iPhone Hill

Clearcam for iPhone is an app that compliments the already existing camera app. Instead of tapping camera, you take your pictures through Clearcam. I found myself using this app when I wanted clearer pictures or when I was in an area that pictures came out either blurry or dark. The concept is quite simple, it’ll take several shots of the same thing and either overlays the shots or chooses the best one (depending on what setting you choose).  The app claims to up quality of the camera from 5MP images to around 11MP images.

When first loading Clearcam, it looks somewhat similar to the iPhone camera app.  It adds a few options that are the basic foundation of what the app really does.  You’ll see the shutter button and then two options.  One labeled “quick” and one labeled “enhanced”.

The quick setting is just that.  It will take 3 shots in rapid succession.  It will save the best one to your camera roll.  It works like it says it does and typically always gets a good shot.

The enhanced mode will take 6 shots quickly and it will take the best parts of each one, essentially stitching them together to create a better all around image.  In my experience, it was somewhat touch and go.  I also would take the same picture with my stock camera app.  In some scenarios, it seemed like the stock camera app took better pictures than what Clearcam stitched together.  It was rare, but it did happen occasionally.  I’m not sure if maybe the app has trouble stitching certain pictures together or rendering them, but there’s definitely a bug there.

The app performs better in low light settings than the default camera in all instances (at least in my experience).  I’d probably attribute this to the fact that it’s picking either the best picture or rendering 6 pictures together to create the best possible image.  If the exposure was a little dark in some places, it will pull the better pieces from another picture.  Having this app in low light settings is enough to justify purchasing it in my opinion.

(*Side note about pictures, most of them are better quality than shown here, we have a limit on image uploads so I had to downsize some of them which will reduce the quality a bit)

[iTunes Link]

Pros

• Increases the quality by a landslide, especially in low light situations

• App is responsive and doesn’t take forever to save to the camera roll like other photo apps

• Increases quality in darker pictures

• Very simple to use

Cons

• Some photos come out blurrier than the default camera app (assuming this is some kind of bug)

• No settings other than Quick and Enhanced and tap to focus, would like to see some native contrast and saturation settings to make up for the lack of settings in the default camera app

Clearcam for iPhone – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Camera+ for iPhone is a photography application that allows you to take photos and edit them. tap tap tap claims Camera+ is “all about one thing – GREAT PHOTOS!” How does Camera+ hold up to this expectation? Follow along to find out.

When you launch Camera+, you will be looking at the back of camera with a view finder. Under the viewfinder, where there would normally be a screen on a digital camera, there are two options: take photos and Lightbox. Behind the camera, you can see a little of what your iPhone’s camera can see. Inside the viewfinder, you’ll see a very small version of exactly what your camera sees. Tap on the viewfinder or “take photos” to take a picture.

When taking a photo, there is a 3×3 grid to help line up your shot (optional). There is also a stabilizer which will not snap the picture until the iPhone is held still. This is great for low light situations or when you are zoomed in (up to 5x).

The Lightbox is where you go to view all the photos you’ve taken with Camera+. The Lightbox is designed with filmstrips containing 3 photos each and is very visually appealing. None of the photos save to your camera roll until you tell it to. This is great for keeping your camera roll clutter-free of photos you don’t want. Tapping a photo brings up options to edit, save, copy, or share. Double tapping a photo makes it larger and provides the same options.

There are 4 different ways to edit your photos: scenes, crops, effects, and borders. Scenes is similar to the different modes you might find on a digital point and shoot camera: auto, flash, sunset, night, backlit, portrait, beach, scenery, concert, food, and text. There are 9 different common crop ratios available. The 21 different effects are categorized as color, retro, and special. I am impressed with all the options and quality of these effects. They are fun and look great. There are 7 different borders to choose from. Most are very basic; the only “fun” one being “instant” which makes your photo look like it was taken with a polaroid camera.

Overall, I was impressed with Camera+. The plethora of good effects makes the app worth it alone. Camera+ does a great job of producing great photos.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Pros

• Unique UI
• 5x zoom, stabilizer, and grid available when taking photos
• Creatively designed Lightbox to scroll through pictures
• Many scene modes, crop ratios, borders, and effects
• Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr
• Support for multitasking, Retina Display, flash, and front facing camera on iPhone 4
• Access photo library to edit photos not taken with Camera+

Cons

• Landscape only supported when taking and viewing photos
• Cannot view photos in full screen
• Saving a photo to camera roll removes it from the Lightbox

Camera+ for iPhone – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

While iPhone 4 has stolen the spotlight these days, iPhone 3GS is still equipped with a great camera, especially for a phone. However, we never imagined a photographer using the iPhone 3GS during a professional photo shoot. Lee Morris, a professional fashion photographer and writer for f stoppers, has done just that!

The idea behind the shoot was to prove to his readers that a professional camera is not required to get professional photos. He assembled a team of professionals including professional model, Olivia Price, hair and makeup artists, a retoucher, and videographer, all of whom volunteered their time for the project. Morris also used his a studio and lighting equipment.

Morris also admits to using photoshop in post production. He claims that Photoshop is a “necessary tool” for his line of work. “I am in the business of making money and my clients do not care if I got it perfect in the camera or made it perfect in post, they simply want a perfect image.”

Morris made sure to stress that the point of this shoot was to show that a photographer should not be limited by his camera; in fact, “the most expensive camera in the world is capable of taking bad pictures.” He does a great job proving his point, but your average low budget photographer will not be able get the same results without the thousands of dollars of studio equipment that Morris used. He did mention that he may do a similar shoot in the future using only natural light. I would find that much more interesting and believe it would make a bigger impact. I also hope he uses an iPhone 4 next time!

Nevertheless, the images Morris produced are stunning and even more impressive because they were taken with an iPhone 3GS. You can see the entire set of high res photos on Flickr.

Follow us after the break to see a video of the shoot!

[f stoppers via 9To5Mac]

Professional fashion shoot with iPhone 3GS is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog