Phone photography is becoming more and more common. As people are introduced to the hobby, many turn to accessories and add-ons to transform the photos and work process into a more professional setup. Luckily, the market has caught on and there are plenty of gadgets and add-ons that can step up the phone photography game.
Here are 13 must-have accessories for people interested in phone photography. These will do everything from ensuring photoshoots can go on longer to improving shots to keeping equipment organized.
Comprehensive List of Phone Photography Accessories
This is a comprehensive list of essentials. While it is likely that phone photography can be done with just a few of these accessories, each one is certain to improve on the photos or process of photography.
Depending on specific interests, some of these accessories will be more important than others. Use your best judgment if you are only looking for a few accessories. While choosing, consider:
- What type of photos are normally taken
- Time of day of most photos
- Whether video plays a large role
- How much storage the phone already has
There are many add-ons on the list that expand or improve on each of these aspects.
Best Phone Photography Accessories
To get the best quality phone photography accessories, it is important to consider where to spend the money. Photography can become expensive very quickly, and while some can afford the best for every part of their kit, this is the unlikely scenario.
While buying phone photography accessories, consider which parts are likely to get the most use. This will change from person to person, so look at your personal workflow and normal photos and decide from there.
As a baseline, a few accessories that often see significant use are extra storage, tripods, and lenses. If your budget allows for it, consider buying high-quality variations of these key items so that they are likely to last.
Other accessories such as microfiber cloths and lightboxes are still essential but are likely to be used less for many phone photographers. As such, the money spent on them can be tighter.
Keep these tips in mind as you move forward to the 13 best, must-have phone photography accessories.
1. Use Phone Stands For Quick Stabilization
Phone stands such as pop sockets or other on case attachments are great for stabilizing shots and setting up for photographs. They are widely available and cheap, making them an easy way to step up your phone photography game.
You are even likely to already have one attached to your phone! For value per dollar, these are hard to beat.
Small phone stands are most useful for stabilization while holding the phone by hand. Rather than requiring large accessories to be brought out or holding a moment while getting set up, phone stands are quick and do not stop normal access to the phone.
While some phone cases have an attached phone stand, those that don’t are not out of luck. Picking one up and attaching it to the back of any case, or even just the phone itself, is very easy.
Phone stands are highly customizable and often available in a variety of colors and styles, so take the time to pick out one you like the look of as it will live on your phone for quite a while.
2. Macro Lenses Allow You To Zoom In On Details
Getting attachment lenses is one of the best and most immediate ways to take better photos on your phone. Because phones are kept so thin and light, it is difficult for manufacturers to put high-quality lenses inside. The addition of lenses fixes this immediate problem by providing more space for the glass to be attached.
Macro lenses in particular are a great buy for many phone photographers, as they cover an extremely common weakness. Most phones cannot zoom in very far to capture details such as jewelry, eyes, or fabric patterns. Macro lenses allow for phones to zoom and reach this level of detail easily while producing great results.
When combined with a stabilizer such as a phone stand, great, steady detail shots are well within the range of almost any phone’s photography.
Many macro lenses come in kits with other types of lenses which are also useful, but for the best quality these lenses are often sold alone. Consider the shape and thickness of your phone before buying, as there are many different attachment methods available.
Two of the most common attachment methods are clip-on or magnetic lenses. Both can provide high-quality glass to improve the phone’s camera, so the main deciding factor is what actually fits on the phone.
3. Use an LED Light Box to Get Great Lighting
One of the keys to good photography is great lighting. While many phones are now adept at handling low-light shots, they can still use some help to grab the correct highlights and shadows. An LED light box is perfect for phone photographers looking to fix this.
Essentially, an LED light box is a small cube of LED lights that is battery powered. These can provide an enormous amount of light when turned on, and high-end models can change hues and dimness to nail the exact light level you need.
Because these cubes are so small, they are a welcome and small edition to almost any kit. These can be equated to a flash cube in traditional photography, except they often are not attached to the phone itself.
