My DIY iPhone camera mod looks absurd but is great to use

I fully acknowledge that my DIY iPhone camera mod looks exceedingly silly – but it’s actually made my iPhone photography more practical and more enjoyable.

It was initially something I came up with to solve a problem for one particular video shoot, but I’ve actually found myself using it a surprising number of times …

One of the great divides in the compact camera world is whether or not there is a viewfinder. As an aside, there was also a time when camera guys would get very snobbish about electronic viewfinders (EVFs) versus optical ones, but EVFs these days are so good that very few people care about this anymore.

But optical or electronic, viewfinders have a very practical benefit compared to using the rear screen to frame your shot, especially when shooting in bright sunlight. Even with the screen brightness set to maximum, it can be extremely hard to see what you’re shooting when the sun is bright, and you may also be dealing with reflections on the display.

While this hasn’t historically been a massive problem here in London, this summer has seen a record-breaking heatwave, and it honestly feels like the last time I saw a cloud or rain was about 30 years ago.

But for me, it’s a little more than this. I also feel like there’s a psychological difference between the visual immersion provided by seeing only what is in the frame of your photo versus seeing everything else around it while you shoot. There are times when this has actually been the primary reason I’ve used a dedicated camera over my iPhone.

When it came to choosing a camera for videography some years back, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K was very clearly emerging as the winner, but the lack of a viewfinder did give me pause. In the end, I decided it wasn’t a huge issue for me as it was primarily for indoor use, and adding a large monitor with shade addressed most of the issues for those occasions when it would need to be used outside.

There were, however, times when I wanted to use it in a much more compact form than the full rig with monitor, so I found a simple accessory that worked for outdoor use. This is a combined shade and magnifier that magnetically attaches to the rear display of the camera in order to effectively provide an optical viewfinder.

I have an upcoming shoot where I will be simultaneously filming with the BMPCC 4K and my iPhone 16 Pro Max. I did a quick test shoot at the location and the viewfinder accessory really helped. Since the BMPCC 4K and iPhone displays are very close in size, I wondered whether it would also work with the latter.

There was of course no magnetic attachment, but the iPhone is light enough that it’s not an issue at all to manually hold it in place against the magnifier. To my surprise, it worked incredibly well, especially since I use the camera control button as my shutter release.

I’ve since found myself using it on a number of occasions for still photography and enjoying both the greater ease of seeing this screen in bright sunlight and that feeling of immersion. My iPhone long ago became my primary camera, and with this DIY mod, I feel like there are even more occasions when my phone will be all that I need.

Absurd, or genius? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. If you’re of the latter view, unfortunately the device I bought no longer seems to be on sale and I haven’t yet spotted a competing product designed for anything larger than a three-inch screen. If you find one, do post a link in the comments.