Features

Everything a pro camera should be.

Real-time effects, professional monitoring, and full manual control — a studio in your pocket.

🎬

20+ real-time effects — baked into your recording.

CRT scanlines, screen curvature, shadow masks, retro pixel styles, LCD grids, VHS, NTSC composite, dithering, night vision, film grain, chromatic aberration, and more. Apply live and capture directly into your video and photos.

● CRT · LOTTES · 0.6
🎛️

VFX Profiles

Save and switch between custom effect presets instantly. Dial in your look once — recall it with a tap.

🧠

AI upscaling

Enhance low-resolution sources with sharper visuals. Three-tier engine: VT Super Resolution, MetalFX Spatial, and a Metal unsharp shader.

📊

GPU histogram & scopes

RGB, Luma, and RGB Parade histograms. Waveform, RGB waveform, and vectorscope — all Metal-accelerated, full frame rate.

🔍

Focus & exposure

Focus peaking with color and sensitivity, zebra stripes for overexposure, and false-color heat maps. The same tools your DP uses.

🎨

3D LUT preview

Real-time preview with custom .cube LUT import. Plus built-in presets — Film, Teal & Orange, Vintage, Monochrome.

🎚️

Full manual camera controls

Manual exposure, white balance, and lens adjustments. Custom resolution, frame rate, and codec settings. Plus picture profiles — contrast, saturation, color temperature.

📐

Composition guides

Aspect ratio masks (2.39:1, 2:1, 1.85:1, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16), rule of thirds, golden ratio, crosshairs, center marker, and configurable guide colors.

🖥️

iPad as a capture monitor

Connect a USB capture card to an iPad with USB-C — instantly turn it into a portable display for gaming, streaming, or filmmaking.

📺

AirPlay & HDMI out

Clean feed mode with HDMI / USB-C output — no overlays on the external display. Perfect for monitors and streaming setups.

🗂️

Media browser & screen lock

Manage photos and videos directly in the app. Lock the screen to prevent accidental touches during long recordings.

Two modes, one app

Tuned for the way you shoot.

Switch modes to reconfigure the UI, the HUD, and the performance envelope — so the camera gets out of your way.

🎮

Gaming Mode

Minimal overlay with low latency, optimized for capture cards. Perfect for consoles and retro hardware.

  • Low-latency preview
  • CRT / retro shaders
  • Clean HDMI feed
🎥

Videography Mode

Full monitoring tools including histogram, scopes, focus peaking, LUTs, composition guides, and picture adjustments.

  • RGB parade + vectorscope
  • Focus peaking + zebra
  • 3D LUT preview
PRO

Unlock the full studio.

Pro unlocks VFX effects, advanced monitoring tools, custom skins, and more. Everything you already love about CamX stays free.

Video Effects

A shader playground in your pocket.

20+ effects across 7 categories, rendered in Metal. Real-time and recorded.

📺

CRT family

Scanlines · Curved · Lottes · Aperture grille · Shadow mask · Barrel distortion · Bloom.

🟦

LCD / Retro

LCD subpixel grid · Pixel sharp · Retro classic · Retro color.

📻

Analog

NTSC composite · VHS · Digital glitch · Dithering.

🌌

Stylized

Night vision · Film grain · Chromatic aberration · Color halftone — cinematic looks applied in real time over the full capture pipeline.

Anti-aliasing & upscale

FXAA · SMAA · CAS · AI upscaling — pristine output even from modest sources.

Under the hood

Engineered without compromise.

Written in Swift with an @Observable state model, lock-free capture pipelines, and a GPU-first rendering architecture.

7
Effect Categories
20+
Real-time Effects
4K
HEVC Recording
19
Languages

// METAL

Zero-copy YCbCr→RGB via CVMetalTextureCache. Custom fragment shaders for every effect.

// COREIMAGE

CIFilter chains for picture adjustments, LUTs, and monitoring overlays.

// AVFOUNDATION

AVAssetWriter with thread-safe WriterState behind OSAllocatedUnfairLock.

// UVC

Native UVC capture on iPad with USB-C — full format, resolution, and frame rate control.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Does CamX support external USB cameras?

Yes, on iPad with USB-C. CamX supports UVC-compatible USB cameras, webcams, and HDMI capture devices on iPad running iPadOS 17 or later, with full control over format, resolution, and frame rate. iPhone does not support USB cameras.

Can I use my iPad as a portable capture monitor?

Yes. Connect a USB-C capture card to an iPad and CamX instantly turns it into a low-latency portable display — perfect for gaming, streaming, or filmmaking.

Are the video effects recorded into the file?

Yes. When VFX or picture adjustments are active, CamX bakes the effects into the recorded video and photos — not just the preview.

What iOS version is required?

CamX requires iOS 17.0 or later and runs on both iPhone and iPad. Photo capture via the volume button requires iOS 17.2+.

Your next shoot
starts now.

Free to download. Pro features unlock the full studio.