Can You Take Good Photos on an iPhone?

Maybe it's because it's not it's primary function, or maybe it's because everyone has one but not everyone knows how to use it, but often a smart phone is disregarded for it's potential as anything other than a tool to start connected with. Surely a phone camera can't be a serious piece of technology that rivals industry standards when the vast majority of people end up with blurry photos and poor compositions.

In recent years, it seems as though there has been a real effort from tech companies (Apple, Samsung, Google, in particular) to reinvent this narrative. Your phone is not just a phone. It's a camera, too, and a really good one at that.

We've seen it with ads such as the Google Pixel ads, which focus on the idea of photo editing done at a tap of a button, or the Apple ads that show full music videos for some of the world's biggest artists shot using an iPhone.

I've been a professional photographer for almost ten years but, undoubtedly, my most-used camera is still my iPhone camera.

Admittedly, maybe I don't use it as my main camera on campaigns, and I don't rock up to a shoot with just my phone in my bag, but for personal photography - documenting everyday life and travels - it's not far from the perfect camera for me.

There's something about travelling minimally in everyday life, especially when your job requires you to always be carrying so much equipment within work hours, that I couldn't swap.

Existing in 2025 means that your phone is the camera that is always in your pocket and you'll never forget to pack and, as we know, with every new phone announcement and update, the cameras that are built into these portable computers are getting closer and closer to rivalling the real thing.

Using my iPhone as a camera means that I never have to kick myself for not capturing a moment that unfolds right before me.

That being said, there are limitations. Just like how I use a variety of cameras and lenses in my job for different shoots and to achieve different results, the iPhone is not the ultimate camera. It cannot do it all. Even with additional lenses, like the Moment series that I love and use often, not all cameras are made equal, and the iPhone is no exception.

So, what is an iPhone camera good for?

For me, it's the perfect camera to capture everyday life. I use it most often when I'm travelling, whether in a new city or just commuting around my hometown.

I recently took a trip to what is potentially one of the most photogenic cities in the world. Of course, I'm talking about the Big Apple.

On my journeys around the city, I found myself reaching for my iPhone again and again. It's discreet, it's useful and - when you're stood in sub-zero temperatures - it's not as damn cold as those metal cameras I lug about from the 80s.

Pair the camera capabilities with the fact that your phone is literally a computer, and one on which you can edit and publish your photos from too, it frequently proves itself as a rival to any other everyday camera.

At the end of the day, I'm a photographer. G.A.S (gear acquisition syndrome) is real and it takes someone with more willpower than me to defeat that. But I'll also never doubt the power of a camera that I, just like most people in 2025, always have on them. It really is the ultimate point and shoot.