Before Mikey put in practice his decision of buying a film camera (it all started with this post featuring Charlene, Neil, Mikey), I told him that one of my future post will be about apps. And before going even further, I have to tell you that I’m an iphone user and everything I say here is related to that (I don’t know if the following apps are available for Android).
This post is about photo apps that I have on my phone, each one of them good for what it’s doing. I do have other photo apps but I might talk about them some other time.
1. Camera +
This app is the must have if you like shooting in manual. What the app does is the possibility of getting rid of the automatic mode on your camera. While on the app, the user can change the ISO, exposure and shutter speed as suits, giving 100% control over the camera. On top of that, the app can produce a large (tiff format) file that can be processed later, either in the app or after it’s save on a computer from cloud. Total control over camera is what a photographer wants and that is what Camera + does. (My understanding is that iOS is now coming with Camera + as standard but I can’t confirm it nor deny it, as I didn’t upgrade my phone in a very long time).
2. 645 Pro
This app is my love and also my nightmare. Unfortunately this app is not available anymore, it did stop in 2020. But if installed on a phone, it can be used without problems. My nightmare is that I know, pretty soon, I have to change my phone (it is a consumable like any other electronics, it won’t last forever) and I cannot transfer the app on a new phone. Why I love the app? Well, where do I start? First, it transforms your phone in a medium format camera. Secondly, it gives you the option to pick from preloaded film types (black & white, colour, fine grain, high contrast ones, etc). Thirdly, it is fully manual with a histogram attached. Do you want more? It can produce a whooping 35Mb tiff file. What is not to like?!
3. Pocket light meter
All my film cameras are fully manual. That means they don’t have a light meter incorporated. Because I don’t use my film cameras very often, I’m not good at “guestimating” the lighting condition. This is where the app is coming into play and I have to admit that the readings are accurate. At the start, I didn’t trust the app but I had access to a proper hand held light meter. Compare the two of them and the results were identical. Compare the app with my digital camera, identical results. Now I have a light meter in my pocket all the time and whenever I take out one of my film cameras, I know that I have a light meter that I can trust.
Thanks so much for putting this together, so helpful. Definitely going to need number 3 very soon!
Hey man - I didn't know any of these apps! I'm intrigued by Camera+, as often kids in my high school class don't have a camera of their own but I want them to be using manual, so I'll need to look into it to see if it's a good stop-gap when they don't have one of the class cameras.
I really like the experience of Darkr - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/darkr-black-and-white-filter/id1182702869 - it, sort of, mimics a darkroom on a phone, which is both fun and creative.