Pro HDR, TrueHDR or the iPhone’s native HDR mode?

A while ago I posted some sample images from TrueHDR, a pretty decent HDR app for the iPhone. I had chosen TrueHDR based on only a very brief comparison of it with similar apps in the store. Since then, Apple have released iOS4.1, which features a special HDR mode, and I have discovered an alternative in Pro HDR.

TrueHDR 2.0 – £1.19

Possibly in response to iOS4.1, TrueHDR updated to version 2.0, with a new automatic capture mode. They also have a useful semi-auto capture mode, letting you place crosshairs on your desired exposure points, and then drag them to refine. Both of these modes are superior to the manual mode, which makes it too easy for your camera to drift between exposures.

There is also now support for the front facing camera, which could be fun.

Confusingly, TrueHDR claims to take three pictures (the feature that presumably justifies it’s name), but I’ve only ever seen it merge two images.

Pro HDR – £1.19

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I am much more satisfied with Pro HDR though. Both apps share most of the same features, but Pro HDR is a lot simpler (which is probably why I initially felt TrueHDR was the more appealing choice). It does have one important advantage over TrueHDR though – some decent post-processing options…

Being able to tweak the brightness, contrast, saturation, warmth and tint can rescue a badly captured HDR and often compensates for the iPhones poor idea of white balancing.

Pro HDR is the better choice, but not by a huge margin. It does loose some points for having an ugly icon though!

iOS4.1’s HDR mode – ‘free’

You can see plenty of examples of this elsewhere. I turned the feature on straight away, and have just recently decided to turn it back off, at least by default. There’s no doubt that it can produce nice pictures under certain conditions, but in my experience 90% of the pictures just looked more washed out. Despite the slight delay with taking each picture though, it’s easily the quickest option of the three.

Plus, I suppose, it comes ‘free’ with your very expensive iPhone.