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Halide 3.2 hands iPhone 18 Pro shooters the aperture and ISO control Apple's Camera app holds back
Halide 3.2 lets iPhone 18 Pro owners pick any f-stop from f/1.48 to f/4.0 and set ISO by hand, past the limits of Apple's Camera app. Manual ISO is the stronger reason to pay, since The Verge doubts shooters will notice its finest f-stop steps.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- Blackmagic Camera and Moment Pro Camera II already expand Apple's four aperture presets to 10, in third-stop increments like most digital cameras, The Verge reports.
- Halide 3.2 is on the App Store for $69.99 as a one-time purchase or $19.99 for an annual subscription.
- The update also adds two film looks, Dawn and Quicksilver, and a 16:9 shooting mode for wider framing.
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Why it matters
- constraint Any workflow that needs ISO fixed by hand now means rolling out and supporting a paid third-party app on every iPhone 18 Pro in the fleet.
- cost The one-time license costs the same as three and a half years of subscription, so the subscription only wins for buyers planning a shorter stay.
- precedent Halide weighing presets on user feedback points the category back toward the third-stop steps Blackmagic and Moment already ship.
An iPhone 18 Pro owner steps through the aperture in Apple's Camera app and gets four settings between f/1.48 and f/4.0 [1][2]. That span is about 2.9 exposure stops of light [1]. MacRumors calls the stock control "four-stop" and The Verge counts four presets, so both describe four positions along a range a little under three stops wide [1][2].
Lux Optics sells Halide 3.2 on a continuous dial that reaches any f-stop from f/1.48 down to f/4.0 [12][3]. It is not the first third-party app to support the new aperture [6]. The ten third-stop presets in Blackmagic Camera and Moment Pro Camera II make nine steps of a third of a stop each, or 3 stops [7][3]. That is roughly the lens's whole span [1]. Halide fills in the values between those steps, and The Verge wrote: "Although it's hard to imagine you'll see any noticeable difference between f/4.0 and f/3.99, the option is available." [8]
The product case for a continuous dial is that serious shooters want every value. What users told Halide points the other way. Its developers say they are considering f-stop presets in future updates, based on user feedback [9].
ISO is a harder limit. According to MacRumors, Apple's Camera app does not offer manual ISO control, while Halide's Manual mode gives the shooter aperture, shutter speed and ISO together [5]. The Verge's account of Blackmagic and Moment covers their aperture presets and does not address ISO [7].
Halide 3.2 is for the shooter who wants to set ISO. In my view the continuous dial is a bonus. For a team choosing what to install on Monday, two tests settle it, in order. The first is whether any shooter needs ISO held by hand. If so, Halide's Manual mode is the documented option, and it is a paid app [5][11]. If not, the second test is whether four aperture positions are enough. Shooters content with four can stay in Apple's app. It already reaches both ends of the range, so there is nothing to deploy [1]. Shooters who want camera-style steps can get about 3 stops of third-stop presets from Blackmagic Camera or Moment Pro Camera II [7][3].
What to watch
- Whether Halide ships the f-stop presets it is weighing, and whether they use the third-stop spacing Blackmagic and Moment already offer.
- Whether Apple adds manual ISO or more aperture positions to its own Camera app on the iPhone 18 Pro.
- Whether Blackmagic Camera or Moment Pro Camera II document manual ISO on the iPhone 18 Pro; that would give ISO-dependent teams a second option.