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Loose Ends – No.2: Top 5 iOS Apps for Serious Photographers

June 18, 2012 by  
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The celebrated Retina Display of the iPhone 4 and 4S and the new iPad mean that these devices are better suited to viewing digital images than almost any other screen currently available to consumers – at least until the just-announced Retina Display MacBook Pros hit the streets.

When it comes to actually taking photographs, iPhones and iPads are beginning to compete with “real” cameras in terms of versatility and ubiquity in people's pockets and bags but, although they're improving with every new version, the cameras built into these devices still fall far short of proper cameras in terms of precision, usability and quality (probably the reason why there are so many retro filter apps around to ice over the defects with a sweet smear of low-res charm). But iPads and iPhones have an incredible advantage over professional cameras – 3rd party software; the relative openness of their software system means that apps are constantly being developed to help counter some of the drawbacks of the iPhone and iPad's hardware cameras, offering an incredible range of functions, features and workarounds that make the devices useful to serious photographers alongside their usual cameras. Imagine if your high-end DSLR could run useful bits of external software without voiding the warranty!

This is a selection of a few of the best “paid-for' apps for people who take their photography seriously… but also use an iDevice for photography from time to time. There are also some really fantastic apps that are available for free that will be listed in a separate article.

Camera+ ($0.99/£0.69)

Camera+ includes an array of professional camera features that you don't get with Apple's standard iPhone/iPad Camera, and an extremely useful range of editing features allowing you to fix any problems “in post”.

As well as the now-ubiquitous selection of filters we all know well from the likes of Instagram and Hipstamatic, Camera+ allows you to adjust the focus and exposure of your picture with the touchscreen for a much more “photographer-friendly” experience.  At the price (which iTunes states is 'set to rise soon') – it's a serious bargain.

Pro HDR / Pro HDR FX ($1.99/£1.49)

Pro HDR have solved an age-old problem of using smartphones as cameras – the tough choice you would have to make between a “blown-out sky or a hopelessly dark foreground”.  Using an ingeniously simple idea, PRO HDR captures two images when you take one picture – one image exposed for the highlights, and another exposed for the shadows – it then aligns and merges the images to deliver a stunning HDR image (at 8Megapixels).

PRO HDR cleverly extends the dynamic range of the iPhone Camera giving you incredible results from such a small device.  As well as this it has myriad other features – filters, zoom, cropping, text captions, photo blending etc – but it is the HDR element of this APP that makes it such a worthwhile purchase.

Camerasharp colored smoke cigarette

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 Camerasharp has some really great features and innovative ways to interact with the App.  The most enjoyable of all of these is the “Sound Shutter” which allows you to take a photo by clapping or whistling… useful if you’re using both hands to desperately keep the camera still for an even vaguely long exposure.  There are several other very useful modes – like “continuous mode” which can take high volumes bursts of images, or “time-lapse mode” where you can control and adjust the intervals between images.

There are also independent focus and exposure controls that allow you to choose different points in the frame with your fingers to lock for focus and exposure.  There are even 'bubble level' measures using the iPhone's inbuilt accelerometer, to allow you to get the perfect required tilt level.  All in all this is a great App with a bunch of useful features that will allow you to get a lot more out of your iPhone camera.

Photo Transfer App ($2.99/£1.99) -

Some of the cleverest, most indispensable Apps are the ones that do the single simple things that one would really expect the operating system itself to handle. Transferring photos between devices and laptops is exactly such a task. So until Shared Photo Streams arrive with iOS6 later this year, the Photo Transfer app allows you to easily download or upload photos between your iDevices and your computer (Mac or PC) as well as exchange photos from and to your iPad or iPhone.  It requires WiFi, but no other cables or software are needed, running as a browser web interface on your computer.

If you are one of those people who find that one of the limitations of using an iPhone camera is that when the memory fills up you can't simple pop in another memory card and keep shooting – then this App is for you.  Rather than have to sit down and plug back into a desktop with annoying cables – this App lets you do it all seamlessly with the minimum of fuss and bother – exactly what using a camera-phone is supposed to be about.

Fast Camera ($1.99/$1.49) -

It's been said (by Chase Jarvis) that “The best camera is the one that's with you” – but what if the camera in your pocket takes several precious seconds to start-up?  Apple have been improving the response-speed of the iPhone camera, but it can still seem like an eternity if something incredible is happening before your eyes.  One way to avoid missing anything is to buy this app – “Fast Camera”.

From the moment you open the app it starts taking pictures, and it actually won't stop until you tell it to by pressing a button.  You can set the delay between the pictures yourself – 1/4 second, 1/5 etc – up to a limit of 800 photos per minute, ensuring you miss none of the action.  The pictures are taken at 8 Megapixels on supported devices and the process of reviewing the hundreds of pictures taken is both simple and satisfying.  This is a great App solving a simple problem many people have experienced with their iPhones.

Written by Andrew Holland and Thomas Eagle

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Comments

2 Responses to “Loose Ends – No.2: Top 5 iOS Apps for Serious Photographers”
  1. Corporate Photographer says:
    June 18, 2012 at 7:43 am

    I use camera+ which is a great app. I also use Super Retro for adding filters which is a good app for reworking images before you share them on Twitter etc

  2. Manfrotto says:
    June 18, 2012 at 7:55 am

    Thanks a lot for the insight!