Using Macro Camera on Phones
What is Macro Shooting? It is a method used to reveal levels of detail invisible to the naked eye. In this article, we detail macro shooting. The capillaries of the leaves, the Mars-like surface of the fungus, and the hairs of a spider’s abdomen are just some of the details you can try to capture. But have you ever wondered how you take such detailed photos with your phone? We detail macro shooting techniques. What is macro shooting? The use of macro cameras on phones and more is waiting for you in this article.
What is Macro Shooting?
Macro shots is a term that describes shots between 1:1 and 80:1. You can bring out the finest details by shooting small objects in nature with a zoom ratio of 1x or higher.
iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
The latest iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max have a macro mode that activates automatically when you get close enough to a subject. Since the lens of the phone can focus on objects closer than the main camera, the phone switches to the ultra-wide camera, allowing for more impressive results. The minimum focus distance of the device is 2 cm. For best results, if you want to get close to this kind of closeness, I suggest you prefer static objects. You have to be a brave photographer to photograph a wasp at this rate.
Apple is a brand that likes to make things easy. You don’t need to do extra steps as Apple has also added a way to turn this auto-switch feature on or off in the camera’s Settings menu. Other iPhones don’t have a dedicated macro mode, but you can still get good macro shots. We will cover some important tips for this later in our article.
Android Phones
Many Android phones have dedicated macro cameras. You can usually access them in one of two ways. The first method is to switch between lenses. Macro is typically identified with a flower symbol because it is one of the classic symbols of macro photography. If you did not come across such an icon among the modes while your camera was on, there should be a macro mode option in the settings menu. Make sure you add the macro mode to your camera modes.
Since all phone manufacturers use their own camera applications, it would be wrong to provide a clear solution about this part. Do not be afraid to tamper with your device. Over the past few years, many of the most popular phone manufacturers have started adding low-end macro cameras to their phones to keep the cost down. If your macro camera has a 2MP sensor, don’t expect very good results. You can usually get better results with the primary cameras of these phones.
Macro Shooting Method on Phones Without Macro Mode
Don’t you have a phone with a solid dedicated macro camera? The good news is. Not having a macro lens doesn’t mean you can’t unleash your photography spirit with other cameras. What matters is how close you can focus to the subject. In most cases, an ultra-wide camera can focus significantly closer than the primary camera. That’s why many high-end phones use their ultra-wide lenses to shoot macro images instead of a separate lens.
It can be difficult to focus the camera too close. If your phone has ‘Pro’ mode, try using it. This will allow you to manually change the focus of the lens, allowing you to take autofocus out of the equation.
What we tend to do is try all the lenses a camera has, including digital zoom, and see which images come out the best. You have to pay attention to which parts look the sharpest in the preview. I suggest you go a little closer and farther and take multiple photos of each scene.
The wind is your enemy in macro nature photography. Wind can cause blurry results when shooting at this scale. Take care to block the wind as much as possible while shooting. As with almost any type of photography, light is your friend. It’s much easier to get a macro image that looks great when shooting in sunlight than under tree cover. More light also means the camera can use a faster shutter speed, reducing the chance of motion blur in the final image.
How to Enhance Macro with Accessories?
You may find that you’re still not satisfied with your phone’s macro capabilities, after all, most aren’t exactly top-notch close-up nature cameras. You can achieve much more striking results with the use of clip-on lenses. These accessories apply changes to the field of view of the camera’s own lens. While they’re all optically mediocre technically, that’s not a big deal in macro photography, where we’re not looking for sharpness throughout the entire frame. Such lenses, such as the Apexel Clip HD, can make your macro images look much more dramatic.
How to Edit Your Macro Photos?
You may want to take advantage of the sharpening settings to bring out the clarity in the central detail. The increased contrast makes the picture stand out more while adding a vignette effect can help make your subject stand out more sharply. If you have Photoshop on your laptop or desktop computer, be sure to check the Camera RAW filter mode. Playing with the Dehaze, Texture, and Clarity sliders can dramatically increase the effectiveness of your macro images.
