t always pick the right thing. One way to get that sharp focus every time to tap your finger on the screen, on exactly what you want in focus.
When you do this, a thin yellow focus square appears on the screen to let you know the area where you tapped is now where it’s going to focus, so you can go ahead and take your shot knowing whatever you tapped on will be in nice, sharp focus.
When you “tap to focus” on something in your photo, but then move your camera for a better angle or view, it’s very possible your camera will refocus on something else. The good news is that you can that lock the focus on your subject, so it won’t jump over to something else.
Simply tap-and-hold on the screen for a second or two, until you see the yellow focus square and AE/AF LOCK appear at the top of the screen. This lets you know your AF (autofocus) is locked (and so is your exposure your brightness or darkness of the overall image), and now you can recompose and shoot the way you’d like without worrying about your focus moving onto something else.
#9: Adjust Exposure Settings
Your iPhone’s automatic camera settings make your life a lot easier, but sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands. This is especially important when it comes to exposure and how much light the camera lets in.
Once you’ve tapped where you want to focus, swipe up or down to create a brighter or darker exposure. The iPhone camera will default back to its automatic settings when it detects changes in the frame — usually either when you move or something in front of the camera moves.
To lock your current focus and exposure settings, tap the screen and hold your finger down for a few seconds. When AE/AF LOCK appears in a yellow box at the top of your screen, your settings are saved.
This feature is especially useful anytime you’re taking multiple shots of the same scene and don’t want to reset after every click. This includes iPhone video production as well.
#10: Avoid Overexposure
If you like to edit your photos, it’s better to have an image that’s a little too dark than a little too bright. Editing software can make a picture brighter, but it’s almost impossible to fix a photo that’s washed out by too much light.
That’s why it can be helpful to adjust how much light your iPhone camera lets in. To prevent overexposure, tap on the brightest part of the image to change the camera’s settings.
This is also how you make your iPhone photos more dark and moody. Simply tap on the screen and hold your finger down until it locks. Then slide your finger down to make the image darker. If it doesn’t work try and move your finger to another place on the screen and repeat.
#11: Use The Portrait Mode For Still Life
I love the portrait mode inside the iPhone camera! Not only can it help you take some amazing portraits that looks like DSLR photos, it’s also great to use for still life and food photography. Take a look at the below examples.
The photo of the Christmas ornament below might be a bit grainy and imperfect compared to a professional photo, but I still think it’s a good image. It was taken on a dark afternoon in December with not much available light and then brightened with some editing in the iPhone camera app.
The photo below of the bowl was also captured during winter time and therefore a bit grainy, but look at the delicious blurred background that helps the star of the image stand out from the background.
When working with the portrait mode make sure you’re not holding your phone too close to the object you want in focus. If you hold it too close this function will not work. So if you don’t see the softness around your subject step back a little and see what happens. Then tap the screen to focus your object.
#11: The Importance of Editing
Last, but not least, almost all photos need some form of editing. Editing helps you get the best image possible, as close to what you imagined when you took the photo, or perhaps even better.
Photo editing allows you to enhance the image from “flat and dull” to “vibrant and alive”. Without editing, it’s much harder to make your photos stand out.
There are many great editing apps you can pick from, but a great way to get started is simply to use the photo editor that comes with your iPhone. Simply open any image (or video) and click edit in the top right corner. Just a little bit of adjusting can truly make a huge impact on a photo. So play around with it and see what you like.