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iPhone Watch Photography Tips?

I
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I’ve been struggling to get a satisfying shot of my watches with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The sharpening seems way too aggressive, especially under strong light, and when I shoot at 1x I get noticeable wide-angle distortion. But switching to 2x cleans that up at the cost of a lot of fine detail.

Has anyone found a sweet spot or workaround? Maybe a particular distance, focus lock, or app that gives more natural results? Would love to see what’s worked for others shooting with an iPhone. I do have a DSLR with macro lenses etc but nothing beats the convenience of a phone in the pocket.
 
nordwulf
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I have the same iPhone 15 Pro Max. I often use 3x for watch pictures. The trick is to move the phone away from the watch so it switches over from the ultra-wide lens to the main lens and gives a blurred background. The ultra wide lens is terrible for macro/close up shots most of the time. The main lens also gives a more natural look with real proportions for wrist shots.

IMG_7711.webp IMG_7734.webp
Edited:
 
dsio
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I have the new 17 Pro, but even on my last 12 Pro the 2x tended to be the best option, 4x works well too on the 17 Pro too.

You shouldn’t lose any detail at 2X because it’s just switching to a different focal length rather than zooming in on the same lens and sensor.

They do get dirty and can get scratched up pretty easily so it might be worth checking to see if one of the lenses is in worse shape than the others visually.
 
I
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Oh, the ultra-wide lens has been the culprit! Yes I can see that switching to the 24mm main lens made a huge difference. Thank you!

I wish I could manually control which lens gets used.
 
workandturn
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Ive just bought a clip on macro lens to try as well, having done some digging and Im seeing a few good examples online but this is more for dial details than overall shots
 
I
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workandturn workandturn
Ive just bought a clip on macro lens to try as well, having done some digging and Im seeing a few good examples online but this is more for dial details than overall shots
Do you have any pics to share?
 
workandturn
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Hey guys,

I thought this thread was gone and forgotten but happy to share a couple of pictures and some learnings

Quick learnings, iPhone 13 Pro is OK but not ideal, the macro frequently gets confused or switched to low light (super grainy).

Some of the later cameras seem to do an amazing job without the need for the extra lens.

Second thing that helped a lot was a simple fold up diffuser so I the light form the window was a lot softer

And lastly some kind of stand that looks nice, in a lot of watch photos they lay the watch flat which is great if you want to do that but for ease a simplicity a stand is a lot quicker

I also bought a simple bounce card / reflector which I use sometimes here and there
Edited:
 
workandturn
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The click on lens im using is this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07TPLKT7D?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

You can buy any lens you like, there’s cheap and there’s expensive, I went in the middle ground as these guys seem to produce a lot of lens that have decent reviews

One thing I will say, you are stuck at the distance you seen in the photos, which looks good but is sometimes is a little close.

Would love to take a shot with the kind of bokeh (blur) you see here that was a little further away sometime but I feel this is a good compromise until I can afford a real camera and macro lens.

Hope this helps whoever is ready and feel free to post some more pictures here
 
I
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Wow this looks amazing! You can see every detail! You reckon you could share the link?
 
workandturn
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I iht
Wow this looks amazing! You can see every detail! You reckon you could share the link?
Link for the lens above if you want more links to the other things let me know
 
I
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Oh sorry missed the link above. Yes, thank you so much!
 
I
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workandturn workandturn
The click on lens im using is this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07TPLKT7D?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

You can buy any lens you like, there’s cheap and there’s expensive, I went in the middle ground as these guys seem to produce a lot of lens that have decent reviews

One thing I will say, you are stuck at the distance you seen in the photos, which looks good but is sometimes is a little close.

Would love to take a shot with the kind of bokeh (blur) you see here that was a little further away sometime but I feel this is a good compromise until I can afford a real camera and macro lens.

Hope this helps whoever is ready and feel free to post some more pictures here
Amazing work for your phone. I have a DSLR with a proper macro lens but the convenience of a phone with this kind of quality is hard to beat.
 
workandturn
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Photos got deleted, so here’s some photos I took of some watches using the lens
 
I
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Thank you. Great photos showing what the lens is capable of.
 
Killwolf
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Any tips to avoid the reflect of light on the crystal ? Trying to take picture of my watch, hesalite crystal, and whatever the angle I am struggling with the reflects on it...
 
workandturn
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Killwolf Killwolf
Any tips to avoid the reflect of light on the crystal ? Trying to take picture of my watch, hesalite crystal, and whatever the angle I am struggling with the reflects on it...
What are you taking the photo with, iPhone or camera ?

Have you got a picture you can upload ?
 
Killwolf
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workandturn workandturn
What are you taking the photo with, iPhone or camera ?

Have you got a picture you can upload ?
Taking picture with my Iphone.

here are some photos where I was struggling with the light and the crystal.

IMG_9682.webp IMG_9687.webp IMG_9692.webp IMG_9694.webp IMG_9695.webp
 
workandturn
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The watch will reflect or glass in general whatever id around it. So in your case it looks like a light and possibly a window but looks like it could something else.

To improve this don’t take a picture using a household or office light, it gives a yellow look to things and causes bad reflections and harsher shadows.

Use natural light diffused light, so a window in the house that doesn’t have the sun shinning directly through and set your watch up close to but slightly away from the window.

If outside look for somewhere where light diffused to be soft and natural rather than direct. Worst case buy a fold up diffuser.
 
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