The camera in the average iPhone is capable of exceptional performance. The standard camera app takes beautiful pictures right out of the box. But much more is possible, including photography in RAW format. And you really don’t need the very last iPhone 12 Pro for that!
One of the ‘selling points’ of the iPhone 12 Pro is that it can photograph in RAW format. Make no mistake, however: previous models from the iPhone 6s can also do this, provided they have a slightly recent iOS version (from 10 to be precise). Only then you cannot shoot directly in RAW from the camera app, but you have to install one of the available separate apps that make this possible. Without a doubt one of the nicest Halide, recently arrived at the all-new MkII version. The nice thing is that this app uses all the hardware options that your iPhone has on board for smart and fast photography, but at the same time can also be partially or even completely set manually if desired. Where the storage format can be RAW, or a combination of one RAW image and one in a standard compressed and ‘developed’ format image.
You can further process that RAW image in an app such as Lightroom (iPhone versionandiPad version). Or you opt for automatic development within Halide. The results of that are usually quite good. With the advantage that on the one hand you have an emailable photo on the one hand, and on the other hand you can always (further) adjust the RAW photo afterwards in a RAW editor.
Built-in course
Halide offers many possibilities. It is impossible to show everything in this article. You really kind of have that for that photography course required. Don’t worry: it is also built into Halide! Even a ten-day copy, accessible by swiping up on the line at the bottom of the viewfinder after you have installed and started the app. Then tap the settings gear and you will see the first block at the top of the screen What you can do with Halide. Tap this, sign up and become a pro. By the way, leave those institutions open for now.
RAW, RAW and JPG, RAW +: choose!
First, tap Capture. Turn on the option Coverage in, two photos are taken: a RAW copy and a JPG photo. But, as already mentioned: that takes extra time. Plan B is – if you want to keep two formats – to go for RAW + (Cover may not be available). A RAW file with embedded HEIC photo is then written. This has the disadvantage that your RAW file will of course become larger. The default RAW setting actually seems best to us. Use Halide if you really want to shoot special photos in the best quality. And the iOS default camera app for snapshots. Or – if you are fortunate in owning a device with 256 GB or more storage and do not have a lot of apps installed: nice photos of everything with Halide of course!
Privacy
It is best to leave the other settings of this section as they are. But take note. You can also use the switch behind for privacy reasons Save photo location turn of. Has the advantage that when you share the photo, no one can find out where it was taken. Particularly practical for photos taken at your home location. The disadvantage is that you can never find out where your photo was taken. Tap again at the top left Settings when you have made a choice
More options
Back in the main Settings panel, tap To adjust. If you prefer, you can now adjust the location of Halide’s controls. Don’t change anything? Then you tap Do not save changes. To return to settings, tap the gear. Under advanced you will also find some useful settings, for example if you share to Facebook and you do not want the location data to be visible there, then turn the switch behind Prevent espionage on Facebook On. If you prefer to capture your photos in jpeg than HEIC (although the latter format definitely has better image quality), then under Capture in other format than RAW, choose Most compatible instead of the standard High efficiency. Please note: this concerns any additional images saved next to RAW!
Focus and control exposure yourself
By default, Halide is set in automatic mode. In short: to take a photo, point the camera and tap the shutter button. If desired, you can determine the focus point yourself by tapping in the viewfinder on a desired point that must definitely be sharp. You set the exposure by swiping up or down on the right side of the viewfinder. Manual focusing is no problem at all: tap the circled and switched on as standard (and therefore yellow) AF, after which the autofocus is turned off. You can now focus yourself using a slider. Ideal for night photos, for example, where you can photograph beautiful colored light balls by setting extremely blurry, for example.
Smart development of RAW
You will see a 3D cube to the right of the AF button. Tap this and you will see live how your iPhone provides blurred backgrounds and the like. Use is made of the well-known ‘computational photography engine’ from Apple. You can also use this option for daily use. Once you have taken a photo, it will be saved on the camera roll, by default in the RAW folder. You can also have a RAW produced by Halide smartly ‘developed’. This is useful for anyone who does not have time to tweak in something like the aforementioned Lightroom. To do this, tap on the mini-preview at the bottom left of the picture of the photo you just took. This will now open in the viewer built into Halide. Tap in the top right INSTANT and you see what Halide makes of it. Tap the share button and a jpg will be made of the photo that you can send to, for example, the mail app or a messenger.
Manual mode, including ISO settings and more
As promised, a full manual setting is also possible in Halide. To activate it, first swipe from the right to the left of the screen. A new panel will now open. Tap on it MANUAL and you can fully indulge yourself. You can control exposure again by swiping from top to bottom (or vice versa). The ISO value can be adjusted by swiping from left to right or vice versa. The following applies: the lower the ISO value, the less the light sensitivity, but also the less noise. For enthusiasts who also want to see zebra stripes (which bring lighting problems to light live): swipe again from the right edge of the screen to the left and you will see the now familiar panel again. Tap on ZEBRAS and finished. Turning off is a matter of tapping that button again. Return to the automatic mode rule with a tap CAR.
Abo app
Halide can do much, much more. But now you have mastered the basics. By doing a lot, you quickly take impressive photos that look better than the standard snapshot pictures from the standard camera app. If you were already a user, you will get Halide MkII for free for one year. In principle, the app is a subscription app, which means that you pay for it per year. At the time of writing, there is a nice offer that will cost you € 13.49 per year if you take it now. We bet that this price will eventually go up.
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