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Best iPhone Camera Accessories for Pro Photos and Videos

From creative lenses, filters and microphones, to tripods and gimbals, these accessories will help boost your photography from your iPhone.

Updated Dec. 4, 20235:00 a.m. PT

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Written by  Andrew Lanxon
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.Reviews ethics statement
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Andrew Lanxon Editor At Large, Lead Photographer, Europe
Andrew is CNET’s go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
Expertise Smartphones, Photography, iOS, Android, gaming, outdoor pursuits Credentials

  • Shortlisted for British Photography Awards 2022, Commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022
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The iPhone 15 Pro has one of the most capable camera setups found on any of today’s phones. Not only can it shoot stunning still images that can rival DSLRs in quality, the video skills have been given a huge boost with the addition of ProRes and Log formats. But even if you don’t have the latest model, older iPhones, including the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro, are still capable of taking stunning images. Hell, I’m still impressed with the images I took on a road trip with a supercar and an iPhone 11. 

And while the iPhones make it super easy to simply walk outside, hit the shutter button and come away with great-looking stills and videos, there’s a lot you can do to elevate your shots beyond simple snaps. It’s of course important to learn how to take better photos and how to shoot creative videos, but there’s also a wide variety of accessories designed specifically to help you get more from your phone camera. 

Here’s our list of the best gear to pair with your iPhone to give your images a boost. We’ve tested everything listed here to make sure it works as well as it’s supposed to. If it didn’t impress, it didn’t make the list. Look no further if you’re after the best iPhone filming accessories to take your skills to the next level. These excellent accessories will make shooting a breeze. And while some of these are specifically built for the iPhone, most will work just as well with any of today’s top Android camera phones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. 

Read more: Best iPhone of 2023

The best iPhone 15 camera accessories 

There’s no one accessory that by itself will revolutionize your iPhone photography, as different products bring different things to the table. I love the Moment Anamorphic lens as it lets you achieve a stunning cinematic look with your phone. DJI’s phone gimbal meanwhile provides superb stability to get super smooth-looking shots, while the Aputure MC LED video light simply lets you light up the scene you’re shooting when the sun goes down. 

But an LED light will do nothing to improve your audio, so you’ll need to look towards the Rode VideoMicro if sound quality is important. These items all add something different to your photo and video production and used together let you take your mobile video production to a whole new level. Want some inspiration? Here’s my guide for shooting better video with your phone. 

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$140 at Amazon

SmallRig Mobile Video Kit for iPhone 15 Pro

SmallRig’s Mobile Video kit consists of multiple parts that come together to create a formidable shooting setup for your iPhone. Your phone slots into the main cage, which has bayonet mounting points for attaching third party lenses, including Moment’s excellent anamorphic lens (seen below). The kit also comes with a filter mount and an included variable neutral density filter which can reduce the amount of light coming in to help you shoot at more cinematic-looking shutter speeds using apps like BlackMagic Camera. 

The cage also has mounting points for other accessories, including tripod plates and cold shoe slots for attaching microphones or vide lights. The included side handles are great for helping you achieve sturdy, smooth-looking footage and have quick-release clamps to make it easy to dismantle your setup when you’ve got your shot. 

While all items in the kit can be bought separately, the whole kit offers a comprehensive setup to help you start shooting pro-looking footage with your iPhone. 

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$110 at B&H Photo-Video

Excellent add-on lens for iPhone

Moment Anamorphic lens

Anamorphic lenses are normally something you’d find in a professional cinematographer’s kit bag. These lenses provide a wider aspect ratio that you get in a wide angle lens, along with distinctive blue-line lens flares that give footage a much more filmic quality. Moment’s mobile anamorphic lens does exactly that for your iPhone.

Clip it on and it’ll squeeze your footage into the shorter, wide shots format that completely transforms the look of the video you can take from your phone. I’ve absolutely loved the look of my phone footage using the lens and it’s a must-have for any budding film producers wanting to up their game with their phone. 

You’ll need to shoot with apps like Filmic Pro that let you «unsqueeze» the footage so it doesn’t look all distortedon most cameras. The lens uses a bayonet mount that attaches to compatible cases, including Moment’s own ones or a variety of third-party options, including the SmallRig cage mentioned above.

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$90 at Amazon

Powerful lighting on a budget

Aputure MC LED video light

iPhone cameras don’t have the greatest lighting, so having a backup light is always a good idea. This USB-C rechargeable video light is packed with LED lights andis small enough to fit into the palm of your hand but puts out a huge amount of light when you’re short of proper lighting.

