This old-school photographic effects app comes back with a bang

Photographers have never had it so good. There’s no fumbling around installing new film, no saving a few shots on the roll “just in case,” and no disappointment when you get your prints back and your photos didn’t turn out like you expected. Shooting digitally gives you convenience, previews, and almost limitless shots--but it doesn’t give you warmth and character.

CameraBag 2 is another entry in a seemingly endless lineup of apps that aims to bring the soul of analog photos to your Mac--in this case through a large range of filters that appears to span the entire history of photography. From ancient black-and-white and sepia through to modern toy camera effects and shots that look like they’ve escaped from a glossy magazine, almost every style of photography you’d care to think of is represented.

Many of CameraBag 2’s effects are configurable, making the output even more unique.

For example, fans of old-style photography will enjoy Saloon, described by the app as “old-timey fun with a white vignette,” and 1962, which offers high-contrast black and white that brings to mind classic photojournalism. Wedding, on the other hand, provides a pro-style effect that appears to gloss up and de-mud gloomy photos. And fans of more experimental effects are catered to by the likes of Lolo (Lomo-style vibrancy) and Helga (washed-out colors and strong vignetting).

Working with filters is simple: you drop a photo onto the app’s workspace and then click an option in the Styles tab. Click a style’s tray tile and you can fiddle with settings to fine-tune the result. The photo can then be exported. If you want to go further, more than 20 adjustment tools can be added to effects chains. Usefully, all effects are applied nondestructively, so you can experiment and rearrange effects without having to undo previous actions.

Alternatively, you can jump right to the Favorites tab, which houses a number of predefined chains and any you’ve saved. There’s also a Borders tab, but its options are less impressive, and only basic ones are configurable.

The app provides ways of previewing filters and effects without first applying them.

Each tab has its own Quicklook button, which lets you preview your image with each of the tab’s effects applied--it’s a great way to compare filters without laboriously applying and removing them. You can also use the arrow keys to test an effect on other images in the same folder as the current photo, and the batch-processing option makes short work of applying a filter to a folder of images.

The one drawback of all these options is that CameraBag 2 can be a bit intimidating, and it certainly lacks the refined focus of the simpler and cheaper Analog ($9.99 in the Mac App Store). We also found the interface occasionally clunky, not particularly Mac-like, and a tad sluggish. Our test hardware was an iMac stuffed full of RAM, and so we suspect older Macs might struggle a bit with CameraBag 2. But this doesn’t really matter when you consider the scope of the app and the results it can give you.

The bottom line. If you just want to click and forget when it comes to filters, stick with Analog. But if you’re looking for an app that provides some real depth and scope for adding charm and richness to your digital photos, CameraBag 2 is an excellent purchase.