Camerabag for iPhone . . .

For our first iPhone app recommendation I am going with the first one I had fun with, when using the camera.

The iPhone camera may not be as good as some other mobile phone cameras, but actually, I have been quite impressed with some of the photos it has churned out for me. I used to carry a phone and a compact camera but I have now ditched the compact in favour for just the iPhone.

iPhone apps are purchased through iTunes and generally, compared to prices for computer software, are fairly cheap. Some excellent apps are free of charge: free doesn’t always mean that the app is not worth going for. Next step up are the ones at 59p, then £1.19, £1.79, going up to £5.99, although there are some at £14.99 and higher. The majority of apps I have bought have been around the £1.79 mark and as the money comes straight out of the credit card you attach to your iTunes account, you hardly ever notice it, and it becomes far too easy to go on a bit of a spending spree!

As a photographer I am used to using presets and filters through the computer to make photos look different, but this application replicates actual cameras like the Holga (they call theirs “Helga”), Lomo (Lolo), real lenses such as a fisheye lens, and shows what your photo would have looked like had it been processed in the 60s or 70s.

The first while I had this, I felt the need to load every photo I took with every one of the effects. I bored not only my friends with every combination possible, but finally myself too! The trouble was, every single one of the effects added something to the original that the original lacked. It is extremely addictive, but also quite handy when you want to spruce up a blog entry with a photo, without firing up your photo editor.

When it first came out, the software only allowed you to share photos taken via usb to the computer, but after  a couple of updates, an email feature was added. This was a big boon to me as I had felt a tad short-changed without it. However, even a geek like me took quite a while to master the settings to get this function going.

All in all – if the company who made this for the iPhone (Never Center) were to sell the same software as an add-on for the computer, I would buy it!

Original – The unaltered image.

Helga – A square-format toy camera with washed-out highlights and old-school vignetting. Sometimes I prefer this one but not always. . .

Instant – Oh! The good old days of Polaroids! This is one that Maaike uses often, and I love the polaroid format but not the muted tones. . .

Mono – Smooth gradation from black to white.

Lolo – Shoot from the hip and take life as it comes with vibrant, colorful shots. This is the one I favour mostly. I love the colours it produces along with the square format and the nice border.

Cinema – Dramatic, moody, wide-screen stills from the movie of your life.

There are also other settings for you to play with, I’ll not bore you with examples of them all:

1974 – This is your father’s camera. Faded, tinted, and hip.
1962 – Dynamic black and whites from the photojournalists of a bygone era.
Infrared – Simulation of the popular landscape photography technique.
Fisheye – Popular fish eye lens effect – try it in combination with other filters.

Should you get it? If you use the camera at all then yes! At a mere £1.79 from the iTunes App Store it’s all good fun!

If you DO buy it, please send us a photo you have used it on – we would love to see which effect you liked the most.