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.
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/
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Halide Mark III | Macro Camera Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (13K ratings) — better | 4.3 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 41.1% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #146 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lux Optics Incorporated | Tedy Development |
Customer experience
Halide Mark III
Macro Camera Pro
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
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
Macro Camera Pro
- Macro Camera Pro: Lifetime$6.99
Questions
Is Halide Mark III free?
Is Macro Camera Pro free?
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Macro Camera Pro?
Do Halide Mark III or Macro Camera Pro have ads?
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Macro Camera Pro?
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