Comparison

Halide Mark III vs Macro Camera Pro

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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/

About

Macro Camera Pro

Gain precise control over your iPhone's camera for stunning close-up photography. Manually adjust focus, lock lenses, and fine-tune exposure for professional-quality macro shots. Features like focus peaking and a variable torch help illuminate and capture intricate details.

Highlights
  • Manual focus slider with haptic feedback
  • Lens lock for Ultra-Wide macro lens
  • Real-time focus peaking
  • Manual exposure control (ISO, shutter speed)
  • Dimmable variable torch
  • Focus stacking for increased depth of field
Features
Read full description

The native camera decides where to focus. This one lets you decide. Macro Camera Pro gives you manual control over focus, lens and exposure — on every iPhone. —— WHY THE NATIVE CAMERA FAILS AT MACRO Get close to a tiny subject and the native camera hunts focus back and forth, jumps between lenses without warning, and resets the moment you move. You fight the automation instead of shooting. Macro Camera Pro eliminates all three problems. —— MANUAL FOCUS SLIDER A large vertical slider lets you dial in focus with millimeter precision. Haptic feedback gives you a physical tick for every adjustment — it feels like turning a real lens ring. No more tap-to-focus guessing. LENS LOCK Lock the lens you want and the app stays on it. No automatic switching, ever. Your composition stays intact. FOCUS PEAKING Real-time edge highlights show you exactly what is in focus before you shoot. See the sharp plane at a glance. Adjust. Shoot with confidence. MANUAL EXPOSURE Full control over ISO and shutter speed. Lock exposure independently from focus. Switch between Auto, AE Lock, and Manual in one tap. VARIABLE TORCH A dimmable LED fill light illuminates your subject without the harshness of flash. Reveal textures and details invisible in ambient light. HARDWARE SHUTTER Use your iPhone volume button to trigger the shutter — less hand movement means sharper macro shots. FOCUS STACK Capture several frames at different focus points and merge them into one image with more of your subject sharp. Works best on still subjects with a steady hand — the more depth your subject has, the bigger the difference. —— WILL IT WORK ON MY IPHONE? Yes. Manual focus, lens lock, focus peaking, focus stacking, the torch and GPS tagging work on every iPhone that runs iOS 18. Focusing all the way down to 2 cm needs an Ultra Wide camera with autofocus. Every Pro model since iPhone 13 Pro has one, and so does every standard model from iPhone 16 onward. The e-series and iPhone Air have a single camera and no Ultra Wide at all. On every other iPhone the main camera focuses to roughly 20 cm — and clip-on macro lenses work beautifully, because a clip-on lens defeats autofocus entirely and manual focus is the only way to use one properly. Not sure which one you have? The app measures your iPhone's closest focus distance and shows it on first launch, and the 5-day trial costs nothing. CAPTURE Full-resolution JPEG or HEIF, multiple aspect ratios, and adjustable focus peaking strength (Light, Medium, Bold). —— HONEST PRICING 5-day free trial — full Pro access, no credit card required. One-time unlock — pay once, own it forever. No subscription. No hidden fees. —— PRIVACY FIRST No account. No tracking. No analytics. Photos stay on your device. Works fully offline.

Screenshots

Halide Mark III4 screens
Macro Camera Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

Halide Mark III and Macro Camera Pro both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 41% of Halide Mark III's written reviews are positive against 0% of Macro Camera Pro's. Halide Mark III also leads on ratings volume (13K vs 3) and chart position (#146 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Halide Mark III sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Macro Camera Pro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Halide Mark III against 4.3 for Macro Camera Pro. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Halide Mark III has 13K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 41% of Halide Mark III's written reviews are positive against 0% of Macro Camera Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, Macro Camera Pro every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Halide Mark III versus Macro Camera Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalide Mark IIIMacro Camera Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (13K ratings) — better4.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews41.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#146 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedTedy Development

Customer experience

Halide Mark III

All ratings13,365 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews864 reviews
Positive41.1%
Neutral8.0%
Negative50.9%

Macro Camera Pro

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Macro Camera Pro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Halide Mark III

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons$9.991 Month
  • Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • One Time Purchase$69.99
1 purchases

Macro Camera Pro

One-time1
  • Macro Camera Pro: Lifetime$6.99

Questions

Is Halide Mark III free?
Halide Mark III is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Macro Camera Pro free?
Macro Camera Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Macro Camera Pro?
Halide Mark III is rated higher. Halide Mark III averages 4.4 out of 5 from 13K ratings, while Macro Camera Pro averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Halide Mark III or Macro Camera Pro have ads?
Neither Halide Mark III nor Macro Camera Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Macro Camera Pro?
Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, and Macro Camera Pro every 2 weeks. Most recently, Halide Mark III was updated on September 29, 2026 and Macro Camera Pro on September 20, 2026.

Other comparisons