Will This App Replace Your Smartphone Camera?

A decade ago, shooting on a smartphone was a novel idea. But it was never a go-to solution for filmmakers and content creators. Nowadays, we have entire features not on smartphones, and almost every gorgeous photo on social media was shot or edited on a smartphone.

I even have creator friends that shoot on Sony, offload onto Lightroom on their phone, edit the photos, and post them all within minutes.

The common smartphone has become a crucial tool in our everyday workflow. But the built-in camera app that comes with the iPhone really isn’t geared for detailed control over your camera. Moment aims to change that with the new release of the Pro Camera 5.0 app.

This week only, you can get it for $4.99!

But is it good? Should you make it part of your toolkit? Let’s find out.

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Pro Camera 5.0 by Moment

Built for iOS and iPad OS, the Pro Camera 5.0 app offers complete manual control over your smartphone camera, such as exposure, ISO, shutter speed, focus, and white balance. And this isn’t just for photography. Plenty of video controls are built-in to shoot your next short or social media content.

Other features include focus peaking that can be manually dialed in and Zebras for checking exposure. There’s also a viewfinder grid and gyroscope tools to help with composition.

HEIF and HEVC formats are even supported across both photos and videos.

For Photographers

If you’re just using the app for photography, RAW, ProRAW, and TIFF support is available. Much like a regular mirrorless camera, you can shoot in both RAW and JPG, so you can have proofs on hand without generating them later.

Shooting RAW is also available in Burst most. Just make sure you have enough space before snapping away. And for those tricky exposure shots, you can use bracketing to capture multiple exposures for one photo.

While they don’t come with the app out the gate, Timelapse mode, and Slow Shutter mode are available as in-app purchases.

For Filmmakers

This is where my interest was piqued. Lately, I’ve been shooting Cinemagraphs. This concept began as photos with moving elements in them. My take on them is to instead create them as videos in the form of cinematic shots.

To help with this, the Pro Camera 5.0 app has all the features I need to fine-tune my composition.

There are Flat and LOG color profiles so I can color grade the footage I shoot. I also have greater control over my video bitrates with Pro Camera 5.0. This comes in Standard, Medium, and High bitrate options. Standard isn’t labeled with a bitrate, but Medium will offer you 60 Mbps, and High will top out at 100 Mbps. As for video formats, creatives will have HEVC and H.264. But what about ProRes? We’ll touch on that later.

For monitoring my footage, I have a live RGB histogram, a Waveform monitor, and audio meters. The latter is a nice touch when I want to capture audio. It’s not often I use my iPhone’s audio, but on the occasion I do, having audio tools is really nice. I can set my sample rate and audio bit depth, and even use stereo or mono. There are also options to utilize Bluetooth mics, which is nice to have right in the app.

The really cool thing is that the Pro Camera 5.0 app has anamorphic squeeze built-in. If you have any of Moment’s anamorphic lenses, pairing them with the app is a no-brainer. Or if you get the app, maybe your next upgrade is getting some anamorphic adapters for your iPhone! However, you’ll only get 1.33x and 1.55x, so it will limit you to what lens adapters you can use.

Is This App For You?

Here’s where we have to talk about drawbacks.

Apple ProRes isn’t usable when using Pro Camera 5.0. This may be updated in the future, but you’ll have to use either FilMic Pro for the camera app on your smartphone. However, while FilMic Pro offers ProRes and Frame.io support, those features are locked behind a subscription model, at least according to the non-subscription version I have.

This is where Pro Camera 5.0 shines. There’s no weekly or monthly cost for using it. Unlock all the features you need, and you have the app forever. At least, that’s the plan. We all know what happened to FilMic Pro.

So is this app for you? If you’re shooting exclusively on your smartphone, this is definitely an app to keep on your shortlist if you haven’t found the right one. But if you’re looking for a switch, give the features a look and see if it’s the upgrade your need. For me, the anamorphic features are a nice touch.