What are the best camera apps for iPhone in 2022? Keep reading to find out in our annual review of the best iPhone camera apps!
iPhones and iPads already have super powerful built-in cameras. But with just one additional app installed, you can unlock SO many more advanced functionalities and features that allow you to create higher quality videos.
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iPhone camera apps allow you to utilize DSLR-like settings, pro-grade manual controls & higher quality bitrates than your regular built-in iPhone camera.
With the right camera app, you’ll be able to achieve much better results!
A few of the leading options include MACIS, 4K HDR Video Recorder, FiLMiC Pro, Focos Live, ProMovie Recorder, Pro Camera by Moment, ProCam 8, Protake and MoviePro – just to name a few.
In this 2022 roundup, we’ve narrowed our shortlist down to just two iPhone camera apps plus one bonus app! Our top recommended options are:
At the end of this review we’ll share the best camera app for iPhone right now in 2022.
Let’s get started.
Pro Camera by Moment
This app has come a long way in terms of functionality, user interface and overall usability. Also known as the Moment Camera App, it packs in a ton of features, heaps of controls and it’s actually pretty fun to film with!
Pro Camera is one of the best camera apps for iPhone in our 2022 roundup
One thing we love is that all the main tools are accessible on the main interface without needing to dive into menus and settings to find what you need.
Plus, when you rotate between portrait and landscape, the entire interface doesn’t change. There are only a couple of elements that quickly rotate. This is awesome because you don’t have to worry about loading times or re-locating tools.
This iOS only camera app is perfect for filming with iPhone or iPad
The entire app is really simple, straight forward and well laid out. It’s super easy to find the settings that you’re after. You can easily change the video recording format, bitrate and the video & audio settings.
It’s also easy to lock down the shutter speed, ISO and white belt. You can switch between different resolutions and frame rates in just one or two seconds. There are even three different color profiles you can choose from: default, flat picture profile and log profile.
Pro Camera has a super intuitive interface, making it a top contender for best selfie camera app
Pro Camera has hardware support for the DJI Osmo mobile. So if you’re going to be using the app with a gimbal, you’ll have full functionality of the device as well.
It has a huge range of support for different types of lenses: wide angle, anamorphic, fisheye, etc. While it is specifically designed to work with the Moment range of lenses, all the settings can be applied with pretty much any third-party lenses.
Possibly the best thing about this app is how fast it is to use. You can switch between different settings based on your presets incredibly quickly.
The presets feature helps you shoot videos on iPhone really quickly and fluidly
So if you have a preset for shooting portrait videos at 1080P 30FPS and then you want to change over to slow motion, you can have presets for all of those settings.
While a lot of apps have presets configured, Pro Camera is by far the best in this category. It’s the fastest to switch between them, making the whole video shooting experience so much better.
Pro Camera Pricing
The app itself is currently selling for $6.99.
The paid upgrades give you access to even more advanced features
If you want to unlock the extra features, there’s a bundle for purchase inside the app for $4.99. There’s also an in-app purchase to unlock slow shutter and time-lapse mode for an additional $4.99.
Now, let’s check out the next contender for best camera app for iPhone.
FiLMiC Pro
We’ve been big fans of this one for a very long time! It’s an amazing app. It also packs in a ton more advanced features than Pro Camera.
FiLMiC Pro once again makes it into our roundup of the best iPhone camera apps
FiLMiC Pro has a really easy to use interface. It’s probably not as intuitive as Pro Camera but that’s not surprising given how many extra features it has packed in. So you will need to dive into menus to find and unlock a lot of these things.
You can easily lock down your focus point and exposure on the main screen just by dragging the square and circle on-screen.
But if you do want to dive in deeper and get more manual control over these, all you need to do is open up their control wheels. This is where you can get really granular and dial everything in.
This camera app gives you a ton of control over your iPhone filming
You also have quick access to things like:
- Focus peaking
- Zebra lines
- Graphic overlays
There are heaps of crop overlay options that you can apply to your videos. This can be either just as a display so you can see what your video looks like in different formats while recording. Or you can set FiLMiC Pro to actually crop your videos to that size.
