Halide Mark III vs Hipstamatic® Analog Camera
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Halide Mark III
This professional camera app offers advanced manual controls and powerful tools for deliberate photography. Capture stunning RAW images, utilize Neural Macro for close-ups on any iPhone, and access features like focus peaking and histograms. Learn photography with included lessons and customize your shooting experience.
- Manual exposure and focus controls
- Neural Macro for close-up shots
- 14-bit RAW and ProRAW capture
- Exposure tools: histograms, waveform, zebras
- Focus peaking and loupe
- Gesture-based interface
- Included photography lessons
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Halide unleashes your iPhone’s camera. Disable iPhone processing for natural photos, apply powerful film situations, access manual controls, and more. Halide has over 24,000 5-star ratings and is an App Store Editors’ Choice and Apple Design Award winner. Halide’s Looks are built into the camera itself, changing how your photo is captured and processed - not just a color filter applied after the fact. These are the best photos you can get out of an iPhone. Start with Process Zero for natural, film-like results, without any AI or computational photography. Explore our rich set of creative Looks developed with Hollywood colorist Cullen Kelly, and powered by sophisticated film simulation. For nine years, Halide has set the standard for professional iPhone camera control. Nail your manual focus with Focus Peaking and the Focus Loupe. Compose your shots with intention using sophisticated framing guides, from a basic grid and rule of thirds, to the golden ratio and rabatment of the rectangle. Get perfect macro shots with Halide's dedicated Macro Mode. Hate editing? Halide gives you amazing results straight out of the camera. But when you need to fine-tune, Photo Lab makes it fast and intuitive. Try dramatically different Looks, adjust framing and exposure, experiment with film simulation, or rescue details in highlights and shadows with Tone Fusion. You can even import and load RAWs from other apps, such as Apple’s own camera app, or standalone cameras by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Leica, Fujifilm, and Hasselblad. Specific formats are listed below. *Halide is a paid app. Try it free for 7 days with an annual membership, or buy it outright with a one-time purchase — no subscription required.* Features: - Shoot without Apple’s computational photography for stronger contrast and more natural results. - Photographic Looks developed in collaboration with esteemed Hollywood colorist Cullen Kelly. - Rescue details in shadows and highlights with a Tone Fusion slider inspired by darkroom dodging and burning. - Try any Look on existing ProRAW files - including photos shot in Apple’s camera app. - Become a better photographer by signing up for our 10-day tutorial directly from the app. - Full manual exposure controls including shutter speed, ISO and white balance. - Technical Readout to view all details of your iPhone camera hardware. - Also runs on iPad, for an amazing Photo Lab experience. RAW File Support: - DNG (iPhone, Leica) - CR2 (Canon) - CR3 (Canon) - NEF (Nikon) - RAF (Fujifilm) - ARW (Sony) - FFF (Hasselblad) Terms of Use can be found here: https://halide.cam/terms Privacy: https://www.lux.camera/privacy/
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera
This app simulates shooting with a vintage analog film camera, applying effects like lenses and films before you take the photo. Explore over a thousand unique analog combinations and connect with a community of photographers without algorithms or ads.
- Analog film camera simulation
- Pre-shoot effect application
- 1000+ lens and film combinations
- Chronological community feed
- No ads or algorithms
- Photo challenges and stamps
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Your iPhone takes perfect photos. Hipstamatic® doesn't. That's the point. Hipstamatic is not a photo editor. It's a camera... the original analog film camera for iPhone, made since 2009. —— SHOOT FIRST. EDIT NEVER. Pick a lens. Pick a film. Shoot. Hipstamatic® applies the analog look before you press the shutter — exactly the way a real film camera works. No editing. No tweaking. No second-guessing. The photo is finished the moment you take it. —— 200+ LENSES. 200+ FILMS. EVERY ONE A REAL CAMERA. Over 1,000 analog combinations across TinType, Instant, Classic Toy and more. Each one gives you grain, color shifts, light leaks and vignettes you can't fake and can't replicate anywhere else. None of them perfect. All of them honest. Don't want to choose? Shuffle, and let the camera surprise you. —— NO ADS. NO TRACKING. NO ALGORITHM. EVER. Hipstamatic® runs on members, not advertisers. No VC funding. No data harvesting. No feed deciding what you should look at. When you join, you're keeping an independent camera alive… One that's been here since before Instagram existed. —— A SMALL, QUIET ROOM. If you want it, there's a community of people who shoot the way you do. Chronological. No algorithm. No brand accounts. No promoted posts. No follower math. Just photographs people actually meant to make. And it's opt-in — if you only ever want a private camera, that's the whole app too. —— FREE TO START. MORE LOOKS WITH MEMBERSHIP. The camera is free. Join the Hipstamatic® Camera Club to open the whole shelf. Every lens, every film, every camera we've made in 15+ years and go as deep as you want to go. Your first month is on us. —— P.S. Hipstamatic was Apple's very first App of the Year (2010). We just never stopped pointing the camera at something.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Halide Mark III at every 11 days against Hipstamatic® Analog Camera's monthly. Halide Mark III also leads on chart position (#171 vs unranked) and ratings volume (14K vs 2.8K). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Halide Mark III sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Hipstamatic® Analog Camera sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 2.8K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 41% of Halide Mark III's written reviews are positive against 39% of Hipstamatic® Analog Camera's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, Hipstamatic® Analog Camera monthly. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.
| Parameter | Halide Mark III | Hipstamatic® Analog Camera |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (14K ratings) | 4.6 (2.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.3% of reviews — better | 39.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14K — better | 2.8K |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #171 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 87 MB | 184 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Lux Optics Incorporated | Hipstamatic, LLC |
Customer experience
Halide Mark III
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera
User reviews
Halide Mark III
From 14K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful manual controls
- 👍 Intuitive and clean interface
- 🔍 Excellent RAW capture and editing
- 📷 Macro and depth features
- 🎨 Great image quality and color
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Depth/portrait mode limitations
- 🕰️ Slow performance on older devices
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🔒 Lack of free trial or demo
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple and intuitive interface
- 👍 Variety of creative filters and effects
- 💡 Ability to create custom camera presets
- 🤩 Fun and engaging community features
Room to improve
- 🔒 Locked features behind paywall
- 😞 Loss of previous purchases and customizations
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 💸 Expensive subscription model
Bugs and requests
Halide Mark III
Reported bugs
3 issues- Photos not saving properly
- Zoom functionality issues
- Landscape mode UI problems
Requested features
5 requests- Shutter speed adjustment
- Live depth/bokeh preview
- Custom white balance
- Time-lapse and video recording
- Ability to save settings/presets
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inability to save custom camera presets
- Inconsistent behavior when editing photos
- Syncing issues with photo library and cloud storage
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to import photos from camera roll
- Option to change aspect ratio beyond square format
- Restore previous purchases and customizations
- Improved search and organization for lenses/films
In-app purchases
Halide Mark III
- Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons$9.991 Month
- Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- One Time Purchase$69.99
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera
- Hipstamatic Camera Club$7.991 Month
- Hipstamatic Camera Club3 Months trial$19.996 Months
- Hipstamatic Camera Club1 Month trial$29.991 Year
Questions
Is Halide Mark III free?
Is Hipstamatic® Analog Camera free?
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Hipstamatic® Analog Camera?
Do Halide Mark III or Hipstamatic® Analog Camera have ads?
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Hipstamatic® Analog Camera?
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