Tag: iphone
iPhone XR: A Deep Dive Into Depth
With the introduction of iPhone XR, every phone in Apple’s lineup now supports depth capture. But the XR is unique: it’s the first iPhone to do it with a single lens. As we were starting to test and optimize Halide for it, we found both advantages and disadvantages. In this post we’ll take a look at three different ways iPhones generate depth data, what makes the iPhone XR so special, and show off Halide’s new 1.11 update, which enables you to do things with the iPhone XR that the regular camera app won’t. Depth Capture Method 1: Dual Camera Disparity Humans perceive depth with the help of two eyes. Our eyes may only a few inches apart, but our brains detect subtle differences between image. The greater difference, or disparity, the closer an object. The iPhone 7 Plus introduced a dual-camera system, which enables a similar way to construct depth. By taking two photos at the same time, each from a slightly different position, we can construct a disparity map. There’s a lot of guesswork involved when matches images. Add video noise and things get even rougher. A great deal of effort goes into filtering the data, additional post processing that guesses how to..
Halide 1.9: Bleeding Edge
It’s here: Halide 1.9, our best camera app. This release is the result of months of intense work, focused on bringing Halide to a whole new level of bleeding edge technology. From a comprehensive redesign of our render pipeline to integration with all the latest technologies, this our highest-tech release yet. iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR Support Halide 1.9 takes full advantage of the iPhone XS Max’ extra screen real estate, powerful new cameras, and the new wide-gamut screens of all new iPhones. Halide feels like it’s made for the XS Max with a tweaked landscape UI, extra-large last shot thumbnail and its entire user interface easily reachable with just one hand. With the biggest screen yet, we felt ergonomics were more important than ever, and we ensured Halide is a joy to use on this behemoth. Oh, and if you’re curious about all that exciting new camera tech packed in your brand new iPhone XS or XR, we have something for you… More on that in a second. iOS 12 Support Not lucky enough to have a new iPhone yet? Don’t fret: we’re on the front lines with supporting all the great new iOS 12 features. Portrait Matte iPhone..
Halide 1.7: In Depth
Between the iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus, and X, over half of all iPhones sold come with dual cameras. With two cameras, killer apps like Portrait Mode become possible. At this rate, depth capture might one day be as standard of a feature to us as the camera flash. We built Halide as the very best camera for iPhones — heck, for any smartphone — and we always want Halide to be ahead of the curve. So today we’re launching Halide 1.7, a huge update that packs tons of new features and enhancements to make it the very best camera for depth. Here’s five new features that make Halide 1.7 the best camera for Depth Capture: I. Built-In Portrait Mode We now include Portrait Mode directly within Halide. We didn’t rush this one out: we spent a lot of time perfecting a great Portrait Mode experience and ensuring the results are spectacular. What makes Portrait Mode in Halide special? For one, zero waiting: you’ll notice Halide doesn’t ask you to change your composition or move around to get the effect to appear. We do this with a carefully considered portrait logic that balances control, speed and simplicity. If you pick a point-of-interest, we keep..
The Power of RAW on iPhone, Part 2: Editing RAW
This is the second in a series of posts on RAW photography on iPhone. I previously wrote about what RAW is by explaining a little on how cameras work, how you can use RAW, and what some key tradeoffs of using RAW are. New to this series? I suggest you start there. I’m the design half of the team that builds Halide, a camera app for iPhone. As a result, I take — and edit — a lot of photos on my iPhone. This guide will walk you through the basics of RAW editing and adjustment. Most of these pointers also apply to editing RAW files from other cameras, but some parts focus on iOS editing workflows and how to transfer your RAW files from your iPhone to your Mac or PC. Most of Halide’s (and other iOS RAW camera apps’) RAW shots come out fairly ‘flat’, as they are basically designed to give you maximum editing freedom instead of looking punchy right out of the camera. My workflow is typically to edit them a bit and share them: Editing RAW files can be done right on your iPhone, or on your Mac or PC. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves: the editing..
The Power of RAW on iPhone, Part 1: Shooting RAW
I take a lot of photos. Usually I pack either a Sony A7R2 or a Leica M—two cameras with massive sensors and brilliant lenses. But lately, I’ve been shooting exclusively with the iPhone X, and have found it absolutely excellent. I am the design half of the team that makes the iPhone app Halide, which is a camera app with manual controls and, most importantly, RAW capture. RAW is a file format that holds an incredible amount of information. We’ll get into the details later, but first let’s show what you can do with it. RAW affords you editing freedom. Absolute freedom to change the colors and white balance of a photo, or recover too-bright highlights and too-dark shadows. However, as awesome as RAW is, it’s important to know RAW isn’t a magic “enhance” button. Some of our users sometimes reach out with confusion about their RAW images looking worse than a regular capture from the stock camera app. It’s helpful to understand how a RAW file is fundamentally different than JPEG, to fully understand the tradeoffs. So What’s a RAW file? Think of the process of taking a photo as three steps: 1. A sensor captures light 2. Software translates..
