Halide Camera App Introduces 'Process Zero' to Skip Standard iPhone Image Processing

The popular Halide camera app has been updated to version 2.15 today, bringing improved user control over photo processing and a new 'Process Zero' mode that produces natural, film-like photos with zero AI and zero computational photography. This is great if you want more detail and more control over lighting and exposure.

The Process Zero feature does not replace anything. When taking a photo in Halide, you'll have the choice between Apple's standard image processing, reduced image processing, or Process Zero.

The app has also been updated with 'Image Lab,' its first editing feature. Using Image Lab, you can adjust exposure, then reprocess your raw data with Process Zero, often recovering lost detail in shadows or highlights.


More details in the full changelog provided below...



What's New In This Version:
Introducing: Process Zero, the Image Lab, and the ultimate level of control over camera processing on iPhone.

PROCESSING
When you take a photo on your iPhone, your photo is processed. The newer your iPhone is, the more processing typically happens: sometimes AI even comes in to make significant changes to your shot. People are made brighter, noise is reduced, details enhanced and 'flaws' removed.


You might love this, or you might not. That can even change for photo to photo. That made us think: why shouldn't you be able to choose your processing the way you choose a lens?

Where Halide previously allowed you to reduce processing, Halide 2.15 gives you total control: we now let you choose your image processing from the go. When you first set up Halide, or when you tap the format picker in the app, we now offer a choice:

Apple's standard image processing, reduced image processing, or something new: Process Zero.

PROCESS ZERO
Process Zero is our own process. We take raw sensor data, and do minimal processing to make a beautiful, natural and film-like shot. It's very quick (up to 20 times faster than ProRAW) it is saved along with a 12 megapixel native RAW file. You can choose it at any time by tapping the "RAW" / "HEIC" format picker icon in the Halide interface, or you can read more and select a process in the Capture settings.

After taking a few shots, using it is simple: on your iPhone, any app you open your photos in will use the Process Zero image, and any editor that supports RAW will open the RAW data for further editing. Easy!

After many releases focusing on the latest and greatest iPhones, we are proud to say that we've worked hard to customize and optimize Process Zero for all iPhones we support. Those that do not have ProRAW on their iPhones will benefit from better processing on their RAW shots right away, as well as the Image Lab.

Note: Process Zero is not made for low light photography, as it will get noisy and can get color cast. It has no HDR or AI to tweak its detail or dynamic range. Use this if you want to shoot entirely without Apple's processing — a bit like an older digital camera, for natural looking shots, or as a starting point for editing.

IMAGE LAB
When we shot with Process Zero, we found we often didn't want to edit the results much, but we did want to tweak exposure at times. Since all Process Zero shots contain the original RAW data, we decided to add our first editing feature: the Image Lab.

In the reviewer, tap the small +/- icon to open the Image Lab. Adjusting exposure here will re-process the raw data with Process Zero, letting you often recover lost detail in shadows or highlights. Saving it will keep your RAW intact and save a new Process Zero shot.

Easy, quick adjustments, ideal when you want to skip the editing or get a first pass on your shots.

MORE
There's tweaks and fixes all over, and some new secret additions to those that enjoy customizing Halide.

You can download Halide Mark II from the App Store.

Read More