Taking photos
The Field Notes camera, with a level that shows when the phone is square to the surface, and photos that can arrive already scaled.
Field Notes' camera is made for photos you'll measure from. A photo taken square-on to a surface has the least perspective in it, so its sizes come out truest, and the camera shows you when you're there.
Into
Which note the photos are going into: a new note, or the one you started from.
Level
The line through the middle shows roll. Turn the phone until it's level.
Square
The two bubble arcs show aim: the one at the right for up and down, the one at the bottom for left and right. Swing the phone until each bubble sits on its tick and the camera is square to the surface. The pill tells you which way and by how much.
Lenses
Switch lenses, or pinch to zoom. Tap the picture to focus.
Shutter
Takes a photo. Take as many as you like; they stack up beside it.
Done
Puts every photo into the note, side by side, each on its own locked layer under your drawing.
Photos that arrive scaled
On an iPhone that can measure depth, the camera works out how far away the surface is and scales the photo from that. Such a photo arrives labelled ≈ Scaled by camera: good for a first look, and worth confirming with a length you know. See Setting the scale.
Switching to a lens other than the main one, or pinching well past it, hands over to a plain camera for as long as you're using it. Photos from it arrive with Scale not set.
From the library
Photos already on the iPhone can go into a note too: choose Choose from library from the notebook's menu for a note, or from the Photo tool inside one. If the camera isn't allowed, Field Notes offers the library instead.