There's an old photography saying that the best camera is the one you have on you at the time. The iPhone is of course the camera that most of us have on us most of the time, and that's obviously a massive benefit for things like shots of kids, social events, and so on. But a current video project highlighted another advantage.

I really enjoy walking through London in the early evening, and I'll quite often shoot photos and short video clips on my iPhone. Initially, I did so purely for the pleasure of it, but I later realized the potential for short clips to serve as B-roll in video projects. My current project is experimental – used to test the viability of using Cinematic Mode – and required very short sections of scenic B-roll to be cut into an interview. I needed four of these, and it didn't take much hunting through my iPhone videos before I found suitable clips of the Thames.

The iPhone stabilization really comes into its own when I wasn't planning to shoot anything, just spotted an opportunity while out walking, meaning the shots are handheld. The other huge advantage is its point-and-shoot nature. If I had to manually set up exposure, white balance, ND filter, and so on, then I might not bother. Just asking someone to wait 20 seconds or so doesn't feel like it really interrupts the walk. Timelapse is also trivial on an iPhone. Sure, if you go pixel-peeping then the limitations of the small iPhone sensor do start to show up, especially for low-light shots. But in an age when the vast majority of YouTube videos are viewed on a phone or a laptop, most of the footage is more than good enough.