Another awesome features is that you can easily switch between video formats
Just like with Pro Camera, there is the preset functionality where you can save different presets for different types of settings. But FiLMiC Pro’s workflow doesn’t seem as fast or fluid as Pro Camera’s at this point.
This app also supports DJI Osmo Mobile gimbals as well as other gimbals and hardware intergrations for lenses and anamorphic lenses.
For higher quality video recording or even to use this as a high quality webcam for your computer, there’s support for clean HTMI out as well.
FiLMiC Pro supports a bunch of different hardware that will help level up your videos even more
While Pro Camera had three different color profiles, FiLMiC Pro gives you far more control over the look and feel of your image. It’s still offering a neutral, flat and log profile but also the ability to customize them even further.
This is part of an in-app purchase called the Cinematographer Kit. So you will need that kit to unlock some of the more advanced features.
The Cinematographer Kit unlocks even more cool iPhone camera tricks and features
To take your FiLMiC Pro experience even further, there are some additional apps by the same company:
- DoubleTake: Lets you record using multiple cameras at once e.g. record with your wide angle lens and telephoto lens at the same time
- FiLMiC Remote: Allows you to remotely monitor and control your FiLMiC Pro main device from a second Android or iOS device
There are so many more settings & features in here that we’re not going to cover in this guide. We do have a full walkthrough of FiLMiC Pro if you’re interested in learning more.
DoubleTake allows you to film on multiple cameras at once (even your front & back camera!)
Overall, this has been our go-to filming app for a long time – it’s definitely one of our favorites.
FiLMiC Pro Pricing
The app is currently selling for $14.99.
If you want to unlock extra features with the Cinematographer Kit, you can purchase it from the FiLMiC Room for $13.99. The FiLMiC Remote is an additional $9.99.
Even though this is a bit more expensive than other options, we think it’s worth it the price
There are also bundle packs available if you want to group certain products together.
Now, as promised – let’s check out the bonus option!
Focos Live
We wanted to include this as an honorable mention. Focos Live doesn’t pack in anywhere near as many features as the previous apps… But it does have one super powerful feature.
Focos Live is a great iPhone camera app for capturing that portrait video effect
If you want to create that blurry background/portrait video effect but you don’t have the latest iPhone – this app is perfect for you.
It lets you create videos using the front and rear cameras in that portrait video mode while still giving a ton of control over the look of the background.
We’ve used this a lot for creating things like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. It works really well and gives an awesome effect.
This gives you DSLR camera settings without having to upgrade devices
Overall, this is a great option if you want to create that particular effect. But beyond the blur functionality, the first two apps will give you more features and controls.
Focos Live Pricing
There is a free version available so you can jump in and try it out. But if you want to unlock the highest resolution exports, you’ll need to get on one of the paid options:
- Monthly subscription: $1.99
- Annual subscription: $8.99
- One-time fee: $14.99
If you’re looking for the best free camera app for iPhone, you could try the Focos Live lite version
Now you’re probably wondering – which one is the best camera app for iPhone?
So, What’s The Best iPhone Camera App?
If we had to pick an overall winner, it would hands down be FiLMiC Pro. It allows you to unlock the full potential and highest quality of your iOS device.
It’s such a great mix of pro level features and advanced controls with an intuitive, easy to use interface.
Out of all the DSLR camera apps, FiLMiC Pro is still the best camera app for iPhone in 2022
But if you want that blurry background effect, Focos Live is a great option to help you achieve that.
All of these options are awesome camera apps for YouTube videos (or any type of video!). So make sure you test them out and find the one that’s right for you.
If you’d like to see our top recommendations for best camera apps on Android, you can check them out here.
For more iPhone filming tips and tricks, download our free 12 Step Guide To Filming on iPhone. With the help of this PDF guide and the right camera app, you’ll be filming videos like a pro in no time!
Links
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Best Camera Apps for iPhone:
- Pro Camera by Moment
- FiLMiC Pro (iOS)
- Focos Live
Recommended Gear & Resources
Check out an up-to-date list of all the gear, software & tools we use and recommend right now at Primal Video on our resources page here!
