Hydra 2 › AI Camera: RAW + HDR 4+
AI-enhanced RAW/HDR pro camera
Creaceed SRL
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- Free
- Offers In-App Purchases
Screenshots
Description
Hydra is a camera app for iPhone & iPad with innovative capture technology that lets you take gorgeous and unique pictures even in challenging lighting conditions. Making use of the latest advances in artificial intelligence & image processing, Hydra’s independent computational core offers to overcome the physical limits of small sensors, with features such as over 20-stop extreme HDR, detail-enhancing denoising, macro shooting, crisp 6/8x zooming, and a whopping 110-megapixel resolution.
But there's more. Hydra now features a new highly capable manual mode for photo enthusiasts, an improved faster shooting for reduced artifacts, and the addition of a new normal capture mode for everyday photos. It also comes with a number of presets to define your own style as well as a completely new high-fidelity photo editor.
Last but not least, Hydra’s constantly evolving photo capabilities are your best asset to continue enjoying picture quality improvements after device purchase and to obtain state-of-the-art camera innovations all through its lifetime.
“The Hydra app […] is one of the more interesting iOS camera apps we have seen in the recent past.”
— Lars Rehm (DPReview)
“Hydra is for people who enjoy iPhone photography at a higher and more rewarding level.”
— David Robinson (iPhonographer)
“The user interface is particularly well made […] If Apple were to purchase this app, they wouldn't have to change anything in its design.”
— Florian Innocente (Mac Génération)
“Hydra […] is a well thought out and terrific performing photo app with solid features that will improve your images in challenging lighting conditions.”
— Mel Martin (Engadget)
KEY FEATURES
• Refined, designed-with-care camera experience for iPhone & iPad.
• Computational photography with artificial intelligence (AI). Neural processing & fusion of RAW sensor data.
• Unique capabilities that'll make your DSLR blush: extreme HDR (> 20-stop range) to accommodate lighting conditions, superior detail-enhancement and denoising for low-light & macro, up-to-6/8x zooming, and a whopping 110-megapixel resolution. New normal camera mode.
• Versatile viewfinder: approachable ergonomics, tactile input & sensory feedback (1-stop vibrations). Exposure tuning with “zebra” previewing.
• Manual mode for precise camera control: focus, ISO, shutter speed, white balance. New advanced priority modes.
• Rich capture options: Apple Watch remote, timer, flash & selfie, geotagging, grid overlay…
• Photo style presets (tonal intent, color rendition…).
• Powerful photo editor for 32-bit non-degrading edits, including tone mapping, detail boosting, precise colorimetry, and Apple ProRAW editing.
• Side-by-side pixel-level comparison with unprocessed RAW input.
• Exhaustive output options with varied file formats, including pro options for later reprocessing (JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, TIFF-32, OpenEXR, Radiance, DNG, Apple ProRAW, and next-gen JPEG XL) & color spaces (sRGB, Display P3, ROMM ProPhoto).
• Saving to Files (iCloud & 3rd-party apps) including shared folders for professional use cases.
• Integrated photo gallery.
• Lock screen and home screen widgets.
• Optimized for latest iOS, Metal, CoreML, and Apple Neural Engine (ANE) for high-speed machine learning computations on Apple Silicon.
• Privacy first: full on-device processing, privacy filter for social sharing.
PRICING
The free app offers unrestricted shooting in normal mode (auto & manual), including RAW & Apple ProRAW (compatible devices only). Other capture modes & restrictions can be unlocked either with the Pro Pack one-time purchase, or with the Pro Plan subscription. Upgrade pricing is available within the app for previous version owners.
MORE INFO
Website: https://creaceed.com/ihydra
Privacy Policy: https://creaceed.com/privacy
Terms of Use: https://creaceed.com/terms
Feedback: hydra@creaceed.com
What’s New
Version 2.4.2
Fixes a crash affecting older OS (iOS 15 / iOS 16)
Ratings and Reviews
Worse than version 1. Sliders need tweaking.
I’ve tested photos and video from both the version 1 and version 2 Hydra and can honestly say that the results from the legacy version 1 are just that same and in some cases even better than the newer Hydra. Therefore I wouldn’t pay £4.99 to upgrade. The 110mp shots from the new version look less sharp than the original Hydra at 32mp. The older version wins in macro too. I’m not sure how version 2 is any upgrade at all. It would be nice to be able to double tap on the sliders and make them reset back to zero. It’s hard to pull the sliders to zero because they’re so small. And it would be good to be able to save your HDR settings to that every picture you take is tweaked to your own personal taste. Also, I’m not clear what the difference is between the PRO (rolling monthly/yearly payments) and the full version is. Are you saying that if I were ti pay for the full version I wouldn’t get updates that I would with the pro version ??. Also needs an option to double click on the sliders to return them back to zero (default settings) in editing, because it’s fiddly to get them back to zero.
Overpriced, forced to pay for updates
This is basically the exact same app as the “legacy version”, the only difference being the larger MP count. The price of the app, while unnecessary, doesn’t offer a discount for previous app owners, overpriced and even offers a subscription!? Absolutely ridiculous and greedy to require users to buy a new app just for continued support.
The photos taken with the higher MP tend to be less detailed, darker and take longer than the old app. There’s absolutely no benefit to buying this overpriced cash grab.
Developer Response ,
Hi. Hydra 2 photo processing is completely new: it uses artificial intelligence while previously it just used regular image processing. Manual camera control is also completely new, as is the integrated 32-bit photo editor. We worked 4 years to build version 2, it is the largest project our company has delivered in the last 15y. Version 1 owners got free updates for 7y (2015-2022), and version 2 is proposed at a 50% discount off Pro Pack for v1 owners. /RS
Well thought out app
This camera app is very well designed - it’s the first one I’ve seen that actually makes the manual controls simple! I had the first version of Hydra and I’m happy to pay for this update. Well worth spending less than £6 per year to keep an app updated and support the developers. Really pleased they give you the option of annual payment to get the latest features or a one-off payment. It’s how it should be.
The app takes very good photos and resolves more detail than the apple camera app. Results let you choose saturation, contrast etc to good effect.
Overall very happy with this app
Subscriptions
In-App Purchases
App Privacy
The developer, Creaceed SRL, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary based on, for example, the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Provider
- Creaceed SRL
- Size
- 56.9 MB
- Category
- Photo & Video
- Compatibility
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- iPhone
- Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- Apple Watch
- Requires watchOS 7.0 or later.
- Languages
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English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2022 Creaceed SPRL
- Price
- Free
- In-App Purchases
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- Pro Plan (Yearly) £5.49
- Pro Plan (Monthly) £0.99
- Pro Pack (Upgrade) £7.99
- Pro Pack £15.99
Supports
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Family Sharing
Some in‑app purchases, including subscriptions, may be shareable with your family group when Family Sharing is enabled.