Thursday, March 31, 2011

Camera+ Is the Only iOS Camera and Photo Editing App You Need [Downloads]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/#!5787320/camera%2B-is-the-only-camera-and-photo-editing-app-you-need

Camera+ Is the Only iOS Camera and Photo Editing App You NeedCamera+ is pretty remarkable and solves so many problems you likely have with Apple's built-in camera app and the camera itself. We've never really highlighted it before (although we have mentioned it), partially due to its absence from the iTunes App Store for using a volume button as a shutter (which Apple didn't care for and everyone else loved) but with all it can do it seems like it's time to correct that.

While it comes with fun features like the filters and borders, that are almost a prerequisite on iPhone camera apps nowadays, you get some serious control over focus, exposure, alignment, and digital zoom. Sharing is easy, geotagging happens automatically, and the whole app is just seamless and beautiful.

Camera+ Is the Only iOS Camera and Photo Editing App You NeedThose things are all great, but there are two features that really stand out. When you take a photo, you can immediately take another photo. This might seem kind of silly to call out, but I find nothing more aggravating about the built-in camera app (and most other camera apps) than having to wait for the camera to load and to be allowed to take another picture. Impatience isn't so much the problem as is the possibility of missing an important photo opportunity. The other really great feature is Clarity, which is basically a step up from smartphone-based HDR photography. Most DSLRs and digital point-and-shoot cameras now have a mode that salvages important detail from the over- and under-exposed parts of your photographs. Clarity is a one-touch feature in Camera+ that bumps up the detail and improves your photos in several other aspects. I saw the examples on the Camera+ site but figured they were more staged examples. When I tried the Clarity feature yesterday on both mundane and terribly lit images, the results were really impressive. You won't want to use it for every picture, but it's definitely capable of turning an OK photo into a good-to-great photo.

With all the great stuff in the app, something needed to be sacrificed. It seems that happened in the photo saving department. I found when saving photos to my camera roll, it took much longer than I expected. The obvious workaround is to just take your photos and save them later when you have more time, but that still involves waiting. Nonetheless, it's a small gripe about a really impressive app. If they can fix that I'd have nothing to complain about.

Camera+ is currently available on the iTunes App Store, on sale for $1, right now.

Camera+ Is the Only iOS Camera and Photo Editing App You Need Camera+ | iTunes App Store