Halide Mk3

[Jonathan Cross]

Now that Halide Mk3 is out with a fanfare, should I consider it? 

I have an iPhone 12pro and may well upgrade to an 18pro later this year.  As it is always in my pocket I often use it, but do have a mirrorless set-up and use that for projects and travel.  When travelling I just take one small body and two lenses in a small bag.  The lenses cover 24mm to 450mm.  I never use a tripod these days.

On the iPhone I use proRaw, download to a portable ssd, and then process in LR on my desktop or laptop.

I am wrestling with several questions.  Will using Halide mean bigger files? This could affect how much memory to get if I buy an 18pro.  If I then process using Halide, does it store the result separately from the original file, does it replace the original, or does it work like LR?  Is the processing choice better than what is available in LR? 

I need persuading to change my current workflow and use Halide.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jonathan

   

[Chris Kern]

Now that Halide Mk3 is out with a fanfare, should I consider it? 

Another option is Adobe's Project Indigo, an iPhone camera app which emits both a JPEG that avoids the often over-the-top (at least in my view) post-processing of Apple's bundled photography app as well as a DNG that exploits some of the native computational capabilities of the iPhone camera to compensate for the tiny sensor but is essentially a raw file (i.e., not demosaiced)—unlike Apple's ProRAW format, which is a linear DNG.

First, the DNG output by our app preserves the main benefits of raw imagery, which are that its pixels are proportional to scene brightness, i.e. they have not been tone mapped, and they have a greater dynamic range than the pixels in JPEGs, e.g. 16 bits for each of red, green, and blue, instead of 8. These differences provide more latitude during editing.

Second, . . . our DNG provides a benefit that most raw images do not - the aligning and merging of multiple frames. This gives them high dynamic range and low noise. They are also stored before demosaicking, i.e. 1 color per pixel instead of 3, so they are smaller than Apple's ProRAW files with no loss in quality.

I've been using the Adobe app since it was introduced a year ago, and am quite pleased with the results.  It has the added benefit of being free.  (At least for now.)

I've attached a sample out-of-camera JPEG that I snapped today.  The corresponding DNG apparently is too large to be ingested by the forum software, but you can download a copy here.

[Manoli]

What Chris says!
Project Indigo definitely my preferred choice.

There is also a question of personal preference. The Apple native camera app now has a much improved (aka simplified) front-end. Pi also follows the 'less-is-more' ethos. Futzing w/ camera settings in the field, IMO, detracts from the addictive simplicity of shooting w/ the iPhone.

There are 'many' who rarely use RAW having battled w/ improving Apple's HEIC output to little effect. iPhones 16 &17 also benefit from the improved customisable 'styles' further narrowing the gap.

The good news is that prior to purchase one gets a free 7-day trial, so you'll have more than enough time to research your questions and decide on whether the app is worth a lifetime fee of £59.99

As always,
YMMV.

[Rob C]

“Futzing w/ camera settings in the field, IMO, detracts from the addictive simplicity of shooting w/ the iPhone.”


Indeed, you can add that futtzing problem to downloading from iPhone to computer! Or at east, I can.

I used to try doing it via cable from cellphone to computer, but was met with all sorts of glitches which turned the process sour for me. I do not shoot lots of images at a time - perhaps up to five in a morning’s walk. My easy technique is simply to e-mail them to the computer, a system that has yet to let me down.

My original files are shot maximum size (nothing goes to the nimbus) as jpegs, and transmitted as such to the computer, where on getting a file number, they also get changed to Tiffs for Photoshop games. Works for me.

Rob

[Manoli]

Well , Rob, take solace in that your methodology, is OS independent, hardware agnostic and wii continue to work well into the foreseeable future - at least that’s one problem solved!

Guessing you haven’t upgraded your iPhone yet?  Somewhat foolishly, walked into a Leica store and held/tried the new (Android) Leica Leitzphone. If one’s not irretrievably embedded in Apple’s iOS, more than just food for thought.

Leica Leitzphone

And not to derail the thread completely, Halide doesn’t work on Android while Adobe has mentioned exploring an Android counterpart, it remains in the early development stages with no official release timeline.

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/6501476506/gear-of-the-year-dale-s-choice-adobe-project-indigo

[Rob C]

Guessing you haven’t upgraded your iPhone yet?  Somewhat foolishly, walked into a Leica store and held/tried the new (Android) Leica Leitzphone. If one’s not irretrievably embedded in Apple’s iOS, more than just food for thought.

Hi, yes, still with the old cellphone.

Regarding the Leitzphone:  the same product - minus some Leica “added values” - is the Xiaomi Ultra 17, and you can see a pretty fair evaluation of the two versions on the Samuel Streetlife youtube channel. Something that appears to make the units better than the competition is the accessory grip, which allows various camera functions that seem superior via it than the straight cellphone controls offer.

However, the grip ain’t tiny, and one could image the simplicity of packing a cellphone by itself would be compromised, taking it dangerously close to being but another camera.

It’s tempting, but I only moved to the iPhone system because my daughter could no longer receive message from my old Samsung system. Going Chinese might just screw up connections between marques yet again…

[Jonathan Cross]

Thanks for the comments.  I have Project Indigo and the free Leica app. On balance I am happy using the standard iPhone controls to take RAW, then using airdrop to transfer to my iMac and into LR.
Jonathan