One of the previous advantages of third-party virtual camera apps (like Reincubate’s Camo) over a built-in or add-on webcam used with your Mac is that they allow you to use an iPhone as a webcam for FaceTime, Zoom, and others. videoconferencing applications. Apple changed this equation by adding Continuity Camera, which allows your iPhone to appear as another video input in any app on your Mac.
But there was still a benefit of the virtual camera: Continuity Camera showed you framed in your phone’s Ultra Wide camera view or tracked you with Center Stage. But you couldn’t benefit from a place between these options: zooming in or out and panning in the frame.
Apple added this feature quietly in a way that’s hard to discover in macOS Sonoma. Sonoma has raised the profile of the video menu in Ventura and previous versions of macOS. Before Sonoma, you used a combination of options in the Control Center, a simplified video app, and individual apps to control Continuity Camera features, such as Center Stage, Portrait, and Studio Light, as well as modes microphone.
In Sonoma, all of these features are centralized in the video menu. (FaceTime also still offers access to the camera options in the Personal View in macOS.) With any app open that accepts video input, like FaceTime or Zoom, the video menu appears. Choose the menu and you see a video preview. Now hover over the preview. A dial-shaped indicator with two buttons labeled one of the following:
- 0.5 for Ultra Large
- 1 for the main
- 2 for the telephoto lens on most iPhones equipped with this third lens
- 3 for the telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro
- 5 for the telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max
On the left, 0.5x is selected and 1 is displayed as the next increment; on the right, 2x is selected and 1 is similarly displayed as the next increment. (Video preview removed for clarity.)
Foundry
You can press the button to navigate to a lens and magnification or drag to move in smaller increments. An x appears after the number to indicate that this is the selected camera zoom factor.
In the preview, you can drag to move the displayed area into the larger frame. Click Recenter to center the frame throughout the camera’s field of view.
This pan and zoom feature only works when Center Stage is turned off. If you’re using Desk View, you’re limited to the main telephoto range, as the Ultra Wide camera is used for Desk View.
This Mac 911 article answers a question submitted by igamesnews reader Kevin.
Ask Mac 911
We’ve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently, along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. Otherwise, we are always looking for new problems to solve! Send yours to [email protected], including screenshots where applicable and if you would like your full name used. We will not answer all questions, we do not respond to emails, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice.