Investing in a few of these may be worth it if you do a lot of portraits or people shots, as flattering light helps significantly with those types of photos. Even if you do not often shoot people, one is sure to help fix the lighting or provide interesting changes to the environment you are shooting in.
If you commonly shoot in harsh conditions such as severe rain or deserts, rugged light cubes are available that resist weather or have multiple battery backups. Consider your specific shooting needs before buying, as these can get expensive.
Many light cubes last a while because they are only pulled out briefly, so they are a worthy investment for any phone photographer. While not using an accessory on every shot may seem like a waste, the moments where extra light is needed prove the usefulness of this accessory ten times over.
4. Portable Phone Chargers Extend Your Shooting Time
Portable phone chargers and battery banks are almost essential for any smartphone user today, and that proves doubly important for phone photographers and videographers. Taking photographs and having the camera open can drain a phone’s battery quickly. To ensure that photoshoots can continue on for longer, invest in a power bank and extra cord.
Power banks can vary greatly in size and capacity, so consider your current setup before buying one.
If you often head out with a backpack or other carrying case, investing in a large battery bank that can charge your phone many times over is likely worth it. In a case like this, grab a large one that fits in the base of the bag and a long cord to connect and move freely with the phone.
If you prefer traveling light and rarely leave for photoshoots with anything but what fits in your pockets, grab a smaller power bank that can give your phone an extra charge or two. While these obviously have less utility, they are still extremely handy to have around.
Remember to bring extra cords for your phone and other accessories. Larger power banks especially often have multiple connection points so that a few things can be charged at once. With long enough cords, it should be possible to keep the phone plugged in and charging while you still shoot. Extra cords also serve as backups in case one breaks or goes missing, or if other friends you are shooting with need a charge.
Most power banks do not support rapid or fast charging, so you are unlikely to be able to take a small break and then carry on like normal. Instead, it is often best to plug in the phone long before it will die and let the battery charge slowly. This will extend the total time you can be taking shots.
5. Use An External Shutter When You Need To Step Away From Your Phone
External shutters are often something no one thinks of until the moment comes up. These are handy little attachments that allow the photographer to step away from their phone and still take the shot. Often, these are a simple button that can be clicked, but a few models also include options to switch between photo and video or turn on flash.
If you take self-portraits, group photos with friends, or basically any shot where you want to be in the frame, external shutters will prove tremendously useful. Even for photographs where you normally would not be in the frame, like landscapes, external shutters can prove an incredible accessory.
Perhaps the extra touch the landscape photo needs is someone casually walking in a lower corner. Or, there is a shot where lighting needs to be held far away from the phone. To get either of these shots on your own without an external shutter would be incredibly annoying, if not impossible. With the shutter, simply walk away from the phone to where you need to be and press the button.
At its core, the external shutter is useful because it adds utility and creativity to any shot. Being able to move away from the phone to take a photo is an incredibly freeing experience, and once you have done it once you are unlikely to want to go back.
External shutters for phone cameras are often Bluetooth, as it is easy to use and has a relatively long range. It is also possible to get wired external shutters for a more consistent connection, although this adds a cumbersome piece of hardware that can take up precious cargo space.
6. Use Tabletop Tripods For Image Stabilization and Long Shots
Tripods are incredible for camera stabilization and finetuning shots, and this functionality easily carries over to phones. Luckily, with how much smaller phones are than full-sized cameras, tripods are also much more lightweight and portable.
While it may seem like tripods overlap with phone stands, they really offer significantly more utility while sacrificing some ease of use. Tripods offer more stability than phone stands, can often be placed in different places, and stand on their own for longer periods of time. Each of these comes with enormous benefits.
The improved stability of tripods means that shots are less likely to be blurry and that more time can be spent getting the shot exactly perfect. Anyone who has used a camera without a tripod and then with one can attest to the night and day differences in finetuning capabilities. This also proves useful for video work, group photos, and any shots where the phone is resting on a slanted surface.
Many tripods made for phone use are grippy and maneuverable, meaning the legs can be twisted and wrapped around a variety of surfaces. This proves incredibly useful for getting unique shots and stabilizing images at different angles. Wrapping a tripod around a phone pole, armrest, handle, or another surface opens a world of creativity. When combined with other accessories like an external shutter, these shots can become truly unique.
