Manual for iOS enables you to capture RAW (in DNG) photos and gives you manual control over your picture's shutter, ISO, white balance, focus, and exposure compensation.

Pros

Great customizations: Manual for iOS enables you to fine-tune your shooting settings in myriad ways that you just can't with your iPhone's native photography app. Apple's Camera only allows you control over flash, HDR, filter, and ratio settings.

Feature rich: You can make so many shot tweaks with this app, starting with ISO, white balance, shutter speed, exposure, and focus.

Focus box: One of our favorite features is the focus box, which pops out once you find your focal point. The focus box lets you see the focus level more clearly before you establish the rest of your shot, which will blur in contrast.

Great for tricky shots: If you know that you'll be shooting by moonlight or in the bright sun, for example, and you know (or can discover) the ideal aperture, ISO, and shutter speed for those lighting conditions, you can manually set these levels in the app before taking your photo.

Easy to navigate: Most of Manual's main customizations are on the same page, so you don't have to search for them when you're trying to get that perfect shot.

Displays useful metadata: After you take your photo, click its thumbnail on the bottom right to pull it up. Then tap the Info button to see lots of interesting metadata about your photo, including aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. Manual will even display metadata for pictures not taken with the app.

Cons

Not for beginners: Manual enables you to tweak settings that only more experienced photographers even know about. So if you don't know what ISO means, then this probably isn't the app for you. Also, Manual's Web FAQ is not very helpful.

Bottom Line

Manual gives you greater control over your photos. But if you're a novice photographer, you're probably better off shooting with your stock camera app.

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