Shoot Macro Like a Pro
The latest major update is concentrated mainly on macro and manual focus. This is primarily due to the new iPhone 13 Pro and its new ultra-wide camera that is capable of manual focus and macro capability with close-range focusing to 2 cm. However, the latest update brings out the capabilities of other older devices and their cameras. Checkout Camera M version 5.0 update details here
How Camera M Help You Capture Better Macro Shots
So how exactly does Camera M help you capture amazing macro photography? Let us take a look…
Quick Dedicated Camera Switching
Camera M gives quick access to all dedicated cameras on the device. Simply tap or press and hold on the camera choice button, conveniently located on the bottom right of the screen, for the full display of all available dedicated cameras. There are dedicated and virtual cameras on your iPhone or iPad, which you can read more about them here: Understanding iPhone Cameras.
Dedicated cameras allow full manual controls, such as manual focus, this is why it may be your best interest to stay away from virtual cameras.
Smooth Manual Focus
Camera M always had the best gesture-based adjustment mechanism for manual focus control since version 1 back in 2017. You swipe up or down anywhere inside the camera preview area to adjust focus distance, and a simple gauge notifies where you are in the focus range. Simply tap and hold anywhere inside the camera preview to reset the focus mode to autofocus.
With version 5, we now include a value for focus control after popular demand by our uses. This value ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. The value 0 indicates the closest focus distance, and 1.0 shows the infinity in focus distance.
Now with 120Hz ProMotion support on iPhone 13 Pro series and iPad Pro series. During adjustment, now the controls have the input serenity of 120Hz, and the focus gauge updates at up to 120Hz. This leads to ultra-smooth manual focus control with Camera M!
Minimum Focus Distance Display
With iOS 15, Camera M now displays minimum focus distance for all cameras capable of manual focus on all devices! This value is visible in centimeters when manual focus is adjusted to the closest position.
We believe this gives an idea of how far to position the iPhone or iPad at the beginning of your macro capture. For example, the ultra-wide camera on iPhone 13 Pro has a minimum focus distance of 2 cm, and its wide-angle camera has a minimum focus distance of 15 cm. Its telephoto camera can only focus at 60 cm. So we believe this is an excellent tool for photographers who are serious about close-up photography.
Focus Peaking
Full-screen Focus Peaking has been the most utilized focus assistant tool on Camera M since its inception. This tool displays the edges of the focus areas in cyan color so you can distinguish what is in focus and what is not.
Simply tap on Focus Peaking button on Focus Screen to enable this feature, and you are off to never having your main subject out of focus.
4x Magnifier Loupe
Our favorite tool in Camera M's arsenal is the magnifier loupe with 4x magnification that you can move around to your desired location.
Simply tap on Magnifier button on Focus Screen to open the magnifier. Now you are looking at the same camera preview but magnified four times to see greater detail. This is the best way to take a close look to ensure your subject area is in focus.
You can tap inside the magnifier to toggle focus peaking (see above) on and off. This feature adds another layer to never missing the focus point.
Touch inside the magnifier and move it to your desired location. You can flick it around the camera preview area, and it will move with inertia and give you haptic feedback when hitting the edges of the screen area. We are incredibly proud of the implementation of this tool!
Image Formats
So you can use all those incredible tools, but what about the actual image capture? For that, Camera M offers the best image format choices and many of them.
For users with the latest iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro series, the newly unveiled Apple ProRAW is available for capturing the best image quality. This allows you to capture 12-bit, linear DNG with all the latest computational photography features Apple has to offer.
Read more about Apple ProRAW here
Standard RAW format is there for quick capturing of basic RAW files. In addition, HEIF and JPEG are available with minimum compression levels for higher quality. If you want the best non-raw image format — capture in TIFF format for lossless processed format. We also included PNG as another option for specialty situations.
Gerbera Daisy — iPhone 13 Pro Max • Ultra-Wide Camera • Camera M • Manual Focus • Apple ProRAW