If you want to increase the functionality of your iPhone 4/4S camera there are a lot of iPhone apps available on the Apple App Store. One of the available apps is Camera+, created by tap tap tap, which tap tap tap claims has been downloaded over 8 million times in two years and has rebuffed acquisition offers from Adobe, Google, Zynga, and Twitter. With all the hype I thought it might be worth trying out. This is what I found.

Camera+ Screen

Camera+ Screen

Interface: Camera+ uses a non-threatening user interface that looks and feels similar to the iPhone’s native camera interface. Camera+ makes a few additions: a transparent zoom slider, a settings button (allowing you to access your shooting modes), and a menu button.

Camera+ Features:

Functionality: Camera+ includes some point-and-click features that help you improve your photos. Most of these features come standard on midrange point-and-click cameras but are absent on the iPhone’s native camera app, at least on iOS 5.1.1.

Shooting Modes: Camera+ adds several shooting modes, which after using, I realized how much I missed the standard shooting mode features of my old point-and-click camera. Here are few of the shooting mode features:

Stabilizer: This feature is a lifesaver when you are taking photos with the iPhone. The stabilizer feature waits for the phone to be in a still position then takes the photo. This prevents the old method of “shoot until you get lucky.”  Typically, at least for me to stabilize the iPhone when taking a picture, I use both hands and turn the phone horizontally and use the new feature in iOS5.1.1 that allows the volume + button to act as a traditional shutter release. The issue is that when you press the shutter release, which takes a significantly more compression force, compared to the shutter release of a traditional-point-and-click camera, it causes the phone to move just slightly, blurring your photos. Camera+ stabilizer completely fixes this problem. Once you have Camera+ in stabilizer mode you can click the shutter release to take your photo, but the picture is not automatically taken. The Camera+ stabilizer mode waits until the camera becomes still again and then snaps the photo. The result: better pictures less blur.

Burst: The burst features allow you to take several photos in rapid succession. I could not get a precise count on how many photos it took per second, but I the rate is 10-12/second. I was using the iPhone 4, so you may get more photos per second on a 4S. The burst feature is useful for getting pictures in quick succession of a live event or a difficult-always-moving subject, your 2-year-old. The burst feature works reasonably well, but not quite as well as mid-range-point-and-click. However, don’t set you expectations too high for the burst feature, if you plan on using the Camera+ burst feature like to use the burst feature to captures photos to create living stills, 10-12 photos a second likely wont be enough.

Timer: A timer feature is standard on almost every point-and-click camera. It is a nice feature to finally have on the iPhone. The Camera+ timer it works exactly how you would expect. The timer feature has three settings to delay the shutter release by 5, 15, 30 seconds before taking a photo.

Photo Editing: The native iPhone camera through the camera roll offers a few extremely primitive photo-editing tools. Unfortunately, the native iPhone photo edit tools are so primitive and basic the iPhone editor will not save you any Photoshop time. Camera+, however, adds some powerful Photoshop editing features right on your phone that will allow you to skip the Photoshop photo editing process on the computer and move your photos directly to your blog or MLS listing page.

The most notable of the photo editing features on the Camera+ app are the following features: Clarity, Flash, and FXEffects.

Clarity: Probably the best filter/feature on Camera+. Clarity intelligently analyzes your photo and makes several digital adjustments automatically adjusting detail, light, and color saturation. With one click, Clarity really does add “pop” to your photos. Just tested the feature using on a photo taken inside with poor lighting and a light background. Not exactly the greatest conditions for taking a photo. The result of using the Camera+ Clarity feature is improved detail and color saturation (not quite as well as the examples on the Clarity website).

Clarity Feature

Camera+'s Clarity Feature

 

Flash: The Flash filter allows you to edit your photo, once you have taken it, to get the effect of using flash when the photo was taken. This is particularly useful when you take photos inside without the perfect lighting conditions. The feature works reasonably well, but doesn’t take the place actually using the camera led flash.

FXEffects: This has the flavor of the Photoshop app or the Instragram app, but still has some cool filters that can add life to otherwise boring photos. I found this to particularly helpful when I wanted to post photos on my blog or on the MLS when I wanted to capture a feeling, a serene ambiance, or certain nostalgia. While some of the FX Effects filters were over the top for my taste, I did particularly like the Sunkiss’d and Magic Hour filters. I was a little disappointed that FXEffects does not allow you to mix and match filters on the same photo, a feature that is available on the Photoshop app.

At the end of the day, I am glad I purchased the Camera+ app for $.99. The app adds some useful and necessary features to the native iPhone camera and I found it helped me take better pictures and saved me some time editing in Photoshop.