How to scan film with an iPhone

To scan film with an iPhone, lay the film in a holder on an even light pad, fix the phone above it parallel to the film, and shoot in RAW (Apple ProRAW on Pro models) with focus and exposure locked. Then convert the captures into positives. A phone gives you less detail than a camera with a macro lens, but it is a fine way to preview a roll, share it, or start scanning with what you already have.

What you need

• An iPhone. Apple ProRAW needs an iPhone 12 Pro or a later Pro model. Macro mode needs one of the models on Apple’s list (below). On other models, check whether your camera app can save RAW.
• A light pad. It must be even and larger than the frame, with a high CRI. A tablet screen shows its pixels in the scan unless you diffuse it.
• A film holder. It keeps the film flat, lifts it off the light, and blocks light around the frame. Any holder made for camera scanning works.
• A stand with a phone clamp, rigid enough to hold the phone still above the film. A copy stand or a small tripod with an arm both work.
• Black card to mask the light around the holder, and an air blower for dust.

Keep the phone parallel to the film

If the phone tilts, one side of the frame goes soft and the frame turns into a trapezoid. The Measure app can help:

1. Open Measure and tap Level.
2. Lay the iPhone flat on the light pad or the holder, and tap the screen to capture its slope.
3. Mount the phone above the film, camera down, and adjust the clamp until the screen turns green.

Then turn on Settings > Camera > Grid and Level. The grid helps you square the frame with the edges of the picture. The mirror trick from the guide to scanning film with a camera also works: put a small mirror where the film goes and centre the reflection of the lens.

Get close: macro mode or the main camera

A 35mm frame is small. You have two ways to fill the picture with it.

Macro mode. It uses the Ultra Wide camera and focuses as close as 2 centimetres, according to Apple. Apple lists macro on the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, and iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. The Camera app switches to macro on its own when you get close. Tap the macro button to stop it from switching back and forth, so every frame uses the same lens.

The main camera at 1x, from farther away. The film fills less of the picture, but on iPhone 14 Pro and later Pro models, the main camera at 1x can save ProRAW at 48 megapixels when you choose that resolution. Apple’s ProRAW article says that macro photos save at 12 megapixels. Newer Pro models list 48-megapixel macro photography in their tech specs, so check yours.

Try both on the same frame and compare the detail after you crop. On a phone without macro mode, a clip-on macro lens lets you get close enough.

On iPhone 18 Pro models, the Camera app also lets you set the focus by hand and lock which camera it uses. That is ideal for scanning.

Capture in RAW

Apple ProRAW

1. Go to Settings > Camera > Formats and turn on Apple ProRAW, or ProRAW & Resolution Control, depending on your model.
2. In the Camera app, tap RAW at the top of the screen.
3. To keep RAW on, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and turn on Apple ProRAW or ProRAW & Resolution Control.

ProRAW files are DNG files. Apple gives their size as about 25 MB at 12 megapixels and about 75 MB at 48 megapixels, so a roll fills space fast. Apple describes ProRAW as the information of a standard RAW format combined with iPhone image processing. That processing is not the same as a camera’s plain RAW, but it holds much more than a JPEG.

Third-party apps

A third-party camera app gives you more manual control. Halide, for example, has manual focus with focus peaking. Its Process Zero mode turns off iPhone processing and saves the raw sensor data next to a JPEG or HEIC, though Halide says it cannot take 48-megapixel Process Zero photos.

If you want a conversion on the phone itself, FilmLab has a mobile app that converts negatives.

Without RAW

If your phone cannot shoot RAW, go to Settings > Camera > Formats and choose Most Compatible. The Camera app then saves JPEG instead of HEIF. A JPEG has the white balance and the tone curve baked in, so set the exposure carefully and keep it the same for the whole roll.

Lock focus and exposure

The Camera app sets focus and exposure for each shot on its own. On film, that means every frame of a roll gets a different exposure.

1. Tap the frame to focus on it.
2. Drag up or down next to the focus area to set the exposure. Make the picture as bright as you can without blowing out the clear film between the frames (on a negative) or the brightest highlight (on a slide).
3. Touch and hold the focus area until you see AE/AF Lock. Focus and exposure now stay fixed until you tap the screen again.
4. Use the timer, so your tap on the shutter button does not shake the phone.

The guide to film scanning exposure explains why the film base is the reference.

A roll on an iPhone

1. Clean the strip and put it in the holder, shiny base side toward the phone.
2. Align the phone, choose the lens and lock focus and exposure on the first frame.
3. Shoot every frame of the roll with the same lens and the same lock.
4. Check the first capture at full size for dust and focus.
5. Move the files to your Mac. AirDrop sends the original ProRAW DNG. Do not email them: Apple says Mail turns a ProRAW file into a smaller JPG. If the photos are in Photos on your Mac, choose File > Export > Export Unmodified Original.
6. Put each roll in its own folder.

Convert the captures on a Mac

Your files are still negatives. To turn them into photos, follow the guide to converting film negatives.

Common problems

• The frames of a roll look different from each other. The Camera app changed exposure or lens between shots. Lock AE/AF and stop automatic macro switching.
• One side of the frame is soft. The phone is not parallel to the film. Align it again with the Level.
• Pixels or a grid pattern in the picture. You used a tablet or a screen as the light. Use a light pad, or diffuse the screen.
• A soft or smeared picture. The phone moved when you tapped. Use the timer.
• Specks and hairs. Dust on the film or on the lens. Clean both, and see dust on film scans.

Sources

• Apple: About Apple ProRAW
• Apple: Take Apple ProRAW photos with your iPhone camera
• Apple: Take macro photos and videos with your iPhone camera
• Apple: Models that support macro photography
• Apple: Use iPhone camera tools to set up your shot
• Apple: Use iPhone as a level
• Apple: iPhone 18 Pro tech specs
• Halide: The Process Zero manual
• FilmLab