Comparison

Honesmith Optics vs Cameo Waves

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Honesmith Optics

Features
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Some photos are better when you make the decisions yourself. Honesmith Optics is an iPhone camera built for RAW and manual photography. Focus and exposure metering can be controlled independently, while manual focus, P/S/M exposure modes, RAW and ProRAW give you direct control when shooting close-up subjects, backlit scenes, or with external lenses. Focus here. Meter there. Tap the preview to set focus. Press and hold to place exposure metering independently. Your subject can stay in focus without forcing you to meter from the same part of the frame. EV compensation gives you a quick final adjustment when you want the image brighter or darker. Shoot RAW. Keep more room to edit. On supported iPhones and camera configurations, Honesmith Optics can capture Bayer RAW or Apple ProRAW and save the original image as DNG, giving you more flexibility for exposure, color, and post-processing. Take more control when you need it. Manual focus, magnified viewing, and Focus Assist make precise focusing easier for macro photography, external lenses, and shallow depth of field. You can control: • ISO • Shutter speed • White balance • Auto and manual focus • Independent exposure metering • EV compensation • RAW / ProRAW • JPEG / PNG • Aspect ratio and filters • Timer • Volume-button shutter • High-resolution photos and 4K video on supported devices No account. No subscription. Your photos stay yours. Honesmith Optics does not require a Honesmith account and does not use Honesmith cloud processing for your photos. Core photo, video, and RAW processing stays on your device. There are no ads or usage analytics. Advanced features are available through one-time in-app purchases. There is no subscription. Whether you are learning manual photography, shooting RAW, working with macro or external lenses, or simply want more control than the built-in camera gives you, Honesmith Optics gives you a more deliberate way to shoot with iPhone. Availability of RAW, ProRAW, high-resolution capture, video formats, and certain camera controls depends on your iPhone, physical lens, iOS version, and current capture configuration.

About

Cameo Waves

This app offers advanced manual camera controls and on-device AI editing for photographers and filmmakers. It provides professional tools for capturing and enhancing images and videos without uploading your data.

Highlights
  • True RAW+ capture
  • Live histogram and focus peaking
  • On-device semantic masking
  • Portrait relighting tools
  • LOG color profile for video
  • Computational photography modes
Features
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Cameo Waves is the precision camera for people who care how light feels. Shoot with real manual control — shutter, ISO, exposure, focus, and white balance — then finish with on-device AI that never uploads your images. Clean, calm chrome. Pro tools when you want them. Nothing in the way when you don’t. LIGHT COACH • Live, on-device tips when highlights clip or the frame is too dark • One-tap apply of suggested exposure • On iOS 26+, refined by Apple Intelligence — free, private, on-device • Built for learning light — not another filter pack SYSTEM CITIZEN • Hardware Camera Control and capture button support • Siri & Shortcuts — take photo, toggle video, open camera • VoiceOver-friendly controls across the viewfinder CAPTURE LIKE A PRO • True RAW+ with DNG when your device supports it • Live histogram, zebra stripes, focus peaking, and electronic level • Tap to focus · hold to lock AE/AF • Burst, bracketing, and real time-lapse video • Pinch zoom, aspect guides, and film looks INTELLIGENT EDITING — ON DEVICE • Semantic masking: Sky Pop and selective color without affecting the rest of the frame • Portrait relighting: studio-style Contour, Stage Light, Soft, Rim, and Golden Hour • Super-resolution to recover detail in crops • Object cleanup, noise reduction, and one-tap Magic Enhance • Film simulations from Portra to Cinematic CINEMA-READY VIDEO • Dual front + back recording on supported iPhones • Teleprompter and a soft screen ring light for talking-head takes • In-app studio — trim, film looks, social reframes, captions, cover frames, anamorphic de-squeeze, slow-mo, and export • LOG color profile for grading in DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro • ProRes 422 on supported iPhones • 4K capture and live audio monitoring so you never clip CAMEO AI STUDIO • Prompt-to-still and motion clips, on-device • Image Playground on supported iPhones; a cinematic local look as fallback • Hand off into the photo editor or video studio CREATIVE COMPUTATIONAL MODES • Silky Water & light trails — multi-frame stacks that simulate an ND filter • Star Trails for night-sky motion • Macro Assist for close-up lens and focus WORKFLOW THAT TRAVELS • Import professional .cube LUTs • Save exposure + film looks as shareable Cameo Presets and recipe cards • Scan a recipe QR or open a .cameo file to apply a look • Pro EXIF viewer — lens, aperture, shutter, ISO — plus copyright and location edits CAMEO WAVES PRO Unlock full manual controls, RAW, advanced AI, LOG/ProRes, computational modes, LUTs, presets, clean exports, and no watermark. Built for photographers and filmmakers who want control without complexity. All AI runs on-device. Your work stays yours. Privacy Policy: [https://textwaves.org/privacy-policy/](https://textwaves.org/privacy-policy/) Terms of Use (EULA): (https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/)

Screenshots

Honesmith Optics4 screens
Cameo Waves4 screens

Verdict

The call

Honesmith Optics and Cameo Waves are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Honesmith Optics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Cameo Waves sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Honesmith Optics ships an update weekly, Cameo Waves every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Honesmith Optics versus Cameo Waves: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHonesmith OpticsCameo Waves
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShih-Chen YangTextWaves Inc

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Honesmith Optics

One-time1
  • Honesmith Optics Pro$11.99
2 purchases

Cameo Waves

Subscriptions1
  • Cameo Waves1 Month trial$9.991 Month
One-time1
  • Cameo Waves$39.99

Questions

Is Honesmith Optics free?
Honesmith Optics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cameo Waves free?
Cameo Waves is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Honesmith Optics or Cameo Waves have ads?
Neither Honesmith Optics nor Cameo Waves shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Honesmith Optics or Cameo Waves?
Honesmith Optics ships an update weekly, and Cameo Waves every 4 days. Most recently, Honesmith Optics was updated on October 15, 2026 and Cameo Waves on October 9, 2026.

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