4 Ways I Reuse My Old iPhones Instead of Trading Them In — Including With Robots

Now that the official annual iPhone event is over, so is my decision. I will upgrade My classic iPhone 12 Pro Max 2020 for a iPhone 16 Pro Max. I don’t like going through the ordering and upgrading process, and I don’t like spending a lot of money to get a fully featured iPhone 16 Pro Max even more.

Also: Hands-on with the iPhone 16 Pro: 3 things I love most about this ridiculously powerful supercomputer

I chose the Pro model because I would make good use of the 48MP ultra-wide camera, 12MP telephoto camera (5X optical zoom), and 4K 120fps video in the Pro camera. I chose the Max model because I prefer a larger phone screen for both general use and productivity.

What am I? Are not doing is trading in my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Follow Apple pre-order systemI was able to get $350 back for my old phone.

Verizon Estimates is $215 if i decide to go through the carrier.

In fact, I never swapped out my old iPhones. I found them much more useful as additional control surfaces and cameras for my YouTube video production. They join a couple of DSLRs, a couple of action cameras, My DJI Pocket 2three iPads and several older iPhones, including the tiny iPhone SE (second generation).

I also regularly use my beloved 2015 iPhone 6s Plus, but after nine years, it finally broke.

Also: 6 Reasons Why iOS 18 Makes the iPhone 16 a Must-Upgrade for Me

Having a variety of cameras and camera types allows me to be dynamic in my shot-setting, allowing me to pick and choose equipment to get the effect I want to create. I also often use multiple devices at once, acting as monitors, control surfaces, and recording devices.

Speaking of my iPhone, let’s take a look at four ways I use my primary backup iPhone in the studio. I did my first few recordings using just my primary iPhone, but I found that there are benefits to using two or more devices at the same time.

1. Recording on high

The first time I used two iPhones at once was for an overhead shot, a form of multi-camera shooting (more on that later).

Also: Building a $40 Overhead Film Rig for YouTube

When unboxing, filming process footage, or doing reviews, it’s helpful to have a straight-on shot (which I use as my main iPhone) and an overhead shot that allows the viewer to see the details of whatever is being made.

2. Remote viewfinder

One thing you discover about five minutes after setting up your first overhead camera rig is that you can’t see what’s being filmed. Sure, you can climb up on a stool or ladder to look down at the viewing surface, but it would be much nicer to be able to see what’s in the frame as you’re filming.

For this I use another iPhone or iPad. I start with the remote app for Pro MovieBut more recently, I have switched to PhimPro and MoviePro Remote. You run an app on the phone that’s used as the camera. You can run the Remote app on the phone that’s used as the viewfinder. It’s a very powerful combination.

Also: The iPhone 16 is definitely great hardware — but you should still skip it

I also use my iPhone and/or iPad as a remote viewfinder for my Sony DSLR. You will need to use Sony Edge Image app to set that up, then the camera will stream to your iOS device, not only showing what’s in the viewfinder but also allowing you to control the DSLR.

I also use my iPhone or iPad as a remote viewfinder on my much older Canon DSLR. That camera doesn’t have any networking, but it does have an HDMI output for connecting to a local monitor. I paired it with a wireless HDMI transmitter (not currently available) that sends live video to an iOS app. You can see a demo of that setup here.

There are some HDMI camera transmitters out there, but they are much more expensive than what I’ve used. I think the HDMI camera transmitter market has pretty much died down as more and more DSLRs have their own way to stream directly to iOS devices.

3. Multi-camera recording

Multi-camera filming is the process of filming a scene with multiple cameras at the same time. I use multiple cameras for my tutorials and reviews because each camera shows a different angle of what I’m doing.

I find this incredibly useful because I can set up a bunch of cameras (I usually use three or four) to capture different angles of the piece. Then I can do whatever I was doing in front of the camera, often without worrying about whether the camera will be able to capture it. This is especially a win when I’m using something with a spinning death blade, and for me, focusing on operating that dangerous tool is much more important than how I look on camera.

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

Sometimes I mix and match cameras to get a certain effect. But more often than not, I just use a bunch of iOS devices, each capturing a different perspective and saving the results to my Photos library for later editing.

Final Cut Pro on Mac has a great tool for syncing multi-camera recordings. All you have to do is make sure the audio is recorded on all cameras, then the editing software will automatically sync everything.

Final Cut on iPad recently added its own feature Live Multicam Featurewhere you can control up to four iPads or iPhones directly from one iPad, switching between them flexibly.

I usually just record separate streams and sync them to my desktop, but Live Multicam is great for recording events.

4. Robot motion controller

Then there are my camera robots. I have a bunch of them and they are all controlled by my iOS device. Here is my motion control crane:

It has four levels of motion. The crane itself moves up and down and rotates left and right. Then the head also moves up and down and rotates left and right. Using the motion control software, I can set up markers and then configure the software to move between those points, changing the crane settings to the saved markers.

I also have a couple of sliders, which also have remote control heads, as well as an automated floor cart that will move the entire tripod assembly based on what I set using the software on my iPhone.

Each animator needs its own iOS device. So I can program all the crane movements with one iPhone. But if I want to control a slide and head separately, that requires another iPhone. And if I want to attach the crane to a robot cart, that requires another iOS device to control.

Hey, I admit that I probably have too many robots. Between the motion-controlled camera robots and all my automated manufacturing robots, I have about 30+ independently controlled semi-autonomous robots. All I can say in my defense is that I have a very tolerant wife.

Also: 9 indispensable utilities to create quality YouTube videos

But that’s not the point of this article. My point is that the old iPhone is valuable as a camera and controller. Since the trade-in value is pretty low (especially since I usually keep my daily driver for three or four generations before upgrading), having the added functionality of a backup phone for my project work is much more valuable to me.

What about you? Do you keep your old phone? Do you have a bunch of robots? Are you considering upgrading to the iPhone 16? Let us know in the comments below.

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