iPhone Snaps - First Results

Saturday, 05 December 2009 14:51

I finally caved and bought an iPhone.

In fact, being a fairly long term Mac user (definitely of the smug and unrepentant type), I've wanted one for ages but they were more rumour and hyperbole than reality when I needed a new phone a while ago, and I wound up with a Crackberry. I was then locked into a zillion-year contract and only recently managed to release myself from Vodafone's vile clutches (I don't reserve any particular bile for them actually, they were reasonably inoffensive to deal with. It's just that all phone operators, by definition, are vile).

It didn't work out too badly since I got to indulge in the 3GS, which as anyone who has one knows, is a sleek little beast indeed - especially when you've been using a relatively mono-functional Bberry for a while. Needless to say I've been dying to explore the world of juvenile toys apps for ages and decided to throw myself into the photography side of things first.

Everything the experts say about the iPhone's built in camera is true: it's pretty rubbish. Even though the 3GS boasts 3 megapixels instead of its predecessors' 2, it's really bare bones when compared to the rest of the phone's impressive features. There's no zoom, no flash, a distinct lack of sharpness and poor/grainy results in low light.

There's also no in-camera editing controls (saturation, cropping etc.), though this is where the cheap / free apps step in, either superseding the iPhone camera completely, or embellishing it with various tools such as Zoom, Anti-Shake, Flash and whatnot. There's an expansive range of editing and novelty FX programs too (Camerabag, Photoshop Mobile, Mill Colour, Tiltshift Generator, Polarize) that let you edit and play around your images.

These are the kinds of programs I've been playing around with today, and while the 3GS iPhone still remains safely in the amateur realm, these apps can certainly make your day-to-day photos a lot more interesting / fun - and they're generally very easy to use. I realise these initial experiments (below) won't make anyone's jaw drop, but believe me they're much better than the standard issue iPhone results.

PS: I'll be writing a proper round-up of a few of the better iPhone photography apps soon. If anyone has any tips to offer, please contact me on paul (at) paul-sullivan (dot) com.

Camerabag

Tiltshift Generator

Camerabag

Camerabag

Mill Colour

Polarize

FX Photo Studio