Camera M Manual
Exposure Screen
Current iOS cameras contain fixed apertures; therefore, the exposure triangle reduces down to just two factors: ISO and exposure duration. Camera M ISO and Exposure Duration Screen is the single location to have granular control over both those values.
This screen is accessible through ISO and the exposure duration button on the Exposure Screen. Tapping on the Exposure button on the Control Center closes this screen.
Overview
This screen is unique due to split-screen controls. The left half of the screen controls ISO and right half controls exposure duration. The use of both hands controlling both sides at the same time is also possible for ultimate exposure control.
iOS Exposure Modes
iOS camera hardware has four main exposure modes:
Auto exposure continuous
Auto exposure
Custom exposure (ISO and exposure duration set explicitly)
Locked exposure
By default, when first launched, Camera M is in auto exposure continuous mode. Depending on the scene changes, camera hardware continuously adjusts exposure.
In addition to system exposure modes, within Custom exposure mode, Camera M offers two priority modes.
ISO Priority Mode
Camera M automatically adjusts exposure duration according to ISO changes being made by the user. This mode does not monitor exposure continuously.
To activate this mode, start adjusting ISO when exposure mode is in auto.
In this mode:
ISO is locked and ISO gauge is in orange color.
Exposure duration is in semi-auto mode and Exposure duration gauge is in white color.
Exposure duration lock button is indicated by an open lock.
Exposure Duration Priority Mode
Camera M automatically adjusts ISO according to exposure duration changes being made by the user. This mode does not monitor exposure continuously.
To activate this mode, start adjusting exposure duration when exposure mode is in auto.
In this mode:
Exposure duration is locked and Exposure duration gauge is in orange color.
ISO is in semi-auto mode and ISO gauge is in white color.
ISO lock button is indicated by an open lock.
Exposure Offset Gauge
Just as on Exposure Screen, this guage informs the difference between the metered exposure level of the current scene and the target exposure value. This gauge varies from -6EV to +6EV and active during auto exposure mode and custom exposure mode where ISO and exposure duration values are set explicitly.
Tap-to-Expose
Simply tap inside camera preview area to choose a specific exposure point. The system uses spot metering method using auto exposure mode to calculate the exposure for that specific point. Overlay for this point is illustrated by a simple circle to indicate that only the exposure point (not the focus point) is set.
ISO and Exposure Duration Adjustment
This split-screen presentation allows ISO controls on the left half of the screen and exposure duration on the right half of the screen.
ISO Adjustment
Touch on the left half of the camera preview area and drag up or down to adjust ISO. ISO gauge indicates the ISO applied. Gauge becomes orange in color when ISO is locked.
Swipe or flick up or down to use intertia to move ISO in bigger strides.
If Magic Trackpad is used on iPad, swipe up or down on the left half of the camera preview area using two fingers.
If exposure duration is in semi-auto mode, exposure duration will change accordingly to keep the same exposure offset prior to ISO adjustment.
This also resets the exposure point, if set.
Exposure Duration Adjustment
Touch on the right half of the camera preview area and drag up or down to adjust exposure duration. Exposure duration gauge indicates the exposure duration applied in seconds. Gauge becomes orange in color when exposure duration is locked.
Swipe or flick up or down to use intertia to move exposure duration in bigger strides.
If Magic Trackpad is used on iPad, swipe up or down on the right half of the camera preview area using two fingers.
If ISO is in semi-auto mode, ISO will change accordingly to keep the same exposure offset prior to exposure duration adjustment.
This also resets the exposure point, if set.
Adjusting both ISO and exposure duration at the same time with both hands is also possible. This allows for a better understanding of how changes to ISO and exposure duration affect the overall exposure.
ISO and Exposure Duration Reset
There are couple of ways to reset ISO and exposure duration or overall exposure mode back to auto.
ISO Reset
Touch and hold on the left half of the camera preview area.
Tap on ISO lock/auto button.
Exposure Duration Reset
Touch and hold on the right half of the camera preview area.
Tap on Exposure duration lock/auto button.
Exposure Reset (Reset All)
It is possible to reset both ISO and exposure duration back to auto while resetting the exposure point, if set, with one simple action. There are several ways to do it.
Tap on All auto/lock button.
Touch and hold on Focus button on Control Center.
If a keyboard is used on iPad, press command + R.
Highlight and Shadow Alerts
Highlight and shadow alerts function becomes visible if it has been enabled from Exposure Screen.
Among many comprehensive tools to aid exposure adjustment, highlight and shadow alert function displays a live overlay of overexposed and underexposed areas. Just tap on Highlight and shadow alert button and the live overlay will begin.
Overexposed areas (255 luminance pixels) are displayed in red color.
Underexposed areas (0 luminance pixels) are displayed in blue color.
Adjust exposure accordingly to have the least amount of red and blue visible.
Not available in Depth mode or when histogram display is on. For maximum energy savings, avoid using this feature for an extended period.
Histograms
Histogram becomes visible if it has been enabled from Exposure Screen.
The histogram is a graph showing the distribution of each primary color's brightness level in the image.
Camera M contains beautiful, two types of live histograms to aid exposure adjustment - when visible, tap inside the histogram area to toggle between different histograms.
For maximum energy savings, avoid using histogram feature for an extended period.