It’s great for lighting up your subjects, whether that’s for portraits, product photography or macro or to light up yourself if you’re vlogging at night. The power output is easily adjustable, as is the color temperature of the light. 

It also has a variety of creative light effects to spice up your production, including simulations of fireworks, lightning, a flickering fireplace or the flashing red and blue of police car lights.

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$159 at Amazon

Like a Steadicam for your iPhone

DJI Om 5 gimbal

The iPhone 14’s built-in image stabilization is already superb, but for an even smoother ride, consider using a dedicated gimbal like DJI’s OM 5. It evens out all but the most aggressive movements, allowing you to get smooth tracking footage of you running behind your subject as you film a chase scene. 

It also has a built-in extendable selfie stick, which not only makes it great for YouTube vloggers, but also allows for more creative angles by holding it up higher, or even flipping it over and having the camera run close to the ground or through grasses.

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$41 at Amazon

Excellent external mic

Rode VideoMicro microphone

Recording good audio for your vlogs or your next iPhone-based short film is crucial, and while the iPhone does a decent job of capturing audio, a dedicated microphone will take things to the next level. Rode’s VideoMicro shotgun mic can plug into your phone’s Lightning port (via an adapter) and provides crystal-clear audio when recording with the standard iPhone camera app or any third-party video app, making it one of the best iPhone camera accessories on the market. 

I love using it on top of my phone for vlogging and the included wind shield is superb for cutting out wind noise when working on location. Alternatively, get a 3.5mm extension cable and you can try using the mic on the end of a boom pole for recording audio in a conversation you’re filming.

It’s a great investment if you’re looking for a directional microphone.

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$1,995 at B&H

Pro-level flash for iPhone

Profoto B10

At $1,695, industry goliath Profoto’s B10 studio flash will be little more than a pipe dream for most. But if you want to get truly professional lighting on location or in a studio using your iPhone, the B10 is second is one of the best iPhone camera accessories. . This pro flash is designed primarily for use with DSLRs but can also be used with iPhones and Android phones via the Profoto app. If you’re ready to take your smartphone photography to the next level, it allows you to get shots with your phone that would simply not be possible to achieve without it. 

Sure, most pros probably wouldn’t consider shooting a major project on just their phone, but it’s a potentially great backup in case of camera failure, or simply a lightweight and convenient way to test ideas in the field without hauling bags of gear around.

It also comes with a carrying case that will protect it from other elements. Its rechargeable battery provides a battery life that can provide more than 400 full flashes.

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$40 at Moment

Magnetic ease of use

Moment MagSafe tripod

Rather than use screw clamps to secure your phone in place, Moment’s tripod mount uses Apple’s MagSafe system, which makes it incredibly quick to pop your phone in place and start shooting. When you’re done, just rip your phone away from the magnetic disk and pop it back in your pocket. Easy!

The minimalist approach to the mount’s design makes it extremely compact so it’s no hassle to always carry it with you for when inspiration strikes. The magnets are strong, too, so you don’t need to worry about your phone popping loose while you’re walking along. It’s available as a mount by itself, or with the cold-shoe bracket (pictured) to attach a microphone when vlogging.

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How we test iPhones

We test phones in real-world scenarios, looking at the performance of the processor, battery and cameras, and judge how each model compares to its competition. We take value into account, as well as extra features like storage, connectivity, software additions and anything else that will make a real difference to your life with the product. 

Accessories like the ones seen in this list are treated in exactly the same way; they’re put to real-world use both indoors and outside, evaluating how well they perform and whether they’re worth the money. Everything that’s featured here has been tested by our own fair hands and if it didn’t impress, it didn’t make the list.

Read more: How CNET Tests Phones

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 4, #193

Three of the four categories are especially tough today. Here are hints and the answers, for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 193, for April 4.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.


I only solved one of the four categories for today’s Connections: Sports Edition on my own, so if you need help, you’re not alone. 

The yellow category was pretty simple, but after that I couldn’t make any connections. It might help if you know a lot about a certain NBA player’s resume. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Do better.

Green group hint: March Madness.

Blue group hint: Six-time all-star.

Purple group hint:  Think Wimbledon.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Not meeting expectations.

Green group: Teams in the Women’s Final Four.

Blue group: Teams Kawhi Leonard has played for.

