 Okay folks, here are five things I wish I knew before I started making videos on my iPhone. Like with every camera, you need to learn how to use it to produce great video results. I did a lot of mistakes and learned through trial and error, but hopefully with this video, you're able to learn from some of my common mistakes so that you can get started shooting better videos right away. Number one, if you're a beginner and are on a budget, the best way to start making videos is to use the camera you have in your pocket. It's that simple. Whether you want to start a YouTube channel or film your first travel video, a smartphone provides you with everything you need. And the beauty of using your smartphone as a camera is that it's an all-in-one system as it can shoot, edit, and publish everything from your phone. Also, the accessories for smartphones are significantly cheaper than the ones used for larger cameras, and you will have less weight to carry around. When I started out, I believed I needed expensive camera gear to make my videos look good. The truth is most smartphones nowadays are capable of shooting high-quality videos if done right. In fact, this video right now is recorded on my iPhone in cinematic mode. The problem is that most people don't know how to unlock their phone's camera full potential. You can buy the most expensive camera, but if you don't know how to use it, your videos will still look bad. The budget iPhone I would recommend getting is the iPhone SE from the year 2022 and costs around $429. It's capable of shooting 4K 60 frames per second, therefore offering fantastic video quality for aspiring creators or filmmakers. Number two, if you're looking to get smooth shots with your smartphone, investing in a good gimbal will help you do that. Your smartphones have good image stabilization and you can get by shooting handheld, but for longer moving shots, it's much more convenient to use a gimbal and makes your life easier. It does take a bit of practice, but most smartphone gimbals are designed to be simple to use such as the DJI OM4. Now, I always get the question why I prefer using the OM4 over the OM5. The biggest reason is because I'm able to use the OM4 as a power bank while shooting and has a faster setup time. I want to be able to quickly point and shoot and keep it as mobile as possible. I would highly recommend the OM4 as it's affordable and gives you great, smooth video results. Number three is to avoid shooting from eye level. Most beginner mobile filmmakers have the tendency to shoot everything from eye level. You'll see that a lot in touristic places where people just pull out their phone and start filming everything from eye level. Since we see the world like that anyway, it gets boring. The easiest step to make your videos look more interesting is to film from unique angles. With a smartphone, you have almost endless opportunities to make your videos stand out because of its small size. You can put it into places where a traditional camera wouldn't fit. So the next time you film something with your smartphone, before you hit the record button, think about how you could make the shot more interesting for a better viewing experience. Number four, if you want your videos to look professional, make sure to lock your exposure on the native camera app. I can't stress this enough. This will give you a consistent look in your video. Again, this is a simple step you can take that will immediately make your videos look better. This is especially important on cloudy days where the lighting changes. So the way to lock your exposure is to tap hold to where you want your focus point to be until the AE and AF lock message appears. I additionally like to lower the exposure just a bit by dragging the exposure slider down with my fingers as the iPhone tends to overexpose the image slightly. By doing that, you're already a step closer to creating better looking videos with your iPhone. Number five is to use the zoom. If it's not possible to walk closer to the subject that you want to film and only have one lens on your iPhone, you can use the zoom to get a closer shot. Now you probably heard from me that you should avoid zooming in as it degrades the image quality. Now this is true to some extent. You can use the zoom but avoid zooming in too much. And to zoom in on the native camera app, just tap and hold on the number until a wheel appears. By moving up or down, you can adjust the zoom level. I actually didn't know that for quite a long time which is kind of embarrassing but it has become an important feature as I don't always have the time to mount a third party telephoto lens to my iPhone lens to capture the moment. So being able to quickly grab out your phone and use the zoom really allows you to get the shot much quicker and still have a good quality video if not zoomed in too much. As a bonus tip, if you're struggling producing quality videos on your phone and feel that you're not getting to where you wanna be, the best way is to invest in yourself so that you can keep developing your skills. I have invested in books, online courses and workshops that helped me get to where I am today. There's so much more to filming with a smartphone that I can't cover in just one video and watching YouTube tutorials is a great way to start. That is how I got into filmmaking but it can be frustrating as it takes a lot of time finding the right information on YouTube and can quickly be overwhelming. That is why I created the online program, smartphone filmmaking where I condensed all of the information so that you can produce cinematic and professional looking video results as fast as possible. And for a limited time, you can join other students in the full program for 30% off using the code SF30off. So now is the time, if you're serious about making videos on your phone, make sure to check out smartphonefilmmaking.com as it will guarantee help you become a better mobile filmmaker. Thank you so much guys for watching and supporting this channel. Make sure to subscribe to not miss out on my upcoming videos. If you have any further questions, let me know in the comment section below. I read all of them. I wish you all a great day. Keep it mobile and I will see you in the next video.