Instructions & Best Practices

Start by scrolling down and reading the overviews of initial set-up instructions and what all the options mean on the default screen and the settings menu.
For discussion of which options and settings to choose, see:

Best Practices

Pylon Mount

I recommend the Ski-Doc Orbit, and a metal phone mount without a tilt adjustment, like this one, as the tilt mechanism seems to pick up more vibrations from the pylon.

Settings: Camera Select

For most iPhone models, you will get the best image stability by using the Selfie camera. This is due to physical stabilization hardware on the Rear Main lens. It handles "regular" hand movements well, but produces very shaky video when exposed to small high-frequency vibrations like on a boat pylon. This is due to physical hardware (magnets, actually) and thus cannot be circumvented by software. On most phone models, the Rear Ultra-Wide lens does not have the stabilization, and so would also work, but it requires a lot of zoom and ultimately yields worse image quality than just using the Selfie camera.
- - The one unfortunate exception is the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro. On these models, Apple added the stability hardware to the Selfie lens. They did improve the hardware on the Rear Main lens somewhat, so it's not as bad as it used to be (and not as bad as the Selfie lens), but it's still worse than an earlier model Selfie lens.

Settings: Mode (Resolution and Frames-Per-Second)

Essentially this decision is a trade-off between quality and file size. 4K will offer a sharper image than HD, but will quadruple your file size. 60fps will yield a smoother video than 30fps, but will increase file size by roughly one-and-a-half.
So you will get the best quality by using 4K60, however the file size becomes quite large - roughly 175mb per pass. By comparison, HD30 is roughly 30mb per pass.
If you are watching back only on an iPhone-sized screen, you won't notice a huge difference between HD and 4K. The larger the screen is, and the more you zoom in, the more the quality of 4K will become apparent.
For frames-per-second, even on a small screen the difference between 60fps and 30fps will be noticeable. So I recommend using 60fps regardless, and then decide HD or 4K based on concerns (or lack thereof) regarding file size.
120 fps??
Also note, if you text someone a video, Apple will compress/degrade it on the recipient's end, sometimes significantly. If you want to share a full-quality video, you must upload it to a file storage service like Google Drive and send a link.

Zoom Level

For the zoom level on a Selfie lens, you are likely good at 1.5x zoom, but it depends on your phone model and the line length you ski at. Start at 1.0x zoom and slowly increase the zoom until you find your ideal spot - you can always zoom the video afterward when watching back. If the skier is going off the screen on only one side, adjust your camera mount to compensate by turning it more towards center (small movements make a big difference!)

Trigger Speed

I recommend setting your trigger speed 2-4 MPH below your slowest ski speed, to ensure you don't miss any portion of a pass.

Initial Set-Up Instructions

When opening the app for the first time, you will get a series of prompts:

Allow "PylonCam Pro" to use your location?
- You must select Allow While Using App. Later your phone may ask if you want to change it to "Always" but that's not necessary.
- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Location Services. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and click it. The setting should be "While Using the App" or "Always."
"PylonCam Pro" Would Like to Access the Camera
- You must click to Allow.
- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Camera. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and ensure it's enabled (green toggle).
"PylonCam Pro" Would Like to Access the Microphone
- You must click to Allow.
- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Microphone. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and ensure it's enabled (green toggle).
PylonCam Pro" Would Like to Access Your Photo Library
- You must click Limit Access...

Select Items
- Don't select any photos, just click Done. You don't need to select any photos as the app doesn't need to access previous images or videos, but this gives PylonCam the permission to save new videos to your camera roll.

- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Camera. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and ensure it's enabled (green toggle).

Home Screen Overview

In the top-left is the Time, so you know how late you are compared to when you told your wife you'd be done skiing.
The top middle shows the current Zoom level. Use a two-finger drag in and out to adjust the zoom, as you would in the standard iOS Camera app.
- - The zoom level will save even if you full-close and re-open the app. It will, however, reset to 1.0x if you change the Mode (in the settings menu).
When a video is being recorded, a small Red Circle will appear in the top right.
The bottom left button accesses the Settings menu (see below).
The middle number shows the current trigger speed, and the + and - buttons next to it adjust the speed. This is the MPH at which the camera will start recording (once user speed goes above trigger) and stop recording (once speed goes below trigger).
The bottom-right toggle switches between Auto-Record Enabled (green) and Auto-Record Disabled (gray). When it is Disabled, no recordings will be made. This defaults to Enabled when you full-close and open the app, though if you switch it to Disabled and only put the app in the background, it will remain Disabled when you open it again.

Settings Overview

Camera Select: Allows you to switch between using the Rear lenses and the Front/Selfie Lens.
Lens: If you selected the Rear Camera, you can select between the Main camera and the Ultra-Wide lens. If you selected Selfie, the Ultra-Wide option is not available, as there is only one lens on the Selfie side.
Mode: Selects what resolution and frames-per-second (fps) you want to record in:
- HD = 1080p quality
- 4K = 4K (2160p) quality
- 30 = 30 fps
- 60 = 60 fps
- 120 = 120 fps
  - Note that 120 fps videos default to being played back in slo-mo. You can manually adjust a slo-mo video to playback full speed with these quick steps.