Get More Out of Your iPhone Pictures with Process Zero

The latest Halide update lets you work with the RAW data only

Left: Processed iPhone shot with Halide app. Right: Processed iPhone shot with Camera app.

When you look at the side-by-side images above, they look very similar at first. The left one was captured in Process Zero mode using the camera app Halide. The one on the right was captured as an HEIF file with the Apple Camera App.

Process Zero is a new capture mode in Halide that skips over standard iPhone image processing. It produces photos with more detail and allows the photographer greater control over lighting and exposure. This is not a photo filter— it really develops photos at the raw, sensor-data level. No computational photography is enabled.

This tool allows the photographer to adjust the image with all of the benefits of RAW, and in any direction he or she wants.

In my case, I used the Photo Extension (for macOS Photos) RAW Power to adjust the capture from the Halide app. This workflow provided all the iClould benefits of any iPhone shot, but the muscle of a robust, non-destructive RAW editor.

If you’re not used to shooting RAW, however, you might be shocked at the initial previews from the Process Zero captures.

Original capture, unedited, with Halide and Process Zero.

Processed image using the RAW Power Editing Extension in Photos for macOS.

When we shoot with our iPhone, we’re used to Apple’s secret sauce applied to our pictures making them look immediately postcard-worthy. Nothing wrong with this. But there may be situations when you want a different look, and want to apply the same RAW-processing tools that we enjoy with images from our mirrorless cameras. That’s where Process Zero shines. But, as you see above, you have to edit the picture to get the look you want.

Now, let’s take a look at the HEIF version from the Apple Camera app.

Original picture, unedited, from Apple’s Camera app.

HEIF from Camera app edited in Photos for macOS.

The original shot with the Camera app looks very good. Apple is working its computational photography magic rendering your first look as postcard quality. You can further enhance the picture using Photos to make it look even better.

The Bottom Line

For those situations when you want to capture a scene and edit it to your particular tastes, and you have an iPhone instead of a mirrorless camera, the Halide app with Process Zero provides a lot of image flexibility.

You can read all about it here, including cavets about low light performance. Halide is available in the iOS App Store. They offer a 1-week free trial, then $11.99 annual subscription there after.

I paid the 12 bucks.