Who needs a real camera these days? Your phone is as good as anything you can have with you. All you need is a few pro tips to make really great videos. Not just great, but stunning ones too! From techniques, to filters, to accessories, there's a lot you'll find useful.

1. Use a tripod to keep your device steady.

2. Don’t have a tripod? Here’s a time lapse hack: use Gaffer’s Tape.

3. Slow-motion makes it more complex.

4. Upload slow-motion videos to Instagram using third-party apps like Slow Fast Slow (Free, iOS) or reAction (Free, Android).

5. Add filters to your videos with Chromic (Free, iOS).

6. Turn boring group shots into mesmerizing cinemagraphs with Flixel (free, iOS).

7. Add wide borders to your landscape-oriented videos, with Squaready (Free, iOS).

8. Hyperlapse (Free, iOS), stabilizes footage, and is a great way to capture children or pets.

9. Crop on the Fly (Free, iOS) crops videos on a frame-by-frame basis.


10. For more powerful video editing, use Adobe Clip (Free, iOS) or KineMaster (Free, Android).

11. Add a lens attachment.

12. Lens hack: binoculars and telescopes are great DIY lenses.

13. Shooting videos drains your phone’s battery — bring a backup.

14. Use your earbuds to trigger the shutter.


15. Use your phone’s AE/AF (auto-exposure and auto-focus) lock.

15. Envision how you want the video to look.

16. But don’t overthink it