Tripods also allow for longer periods of stabilization than any other accessory. Capturing stable time-lapses, tracking shots, and long exposures are suddenly incredibly easy as you no longer need to be holding the camera the whole time.
With how small phone tripods are, there is no reason to not have one while going out for a phone photoshoot. Other accessories like light cubes can also use tripods to great effect, so it could be worth buying an extra one as well.
7. Additional Storage Is Needed For Long Shoots
Image files can get incredibly large, especially for high megapixel shots and long-exposures. To ensure that more photos can always be taken, it is best to bring along some additional storage that works with your phone.
If you are using a phone that supports microSD cards, these are often the easiest and best option. With sizes of 500GB and up becoming available, one card can often support a full day of shooting. Then, transfer the photos to your computer or editing bay and the card is immediately ready for use once again.
MicroSD cards also come with the added benefit of requiring no additional weight or carrying space, so those traveling light should certainly consider this option.
If your phone does not support MicroSD cards or another form of internal, removable storage, the next best thing is an external hard drive or USB memory stick. These can also come in incredibly large sizes, with external hard drives available in sizes upwards of 2TB. They are also always becoming more compact and portable, so they should not take up much space.
If you choose an external hard drive, ensure that it is an SSD. SSDs read and write faster than traditional hard drives, allowing you to get back to the action faster. More importantly, SSDs do not use moving parts, meaning they are less likely to break while on the go. This becomes hugely important while moving and running around capturing photos.
USB memory sticks are wonderful because many are available that can connect directly to a phone. Grab the largest size you can and treat it like a microSD card. Because they are so small, many can be attached to a keychain or kept in a small compartment with other accessories with no issue.
8. Wide Angle Lenses Let You Capture Gorgeous Landscapes
Similar to macro lenses, wide-angle lenses open up a whole new world for phone photography. Lenses are one of the best upgrades you can possibly make to phones when it comes to photos, so expanding your options is always a good deal.
Wide-angle lenses do exactly as the name suggests; they have a shorter focal length, allowing the camera to see more. This is most useful for landscape shots, time-lapses, and long exposures, but other uses can always be found. Anytime that is it important or preferable to capture the whole picture rather than focusing in on details, wide-angle lenses are best.
Wide-angle lenses are some of the most useful lenses to buy for phones because this is an area where many lack good hardware. Even with recent advancements made to lenses on many phones, the focus has been on portraits and selfies. Wide-angle lenses simply catch up landscape photography to the rest of the gang and, in many cases, improve on it even further.
As when buying macro lenses, it is important to choose external lenses that best match with your phone. Clip-on and magnetic ones are still the most popular choices for these, as well, so be sure to read the fine print while looking. Many lenses will specify what phones they were made for or fit on to ensure a proper fit.
With lenses, you often get what you pay for. Try not to skimp out on lenses for your phone as they are the single most important upgrade or accessory to grab while improving your phone photography game.
9. Battery Phone Cases Are Portable And Easy to Use
Revisiting the topic of keeping your phone charged for shooting, battery cases are another great way to ensure that more photographs keep coming. While power banks are great for charging multiple devices, they can often be cumbersome to use and wires can get in the way of specific shots. Battery phone cases are much better suited for on the go, peace of mind charging.
Battery cases are phone cases that have an extra battery inside that can be enabled to charge the phone’s main battery. These are incredibly useful for traveling light and ignoring the charging going on, as it is impossible to tell the difference between the case being on and off.
While they are great for a quick charge, battery cases are bulkier than traditional phone cases. In addition, they are normally only good for one charge, meaning they have less utility than power banks. Still, they are an incredible piece of tech that can expand any photo shoot’s lifespan and take up virtually no extra space.
Battery phone cases will not replace a power bank, but they are an extremely useful tool for extending a charge a short amount of time and staying out of the way. The ease of use also cannot be beat, as it is often simply hitting a switch on your phone.
