Blackmagic might have recently announced that the Blackmagic Camera app has finally come to Android, but they’re not ignoring iPhones. Blackmagic has just announced the release of Blackmagic Camera 2.0 for iOS.
Amongst other things, the v2.0 update brings remote control and remote monitoring features, allowing you to shoot with multiple iPhones simultaneously. The new app also adds support for Apple Silicon-powered iPad Pros, letting you multi-view all your remote cameras.
Blackmagic Camera 2.0 – Multicam monitoring and control
The big new feature with Blackmagic Camera 2.0 is remote monitoring and control of multiple iOS devices acting as cameras. This lets you set up one or several cameras pointed at a scene with the full view of all the cameras to start/stop recording and adjust settings at will.
And as Blackmagic Camera 2.0 is available for the iPad and iPad Pro, you’ll be able to monitor and control them on a larger screen. This should make life much easier for those who like to shoot video on their iPhones but also own an iPad, especially if they want to use the better rear cameras to film themselves.
It’s clearly a response to Apple’s recent announcements. The release of Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.0 and the new Final Cut Camera App for iOS introduced the world to such features on smartphones. But now, Blackmagic has come back in a big way.
With the Blackmagic Camera app, the cloud integration implemented in previous app updates, and the fact that DaVinci Resolve now also exists on the iPad, you can go for a full smartphone shooting and editing solution in a very slim and portable package.
Except… Blackmagic’s apps don’t come with a monthly subscription. Final Cut Camera and Blackmagic Camera are both free. Final Cut Pro for iPad, however, carries a monthly subscription. DaVinci Resolve for iPad does not. As with the desktop version, you can use it for free or pay a one-off fee to upgrade it to Studio with free updates.
It might seem like a subtle difference in pricing structure to some, but not being locked into yet another subscription is always a good thing.
The rest of the updates
The overall list of updates is quite small for a major version number increase. But the multicam monitoring and recording feature is certainly a big enough feature to warrant the numerical incrementation. The other features mentioned either assist that or address stability and a couple of commonly requested features.
Supports controlling multiple phones with Blackmagic Camera.
Monitor multiple phone captures remotely.
Blackmagic Camera app is now available for iPad.
HD captures are now possible at 100fps on iPhone 15 Pro.
New select all option when selecting multiple clips.
General performance and stability improvements.
As camera apps go, Blackmagic Camera has been very well received. It almost instantly knocked the venerable Filmic Pro out of contention, although Filmic Pro also kind of did that to themselves, too. It’s continued to see new features and fixes in its short life so far and it looks like it’ll continue to do so.
It will be interesting to see how the Apple vs Blackmagic thing pans out in this area, especially with Blackmagic’s recent expansion into Android devices – something Apple will obviously never do.
There’s no word yet on when Blackmagic Camera 2.0 will be coming to Android or if these features will even be coming to Android at all. And if they do, they may potentially not be interoperable between platforms – i.e., you might not be able to control Android devices with an iPad, and vice versa.
I guess time will tell. But for now, this looks like a great new update to a popular tool for iPhone shooters. You can download Blackmagic Camera 2.0 for iOS from the Apple App Store.