Purple group: Ends in a piece of tennis equipment.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is not meeting expectations. The four answers are bust, disappointment, dud and failure.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams in the Women’s Final Four. The four answers are Bruins, Gamecocks, Huskies and Longhorns.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams Kawhi Leonard has played for. The four answers are Aztecs, Clippers, Raptors and Spurs.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends in a piece of tennis equipment. The four answers are bracket, eyeball, horseshoes and internet.

Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition

#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?

#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.

#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.

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Technologies

Skip Your iPhone’s Lockscreen: Here’s the Hidden Flashlight Trick You Need to Know

A couple of taps can really make a difference on your iPhone.

Not long ago, your iPhone’s lockscreen would only allow two app shortcuts that you couldn’t change: camera controls and a flashlight toggle. However, iOS 18.2 allows you to customize these shortcuts to almost anything you might want. This small but impactful change is one of many ways iOS 18 supercharges customization for iPhone and iPad users. But what if you still want an easy-to-access way to toggle your flashlight without unlocking your phone? 

Apple introduced an accessibility feature in iOS 14 that, once enabled, allows you to perform actions by just tapping on the back of your phone. The feature is called Tap Back and it remains a sleeper feature that’s sneakily hidden away in your settings menu. Enabling Tap Back essentially allows you to create a button on the back of your iPhone to perform an action without needing to take up any space. 

Once you have Tap Back enabled, it doesn’t take long to see how much of a game-changer it can be with its added convenience. Below, we’ll show you how to set it up so a couple of taps on the back of your iPhone will let you launch just about anything you want. 

For more, check out what’s in the latest iOS 18.4 release.

How to set up Back Tap on iPhone

Whether you want to link Back Tap with your flashlight, camera or launch a different iPhone app, the path through your iPhone settings begins the same way.

On your compatible iPhone (iPhone 8 or later), launch the Settings application and go to Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Now you have the option to launch your action (in this case, your flashlight) with either two or three taps. Although two taps is obviously faster, I would suggest three taps because if you fidget with your phone, it’s easy to accidentally trigger the accessibility feature. 

Once you choose a tap option, select the Flashlight option — or a different action if you prefer. You’ll see over 30 options to choose from, including system options like Siri or taking a screenshot, to accessibility-specific functions like opening a magnifier or turning on real-time live captions. You can also set up Back Tap to open the Control Center, go back home, mute your audio, turn the volume up and down and run any shortcuts you’ve downloaded or created.

You’ll know you’ve successfully selected your choice when a blue checkmark appears to the right of the action. You could actually set up two shortcuts this way — one that’s triggered by two taps and one that’s triggered by three taps to the iPhone’s back cover.

Once you exit the Settings application, you can try out the newly enabled Back Tap feature by tapping the back of your iPhone — in my case, to turn on the flashlight. To turn off the flashlight, you can tap on the back of your iPhone as well, but you can also just turn it off from your lock screen if that’s easier.

For more great iPhone tips, here’s how to keep your iPhone screen from dimming all the time and canceling all those subscriptions you don’t want or need.

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Technologies

All the Nintendo Games You Can Update to Switch 2 for Free

Bad news: Mario Kart World will cost $80. Good news: These classic games will get free revamped versions for Switch 2.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 launch event on Wednesday has upset some fans for one key reason: pricing. The new console will be released on June 5 at a starting price of $450, and it will have new games, like Mario Kart World, Kirby Air Riders and Donkey Kong Bananza. But those games could cost as much as $80 (and that’s before factoring in possible tariffs).

Fortunately, Nintendo has also announced that some Nintendo Switch games will get free updates to improve playability on the upcoming console. 

«By connecting your Nintendo Switch 2 to the internet, you can download free updates that may improve performance or add support for features such as GameShare in select games,» the company posted.

Here are all the Nintendo Switch games that can get a free update for the Switch 2.

Nintendo also announced that other Switch games will have upgraded versions of the base game, called Switch 2 Editions. These games, which include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, may offer improved graphics, unique ways to play the game with the Switch 2 hardware, and other features. 

You can buy a digital or physical copy of these games if you’re purchasing them for the first time. But Switch 2 Edition games are not free if you already own the Switch version of one of these games, so you’ll have to buy an upgrade pack to play the updated version. 

It’s unclear how much Switch 2 Editions of games and upgrade packs will cost, and it’s also unclear how upgrade packs will work with physical versions of Switch games.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will also be backward compatible with certain games. While we don’t know all the Switch games that will be playable on the Switch 2, we know some Switch games have startup (PDF) or in-game (PDF) compatibility issues with the upcoming console.

For more on the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, here’s what we know about the upcoming console and what to know about games like Mario Kart World and Duskbloods.

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