10. Use A Microphone For High-Quality Audio Capture
Occasionally, photographers may want to expand into some video and film capture. When that happens, a microphone is absolutely essential to get crisp, usable audio. While phones are great for talking, well, on the phone, the placement of most microphones and the low range usually means that audio captured for other purposes falls extremely short.
Attaching a microphone to your phone is very easy. Many are wired and attach where the phone charges, while some are available in Bluetooth configurations for easy, wireless use.
There is a large variety in types of microphones available for a phone, as well. Consider what audio sources you capture the most while searching for a microphone.
Lapel microphones are commonplace and perfect for capturing people speaking but are not great for taking in the sounds of the environment. Shot microphones are great for capturing any audio in a specific direction, but groups of people talking will often result in some people getting cut out.
Smartphone microphones can be picked up fairly cheaply, so investing in one is always worth it in case the need for great audio comes up.
11. Smartphone Gimbals Make Moving Shots Flawless
Gimbals are a fairly new technology that allows for steady action shots by automatically stabilizing the camera or phone while in use. It is fancy and high-tech, but in recent years consumer-level products have become affordable.
To better conceptualize how a gimbal works, it can be helpful to think of them like an always upright stick that is attached to your phone. Keeping the phone centered and level at all times means that action shots, quick photographs, and moving shots of all kinds will come out clean and focused.
While gimbals are incredibly useful and will expand any photo or videographer’s kit, they are still fairly expensive. Many models cost upwards of $150 dollars, so be prepared to drop some money into this accessory.
Even with that price, the gimbal is absolutely worth it, especially if you often take shots while on the move. The automatic stabilization of gimbals is impressive to even see in action, and using it amps the feeling even more.
Gimbals are fairly small, with many made for phones being around or under 1 foot long. They are made to hold comfortably in one hand, so their weight is also fairly low.
Especially if you also do some video work on your phone, a gimbal becomes essential. While used for video, a gimbal essentially turns your phone into a GoPro with a better aspect ratio and clearer visuals. In addition, many of the other accessories like better lenses can be paired easily with gimbals.
12. Use A Microfiber Cloth To Keep Everything Clean
Although boring, microfiber cloths are essential for keeping phones, lenses, and extra equipment clean and free of dust. There is no sense in having an otherwise perfect shot ruined by a fingerprint mark or dust particle trapped between the phone and extra lens.
Especially with phones, where our hands tend to be all over them, it is easy for extra dust and markings to accidentally get onto the camera hardware. Taking the extra few seconds to dig out a microfiber cloth and clean your glass equipment will make shots smoother and help prevent issues.
Microfiber cloths are cheap and easy to find, and it is likely you already have one lying around. If not, there are a plethora of options available with different patterns, colors, sizes, and even carrying pouches. Many of these options come down to personal preference, so just ensure that the cloth actually does a good job cleaning.
Because microfiber cloths are so small, many photographers keep them in their pocket and pull them out as necessary. Other good areas to store them include inside your phone case, with an external hard drive, or tied around your tripod if the cloth is large enough.
13. Additional Lenses Will Expand Which Shots You Can Take
The final must-have accessory for phone photography is also the most important; more lenses! While macro lenses and wide-angle lenses will expand your phone’s photography capabilities significantly, other types of lenses can prove even more useful.
There are a host of different focal lengths and filters available for external lenses made for phones. While choosing specific lenses will always be best, starter packs that include a variety of lenses made for different shots is a great introduction point. Common packs include a portrait lens, a group photo lens, and a wide-angle lens.
If you only want to get a select few additional lenses for your phone, grab the macro and wide-angle lenses from earlier, then a medium focal point lens such as a 50mm. Medium focal point lenses can be used for an absurd amount of shots, such as portraits, item captures, group photos, candids, and others.
Expanding your lens collection will grow your phone photography incredibly fast. Lenses are the single most limiting factor for most phones when it comes to photography, so invest time and money into learning how to use good quality lenses. Your photos will be all the better for it.
Improving Your Phone Photography One Accessory at a Time
Each of these accessories can improve a small part of your photography technique. Together, you’ll be shooting better, clearer shots in no time.