The original iPhone’s camera was rubbish, and the one in the 3GS is hardly industry-leading. But install a few apps and your device suddenly becomes a creative powerhouse. Our selection unearths the best little-known ‘toy camera’ apps, editors, and image enhancers. --Craig Grannell
Appvale · $0.99
The iPhone 3GS camera can record video in portrait or landscape, and the orientation is locked depending on how you’re holding your iPhone when you hit record. Should you discover on saving your masterpiece that it’s the wrong way up, load your video into Rotate Video. You can then rotate it in 90 degree increments, play back a preview, and save the video back to your Camera Roll without any loss of quality.
Rotate Video. It, um--rotates your videos.
Synthetic Corp · $1.99
There are a bunch of iPhone apps that emulate the output of plastic toy cameras, but Hipstamatic is the most tactile. The app enables you to change your lens, film, and flash type, and while it clearly just applies filters to your photos, Hipstamatic nonetheless feels more ‘real’ and fun than competing products. A number of add-ons are available via in-app purchase, but even the default kit produces great results.
Filters are applied by switching virtual lenses, film, and flashes.
Michael Krause · $1.99
Tilt-shift photography can be used to make standard photographs resemble miniature scenes, and the same effect can be done using digital post-processing on your own photos. TiltShift is a highly usable app that enables you to do this by taking an image, defining a blur area and shape, and amending contrast and other settings. Usefully, example images are included to practice on, including night shots to which you can apply a slick bokeh effect.
Make miniature scenes with your photos and your iPhone.
GhostBird Software · $2.99
Although Adobe’s Photoshop.com app finally made it to the iPhone, it’s pretty basic. By contrast, the surprisingly overlooked PhotoForge almost resembles Adobe’s desktop apps--but on your phone, and for three bucks. Images can be adjusted, cropped, cloned, and filtered, or you can use the brush tools to create a new image from scratch. The lack of a marquee tool and layers is a pity, but the number of options elsewhere makes up for such shortcomings.
PhotoForge is like a mini Photoshop Elements.
Cowboy Rodeo · Free
Created by award-winning visual effects gurus The Mill, this app may not have the range of filters in competing apps, but it provides a level of professionalism, control, and usability for working with color that few rivals can match. Snap a picture or load one from your Camera Roll, then you can apply one of ten built-in “looks” (such as Noir or Cross-processed) and then manipulate and fine-tune the result to your liking.
Fine-tune the color in your photos using Mill Colour.
Cloudburst Research · $2.99
If you’ve ever taken a bunch of photos and attempted to stitch them together yourself to make a panorama, you know how much of a headache such a task is. With AutoStitch, the process is almost effortless—select images from your Camera Roll, tap Stitch, and watch the app weave its magic. And magic is an appropriate word, because even with mediocre photographs AutoStitch produces highly impressive results--and all for just three bucks.
AutoStitch creates panoramas from a bunch of images in a few seconds.
MacPhun LLC · $1.99
Vintage Video Maker enables you to add character to videos from your iPhone 3GS Camera Roll (you can also upload videos via an FTP client over Wi-Fi), enabling you to apply effects that resemble 1920s films or home videos from the 1960s. Due to the processing grunt required to render video, the app isn’t fast (our 30-second movies took up to five minutes to be reworked), but the end results are pretty good.
Make old-style movies using your cutting-edge iPhone.
Art & Mobile · $1.99
If you only buy one camera app, make sure you choose QuadCamera. Two bucks gets you a configurable multi-shot that outputs grid-like images that often provide a better sense of time than video. You can adjust timing between shots, output layout, and the color filter (using ‘Vivid’ or ‘Hi-Con’ gets really good results even on pre-3GS iPhones), and there’s also a built-in animator so you can see your images moving.
If you don't own it, buy QuadCamera right now, before reading any further. It's that good.
Nexvio Inc. · $1.99
People are suckers for video with crazy time signatures, especially those that use slow-motion and time-lapse. The latter technique shoots frames at lengthy intervals but plays back the resulting video at standard speed, potentially compressing hours into seconds. ReelMoments is an app dedicated to this task. It offers interval and record-time settings, a handy digital zoom, and can be optionally set to cease filming if your iPhone’s battery level falls too low.
Create great-looking time-lapse video on your iPhone.
dw-c · $1.99
If you own an old iPhone, you might be feeling a bit jealous of the iPhone 3GS and its video-shooting capabilities. iCamcorder lets you record up to 15fps from an iPhone 3G, and there are several built-in effects, an interactive digital zoom, and the ability to share your movies online.
Record video and apply effects with your iPhone 3G.
swatkins01
February 01, 2011 at 6:51am
Has the option to print the article disappeared or am I just missing it?
brigosx
January 31, 2011 at 12:55pm
Working with shifts? Is sometimes a bit hard to remember all your duties? You would like to buy a tool for making this job for you without spending lot of money? If the answer to all these questions is YES then Duties Watcher is the app for you. Born from the same necessity to make our working life easier. You may find at the App Store.
With it's smart scheduler Duties Watcher is the app!!! You will never regret buying this awesome product.
July2009
May 19, 2010 at 8:12pm
Here are top 20 of our favorite free iPad apps to get you started from the App Store.
http://www.aneesoft.com/tutorials/ipad/best-20-free-ipad-apps.html
kylerwalker
May 12, 2010 at 3:15pm
every math teacher would love the ipolygon app.but i like the doodle cart app sauce lifter pinball dreams and cluck it
tb
May 07, 2010 at 7:12pm
We just released an iPhone app that allows users to keep a photographic food diary and email their day's log to anyone (themselves, a personal trainer, nutritionist, diet buddy, etc.) It's called dietSNAPS. You can check it out at http://www.dietSNAPS.com.
