4 ways I reuse my old iPhones instead of trading them in – including with robots

Now that the official yearly iPhone occasion is full, so is my choice. I’m going to upgrade my classic 2020 iPhone 12 Professional Max for an iPhone 16 Pro Max. I am not thrilled with going by the ordering and improve course of, and I am even much less thrilled with spending the whopping sum of money a fully-equipped iPhone 16 Professional Max will value.

Additionally: iPhone 16 Pro hands-on: My 3 favorite things about this ridiculously overpowered supercomputer

I am choosing the Professional mannequin as a result of I will make good use of the 48-MP ultrawide, 12-MP telephoto (5X optical zoom) and 4K 120fps video within the Professional cameras. I am going for the Max kind issue as a result of I desire larger cellphone shows each for productiveness and for simply basic use.

What I am not doing is buying and selling in my iPhone 12 Professional Max. In keeping with the Apple preorder system, I may get as a lot as $350 again for my previous cellphone.

Verizon’s estimate is $215 if I made a decision to undergo the service as an alternative.

In truth, I by no means commerce in my previous iPhones. I discover them way more helpful as further management surfaces and cameras for my YouTube video manufacturing. They be a part of my fleet of cameras together with a few DSLRs, just a few motion cams, my DJI Pocket 2, three iPads, and a few older iPhones, together with the tiny iPhone SE (second era).

I additionally repeatedly deployed my beloved 2015 iPhone 6s Plus, however after 9 years, it lastly died. 

Additionally: 6 reasons why iOS 18 makes the iPhone 16 a must-upgrade for me

Having a variety of cameras and digital camera sorts permits me to assemble pictures dynamically, permitting me to choose and select from the gear to get simply the impact I need to create. I additionally usually use a bunch of gadgets without delay, the place they function shows, management surfaces, and recording gadgets.

Talking particularly of my iPhones, let’s dive into my 4 important studio makes use of of spare iPhones. I did my earliest recordings utilizing simply my important iPhone, however I discovered that there have been advantages to utilizing two or extra gadgets without delay.

1. Overhead recording

My first use of two iPhones without delay was in overhead recording. It is a type of multicam recording (which I will speak about extra in a minute).

Additionally: Building a $40 overhead filming rig for YouTube

When doing field opening, course of pictures, or critiques, it’s extremely helpful to have a shot dealing with straight on (the place I initially used my important iPhone on the time), and an overhead shot that lets viewers see particulars of no matter’s being labored on.

2. Distant viewfinder

One factor you uncover about 5 minutes after establishing your first overhead rig is that you may’t see what’s being filmed. Certain, you’ll be able to climb up on a stool or ladder to look down on the viewing floor, however it’s a lot nicer to have the ability to see what’s in body as you are filming.

For this, I exploit one other iPhone or iPad. I began with the distant app for Filmic Pro, however extra lately, I’ve moved on to MoviePro and MoviePro Distant. You run one app on the cellphone meant to be the digital camera. You’ll be able to run the Distant app on the cellphone meant to be the viewfinder. It is a very highly effective mixture.

Additionally: The iPhone 16 is undeniably great hardware – but you should still probably skip it

I additionally use an iPhone and/or iPad as a distant viewfinder for my Sony DSLR. You will want to make use of the Sony Imaging Edge utility to set that up, after which the digital camera will broadcast to your iOS machine, not solely displaying you what is within the viewfinder but additionally permitting you to regulate the DSLR.

I additionally use my iPhone or iPad as a distant viewfinder on my a lot older Canon DSLR. That digital camera would not have any networking, however it does have an HDMI-out meant to go to an area monitor. I paired it with a (now unavailable) wi-fi HDMI transmitter that sends video on to an iOS app. You’ll be able to see one configuration of that setup right here.

There are some HDMI digital camera transmitters, however they are much costlier than what I used. I believe the marketplace for digital camera HDMI transmitters dropped off fairly a bit as an increasing number of DSLRs got here with their very own methods to transmit on to iOS gadgets.

3. Multicam recording

Multicam recording is the method of recording a scene utilizing a number of cameras without delay. I exploit multicam so much for my how-to and evaluation movies as a result of every digital camera reveals a unique angle of what I am engaged on.

I discover this massively useful as a result of I can arrange a bunch of cameras (I normally use three or 4) to seize numerous angles of my work. Then, I can do no matter I am doing on digital camera, usually with out worrying about whether or not the digital camera can choose it up. That is significantly a win once I’m utilizing one thing that has a spinning blade of dying, and it is far more essential for me to focus on working the damaging device than how I look on digital camera.

Additionally: iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 13 Pro: Should you upgrade to Apple’s latest model?

Typically I combine and match cameras to get a sure impact. However as a rule, I simply use a bunch of iOS gadgets, every capturing its personal view and storing the leads to the Images library for later modifying.

Last Lower Professional on the Mac has an ideal device for synchronizing multicam recordings. All you need to do is make sure that sound is recorded on all of the cameras, after which the modifying software program mechanically syncs every little thing up.

Last Lower on the iPad lately added its personal Live Multicam feature, the place you’ll be able to management as much as 4 iPads or iPhones straight from an iPad, switching between them dynamically.

I nonetheless typically simply document separate streams after which sync them on my desktop, however Dwell Multicam is nice for protecting occasions.

4. Robotic movement management controller

Then there are my digital camera robots. I’ve lots of them, and so they’re all managed by my iOS gadgets. That is my motion-controlled jib:

It has 4 levels of movement. The jib itself goes up and down and rotates left and proper. Then the top additionally goes up and down and rotates left and proper. Utilizing movement management software program, I can set marker factors after which configure the software program to maneuver between these factors, altering the jib settings to the saved markers.

I even have a few sliders, additionally with remote-controlled heads, in addition to a robotic ground dolly that may transfer a complete tripod meeting based mostly on what I set utilizing my iPhone’s software program.

Every set of motions requires its personal iOS machine. So I can program in all of the jib motions utilizing one iPhone. But when I need to individually management a slide and head, that wants one other iPhone. And if I need to mount the jib on a robotic dolly, that wants yet one more iOS machine to regulate it.

Look, I will admit I most likely have just a few too many robots. Between the motion-control digital camera robots and all my automated fabrication robots, I’ve someplace above 30 independently managed semi-autonomous robots. All I can say in my protection is that I’ve a really tolerant spouse.

Additionally: My 9 must-have gadgets for creating quality YouTube videos

However that is not the purpose of this text. My level is that previous iPhones have worth as cameras and controllers. Because the trade-in worth (particularly since I normally preserve my each day driver for 3 or 4 generations earlier than upgrading) is pretty low, it is far more helpful to me to have the added performance of spare telephones for my mission work.

What about you? Do you retain your previous telephones? Do you’ve got a bunch of robots? Are you contemplating upgrading to the iPhone 16? Tell us within the feedback under.

You’ll be able to observe my day-to-day mission updates on social media. Be sure you subscribe to my weekly update newsletter, and observe me on Twitter/X at @DavidGewirtz, on Fb at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.