There’s a brand-new RitchieCam update that I’m really excited to share! If your phone didn’t automatically update the App, be sure to do so now!

Probably the biggest headline is that RitchieCam can now take full-resolution 48MP images! If you have a Pro or Pro Max version of an iPhone 14 or 15 (with a 48mp 1x camera), it’s now possible to capture a richly-detailed high-res picture. In order to do this (for those with a compatible device), select the Gear icon, then tap 48MP Capture to enable. By default, 48MP is disabled. When enabled, RitchieCam will save a 48MP JPEG or HEIC (depending on which format you have selected), plus a 48MP RAW file if that is also selected.

While this new option is definitely wonderful, there are some important considerations that must be mentioned. First, 48MP full-res slows down the camera significantly, and especially if you are also saving a RAW file. If you need to be quick, 48MP should probably be disabled. Second, the image is not pixel-binned, which means that dynamic range will be impacted, and high-ISO pictures won’t look as good. If the scene is particularly contrasty and you are concerned about highlight and shadow details, or if it is a dimly lit, you probably want to take advantage of pixel-binning, and get a standard 12MP image instead. Third, 48MP takes up a lot of storage space on your device, so you might want to use 48MP sparingly and thoughtfully.

One example where 48MP makes a lot of sense is when you are shooting in the 65:24 XPan aspect ratio, which cuts out half of the resolution. Cropping out half of 12MP is a bit crippling. It’s plenty of resolution for internet viewing, but prints are limited to 6″x12″, or perhaps 9″x18″ if you’ve got a clean, sharp picture that won’t be viewed too closely (but that’s definitely pushing it). Now, with 48MP, you have a ton of fine details, and can print 18″x36″ if you want. I think the XPan aspect ratio is the big winner with regards to the high-resolution option, but anytime that you think you might want to make a large print of the scene, and the lighting situation allows, you may want to consider enabling 48MP Capture.

There are some other great parts to this update. Photos captured with RitchieCam can now be viewed, shared, or deleted straight from the App—this is a first step in a bigger plan, so it’s definitely not finished, but finished enough to include in this update. The HEIC format has been fixed, and is once again available. We found the bug that Apple included in iOS 17, and circumvented it. It was a needle-in-a-haystack situation, but thankfully it was found and fixed, and you can use HEIC instead of JPEG if you’d like. There are also some small efficiency improvements and bug fixes that you’re not likely to notice (but maybe you will). A lot of work went into this update.

We’re not finished, though. A lot of other great features and improvements are being worked on right now, most of which will be for all iPhones (regardless of whether it has 48MP or not). I’m not sure when the next update will be ready, but it shouldn’t be all that far in the future, so stay tuned!