the fast & minimal camera
dedicated to raw Bayer photography
Bayer Cam is a free camera app for iPhone, that shoots exclusively in the raw Bayer format.
It is designed in the spirit of traditional manual cameras:
The viewfinder is bright and clear - it fills the entire screen width, and remains free of any distracting text or overlays.
All controls, and all information relevant to the exposure, are visible at all times — so you can quickly switch any control between auto or manual settings.
There are no endless submenus to fiddle with. Everything is designed to let you focus on the image to be captured.
There are no endless submenus to fiddle with. Everything is designed to let you focus on the image to be captured.
Fully themeable, so you can make it your own.
Low brightness themes included:
ideal for shooting in dark settings,
and not blinding people behind you at concerts.
ideal for shooting in dark settings,
and not blinding people behind you at concerts.
Every time you capture an image, a readout informs you of the filesize, as well as capture and write times.
Seeing these subtle technical details over time lets you develop an intuition for the performance & behavior of your equipment.
Seeing these subtle technical details over time lets you develop an intuition for the performance & behavior of your equipment.
Bayer Cam is free to download on the App Store
A one time purchase is required
to access advanced settings.
It unlocks everything, forever.
No ads, no tracking, no subscriptions.
Operating the Interface
All the controls are located in the area below the viewfinder.
The shutter button should feel familiar: tap it to take a picture.
The camera switcher lets you switch between your phone's native cameras, and indicates the aperture of the active lens.
Shooting RAW means you always get the full sensor - no digital zoom.
On phones with a single camera (such as the iPhone 16e), only the text label will be displayed.
Shooting RAW means you always get the full sensor - no digital zoom.
On phones with a single camera (such as the iPhone 16e), only the text label will be displayed.
To the right of the camera switcher, the focus control lets you monitor the active camera's focus point.
By default, it is set to auto-focus, and will automatically focus based on the current scene. You can also tap anywhere on the viewfinder to set a specific point of interest.
By default, it is set to auto-focus, and will automatically focus based on the current scene. You can also tap anywhere on the viewfinder to set a specific point of interest.
Tap the focus control to lock focus at its current position. Press and hold, and swipe up or down to finely adjust it.
At the bottom, to the left and right of the shutter button are controls for ISO and shutter speed.
Tap either, and drag up or down, to set the value manually. The AUTO badge will disappear, and the set value appear prominently.
If you are unfamiliar with how ISO and shutter speed affect your final photograph, see the About ISO and Shutter Speed section.
Tap either, and drag up or down, to set the value manually. The AUTO badge will disappear, and the set value appear prominently.
If you are unfamiliar with how ISO and shutter speed affect your final photograph, see the About ISO and Shutter Speed section.
Settings
Accessing these settings requires a one-time purchase. This includes access to all future updates.
You can access Bayer Cam's settings by tapping the button with the gear icon, in the top left of the controls area.
This will bring you to a scrolling list of all of the app's settings (a one-time purchase is required).
This will bring you to a scrolling list of all of the app's settings (a one-time purchase is required).
The first section is the theme picker, which lets you customize the colors used in the app's interface.
Tap the arrows to cycle through preset themes.
Tap the arrows to cycle through preset themes.
Tap any color to edit it. By default a Hue/Saturation/Lightness picker will open.
You can toggle between the HSL and Hexadecimal picker using the button above the confirm "OK" button.
The second section contains a variety of settings that let you customize the app in various ways; each of them is accompanied by a description of what it does.
The first setting lets you display a grid overlay on the viewfinder to aid with composition. Tap it to cycle through the different options.
For the following items, just tap the checkbox next to each one to enable it or disable it.
The first setting lets you display a grid overlay on the viewfinder to aid with composition. Tap it to cycle through the different options.
For the following items, just tap the checkbox next to each one to enable it or disable it.
About the RAW format
Bayer Cam shoots in a format called "raw Bayer", often shortened to "RAW". This format contains only the raw information gathered by your camera's sensor, without any processing.
Technically speaking, the raw format outputted by Bayer Cam is stored as a 12-bit DNG file.
Technically speaking, the raw format outputted by Bayer Cam is stored as a 12-bit DNG file.
RAW files will be larger in size than what you may be used to shooting in JPEG or HEIF due to the additional, uncompressed data they contain.
Additionally, RAW photos will tend to look overexposed (brighter) if you view them in your phone's Photos app.
This is expected. RAW photos contain more information than your screen can display, and you'll usually want to post-process them.
This is expected. RAW photos contain more information than your screen can display, and you'll usually want to post-process them.
About Focusing
While you can rely on autofocus for a majority of shots with your iPhone, understanding how focusing works will let you get the precise image you want in any situation.
iPhone cameras set focus through a motor that physically moves the lens slightly closer to, or farther away from, the sensor.
The percentage in the focus control represents the position of the lens relative to the sensor. At 0%, the motor positions the lens as far it is designed to from the sensor; at 100%, as close as it is designed to.
The farther the lens is from the sensor, the more close objects will be in focus (sharp) and distant objects will be out of focus (blurry).
The farther the lens is from the sensor, the more close objects will be in focus (sharp) and distant objects will be out of focus (blurry).
At 0%, the lens is at its "Minimum Focus Distance" (MFD).
If you want to take as close a picture as possible of a subject, a good technique is to set the camera's focus to MFD/0% and physically move your device closer or farther until you achieve sharp focus.
