How to Prevent Shaking of an iPhone Camera

By Dan Ketchum

It takes just a little finesse to reduce iPhone camera shake.
i Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Photography hinges on capturing just the right moment, but life doesn't always afford you the conditions you need for taking a perfectly stable shot. If your hands and camera shake when snapping an iPhone photo, as is the case with other digital images, you end up with a blurry, often unusable picture. While there's no single secret for instantly eliminating camera shake, you can try a few different simple methods for cutting motion blur out of the picture.

Tweak Your Tap

If you have the luxury, take your time before you tap your iPhone's camera button. Cradle the phone in both hands and keep your elbows down by your sides or, even better, rest them on a solid object, such as a table. Likewise, leaning on a nearby object, like a tree or fence, helps take some pressure off your shaky hands, as does simply squatting before you take your photo. Instead of tapping the camera button, which can potentially shake up your shot, press and hold the button while you frame your photo, and then release it when you want to snap the picture.

There's an App for That

An iPhone wouldn't be an iPhone without apps, and these pervasive, bite-sized programs play a key role in smartphone photography. Apple's own iTunes App Store hosts numerous apps that replace or modify the functionality of the phone's built-in photography application, adding camera stabilization and anti-shake technology to the equation, among other ancillary options. Examples of these apps include CameraSharp and PictItEasy Pro.

Accessorize Your iPhone

If you're really serious about getting rid of camera shake and you don't mind a little setup time, numerous manufacturers offer iPhone tripods. Each tripod varies, but flexible leg joints and screw- or clamp-based mounts are fairly standard features that give you the ability to change your phone's angle while keeping it securely in place and shake-free. Some tripod packages even sweeten the deal with iPhone-compatible zoom lenses.

In-Camera Assistance

While the iPhone 5C, 4S and earlier models lack this feature, Apple's iPhone 5S comes with built-in auto image stabilization. With this technology, the phone's iSight camera takes four short-exposure photos at once. To create the final product, the clearest part of those four photos are combined into one picture. According to Apple, the process helps reduce the effects of hand shake, and cuts down on motion blur and image noise.

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