I second that. They’re so inexpensive, I think I picked one up for $5 from eBay and the results have been quite good. I just need to practice more with using light to better effect, as imo iPhones especially my prehistoric 6 do not take the best pics.

 

Which macro lens has worked best?

 

If you're willing to pony up for it, Moment makes excellent macro lenses. I think it was around $200 all said and done. Highly recommend.

 

A good computer editing program can work wonders, but even with that an iPhone camera simply can’t compete with a digital SLR and a good macro lens.

 

I found that if you play around enough with the editing features on an iphone, with the right lighting you can get some very decent shots. Alternatively look at some apps, i recommend Lightroom and there is a free version to try.

 

Blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes

 

iPhone always had the best camera I have ever tried, and however, sometimes it doesn't take spectacular photos. Still, a great feature I recently discovered was - live photo turning into a video. I read about it on https://macpaw.com/how-to/turn-live-photo-into-video, and I was fascinated. If you have a photo taken with your iPhone and want to turn it into a video, this website can help you, and afterwise you will have some good Instagram posts. Haha. It's quite an excellent feature for iPhones.

 

I found holding the camera back from the subject and cropping the picture as necessary work best. Maybe also try a burst of photos and select the clearest.

 

If you want to take a close up get yourself a loupe. I took these with a basic iPhone and led loupe. Takes a bit of practice getting it into focus.

 

Some fantastic tips here. Good but indirect lighting seems to be a common theme.
I installed Camera+ 2 just to do macro shots and it appears a major upgrade on the standard iPhone camera. But most of you here are already getting better photos than me so take that rec with several grains of salt.

 

Just an FYI I upgraded to the iPhone 12 just a month or two ago. Of course then I leaned the 13 was being released 10 days after I got it. I don’t need the newest and best so it’s fine but I can upgrade periodically with my phone plan and the battery on my 8 wasn’t that great so upgrade I did. I spend all this money on a phone and buy a 10 dollar full body case that has clear plastic openings covering the camera lenses. I was getting mad at apple for making such a terrible camera on the iPhone 12 until I realized it was my cheap case and the cut outs causing the cloudy look. So I figured out this problem last month and I still am using the same case cursing the crappy pictures. Don’t be like me.

 

Have to say, iPhone 13’s macro is pretty damn good. This is handheld, so there’s a bit of shake. Guessing I had the lens a centimeter away. Could not have gotten so close with the 12.

 

Taken by Iphone 12pro and edited by Lightroom

 

biggest key overall with watch photography is to get lots of natural indirect sunlight(i.e. be outside but on a day with overcast) really lights the face up without the glare of the crystal or at least keeps it to a minimum

 

If outside, in indirect sunlight outside with contrasting background

 

I need to try taking more photos outside, I always fail trying to take good close up photos.

 

what is an iPhone ?

 

There's a reason we get so many steering wheel shots -- indirect outdoor lighting

 

I've tried many things and the only thing that works consistently is natural indirect sunlight, preferably early dusk when the sun is in the west

 

Avoid using the flash and instead use natural lighting