Not all cameras on your device have the same MFD. Typically, the Ultra-Wide camera has the shortest MFD, and the Telephoto the longest one.
Experiment, and see what you find out!
If you want to take as close a picture as possible of a subject, a good technique is to set the camera's focus to MFD/0% and physically move your device closer or farther until you achieve sharp focus.
Not all cameras on your device have the same MFD. Typically, the Ultra-Wide camera has the shortest MFD, and the Telephoto the longest one.
Experiment, and see what you find out!
There is a point beyond which all objects will appear sharp. This is called "infinity focus" (or "focus at infinity").
It is counter-intuitive, but 100% does not correspond to infinity focus distance. At 100%, the lens is beyond useful focus range, and the whole scene will be out of focus.
You can experiment with your device in autofocus mode to see what value is infinity focus in practice; it tends to be around 80%.
It is counter-intuitive, but 100% does not correspond to infinity focus distance. At 100%, the lens is beyond useful focus range, and the whole scene will be out of focus.
You can experiment with your device in autofocus mode to see what value is infinity focus in practice; it tends to be around 80%.
About ISO and Shutter Speed
By exposing a digital image sensor to light from the world, focused with a lens, we can form an exposure - that is, a photograph.
Using a smartphone camera, there are two fundamental variables we can control to affect the exposure: ISO, and shutter speed.
Using a smartphone camera, there are two fundamental variables we can control to affect the exposure: ISO, and shutter speed.
ISO determines how sensitive the sensor is to light. Higher values are more sensitive - a typical range is from 50 (bright, outdoor conditions where the sensor doesn't need to be as sensitive) to 1600 and above (dark, often indoors scenarios where we want the sensor to be as sensitive to light as we can get away with).
The counterpart is that higher, more sensitive ISO values will exhibit more sensor noise.
The counterpart is that higher, more sensitive ISO values will exhibit more sensor noise.
Shutter speed is the duration for which the sensor is exposed to light, in a fraction of a second.
Longer shutter speeds lead to blurrier motion.
The small vibrations of your hands will become a concern around 1/60 or 1/30 of a second and slower - for shutter speeds slower than that, you'll likely want to use a tripod.
Longer shutter speeds lead to blurrier motion.
The small vibrations of your hands will become a concern around 1/60 or 1/30 of a second and slower - for shutter speeds slower than that, you'll likely want to use a tripod.
When their dial is set to AUTO, these two parameters are determined automatically by Bayer Cam based on your scene's lighting.
Learning how to manually adjust either, or both, of these parameters is key to achieving the most precise photographic result possible.
Learning how to manually adjust either, or both, of these parameters is key to achieving the most precise photographic result possible.
When shutter speed is set manually and ISO is set to AUTO, you're in "Shutter speed priority" mode. You typically want to adjust this parameter when trying to capture motion in a specific way.
When ISO is set manually and shutter speed is set to AUTO, you're in "ISO priority" mode. You typically want to adjust this parameter when you have a clear idea of the amount of sensor noise you want in your shot (less noisy shots are often preferred, but excessive noise can also be used for aesthetic purposes).
When ISO and shutter speed are both set manually, you're in "full manual" mode.
This gives you maximum control over the exposure, but it also means you might capture underexposed (not enough light) or overexposed (too much light) images.
This gives you maximum control over the exposure, but it also means you might capture underexposed (not enough light) or overexposed (too much light) images.
Exposure Value
The last thing to understand is how ISO and shutter speed relate to the amount of light that forms a picture.
When the ISO or shutter speed is doubled — for instance from ISO 200 to ISO 400, or shutter speed of 1/30 to 1/60 — the amount of light gathered also doubles.
When the ISO or shutter speed is halved — for instance from ISO 1600 to ISO 800, or shutter speed of 1/500 to 1/250 — the amount of light gathered also halves.
This doubling or halving of light is called a stop of light, or "stop" for short.
Reasoning in stops is key to preserving proper exposures. If you know that a shot will be exposed as you want at ISO 100, 1/30th of a second, and you want to shoot it at ISO 200 instead - you'll need to set your shutter speed at 1/60th of a second.
You will often hear photographers say things like "this shot was overexposed by 2 stops". You know now what that means.
When the ISO or shutter speed is halved — for instance from ISO 1600 to ISO 800, or shutter speed of 1/500 to 1/250 — the amount of light gathered also halves.
This doubling or halving of light is called a stop of light, or "stop" for short.
Reasoning in stops is key to preserving proper exposures. If you know that a shot will be exposed as you want at ISO 100, 1/30th of a second, and you want to shoot it at ISO 200 instead - you'll need to set your shutter speed at 1/60th of a second.
You will often hear photographers say things like "this shot was overexposed by 2 stops". You know now what that means.
A Final Note About Aperture
There is actually a third variable that controls the amount of light forming a picture: the lens' aperture.
Nudging the aperture down or up one f-stop — often refered as to opening or closing the aperture — also doubles or halves the amount of light forming the picture. ISO or shutter speed need to be adjusted in consequence.
However, all iPhone cameras to this day use fixed apertures lenses, which means you do not really need to think about this value as you cannot change it.
However, all iPhone cameras to this day use fixed apertures lenses, which means you do not really need to think about this value as you cannot change it.
The aperture (f-number) of the active lens is displayed under the camera switcher, for reference.
If you've read all of this, congratulations.
You know have all the information needed to
understand and use most any camera ever made.
You know have all the information needed to
understand and use most any camera ever made.