Blackmagic Camera 1.3 adds audio monitoring, rack focus and more

Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera App version 1.3, the latest update to its iPhone video recording app. It offers a similar interface to Blackmagic’s own cinema cameras and many features that don’t exist in the native camera app.

The new update brings some much-requested features, including audio monitoring, racking focus and support for the 48mm lens on the iPhone 14 and 15, amongst other things.

Blackmagic Camera App – The new Gold Standard

If you’d asked me a few years ago which camera app to get for your iPhone, I would’ve suggested Filmic Pro. It was the best and pretty much the only game in town for a long time. But in 2022, they switched to a subscription model, and that was the beginning of its downfall.

Last year, the company was bought out by the Milan-based creative app studio Bending Spoons. A company that then promptly fired all of the Filmic Pro staff a few months later. Fortunately, by that point, there was another option.

Blackmagic Design announced their new Blackmagic Camera app last September at IBC 2023 in Amsterdam. It was already a very impressive app – that would’ve left Filmic Pro in the dust even if it hadn’t self-destructed – but a new update came the following month to add a lot of professional features.

The updates brought features such as Tentacle Sync support for multicam recording, HDMI video output for monitoring, and a lot more besides. They’ve also provided a bunch of fixes and workflow updates to make your iPhone video-shooting life easier.

Now, 1.3 adds more!

What’s new in 1.3?

The list of changes here isn’t quite as long as it was with the first update last October, but the changes are significant. Here’s the complete list of changes, as per the latest update in the App Store:

• Support for audio monitoring on connected earphones.
• Support for rack focus controls in the camera.
• Support for 48mm lens on iPhone 14 Pro and 15 Pro.
• Smoother animations when switching between landscape and portrait.
• Faster project listing in media tab.
• Reduced latency for HDMI video feeds.
• Name, reel, scene and take now display over HDMI during recording.
• General performance and stability improvements.

I’m surprised it took so long for audio monitoring to come to earphones, but it’ll be a nice addition. Monitoring your audio while recording is essential to ensuring you’ve captured what you think you have. iPhone 14 and 15 users will also welcome the ability to access their telephoto cameras.

Price and Availability

Blackmagic Camera 1.3 is completely free and available to download now from the Apple App Store. There’s still no news on when or if we might ever see an Android version.

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