Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, known for his work shooting films like Knives Out and Star Wars: The Last Jedi with director Rian Johnson, has released a viral iPhone camera app called Chromagraph Camera. The app brings a customized image-processing formula used in film production directly to smartphones.
How the Chromagraph Camera App Works
Instead of relying on the built-in image processing of an iPhone, the app captures RAW image data and processes it using Yedlin’s specific formulas. After Rian Johnson promoted the application on social media in late October, it rapidly climbed to become the top paid download in the iOS store. The application requires a one-time payment of $13 and is currently limited to still photography, offering no video support.
Users do not see the final processed image in the viewfinder before taking a picture. The photograph develops inside the app immediately after capture, as the software takes a moment to apply its distinct processing for specific tone, color, and grain effects. Once processed, users can still modify the overall exposure or texture of an image if they wish to make adjustments.
A Curated Approach to Color
Yedlin clarified that he is not trying to replace the native iPhone camera application or create an all-inclusive professional editing tool. Instead, as he explained, it is simply a curated app that takes pictures the way he and Johnson like. Yedlin and Johnson collaborated with programmer Eric Cameron to develop the app around their specific color preferences, testing it for a couple of months prior to its public release.
Even with customized image processing, Yedlin views the iPhone as a fundamentally constrained device. He stated that the idea of achieving the level of control found in a professional camera on a smartphone is largely untrue. Software is restricted by how far it can push physical hardware while operating within Apple’s established parameters.
Amid ongoing debates about computational photography and generative AI regarding what constitutes a smartphone photo, Yedlin’s method does not seek neutrality. He views every image as an interpretation rather than a literal rendering of reality. He described the aesthetic of the Chromagraph Camera application as intentionally opinionated and specific.
