CameraBag comes to the Mac

OK this is a little off topic, but if like me you are a big CameraBag fan and you are a Mac user, then you can now apply those effects to any of your photos right on your desktop, as Nevercenter has released CameraBag Desktop.

Website description:

Recreate the Magic of Film

CameraBag recreates the magic of film in a fast, intuitive, minimal interface: choose a photo, choose a filter, and you're done.

Digital cameras have replaced film for all but the most die-hard photographers, but something was lost in that transition. Before the digital era, a photographer's choice of camera and film had nearly as much artistic impact as the subject matter. Rediscover the fading, tinting, blurring, chemical processing techniques, and "happy accidents" which gave film photos life.

Multi-filtering

You can apply multiple filters at once by enabling Multi-filtering. Different combinations will look good for different photos, but we highly recommend trying Instant > ColorCross. Or Helga > Lolo. Or Magazine > Mono. Just click the filters in the order you want to apply them. (Order does matter.) If something doesn't look good, click the filter again to remove it from the list.

Reprocess

Each filter has a default look, but you can also enable Reprocessing for subtle variations. Keep pressing the Reprocess button, and you'll keep getting new exposures.

Customization

Each filter has a default border and cropping, but you can always specify a different one (or none) from the drop-down menus.

Easy To Use

1. Click on "Load" to load a photo.
2. Select the filters you want to apply. If "Multi-filtering" is disabled, only the last filter will be applied. Otherwise, click on a filter once to add it to the end of the list, and click on it again to remove it. You can always click on the "Original" filter to remove all filters.
3. If desired, specify borders, cropping, and output size from the drop-down menus at the top of the window.
4. Once you've found a style you like, don't forget to click "Save".

System Requirements

CameraBag Desktop is currently available for Mac OSX only. Here is what you need to run it:

• Mac OSX 10.4 or newer
• PowerPC or Intel CPU
• 512 MB RAM
• 10 MB Free Hard Disk Space

Priced at just $19 USD, CameraBag Desktop is available now directly from Nevercenter.

Comments

[F3lixP]

I prefer PicNik, gives you a lot lot lot more options including all this ones!

[Jorn]

I purchased this software yesterday: It's light and very easy to use. The only problem I encountered is that it converts the photo to the colour profile of my monitor instead of sRGB.

[nelsonh]

Immediate impressions: It creates beautiful effects very simply. The filter stacking is slick, fun, and often surprising. The 'Reprocess' button is inspired. It's easy to use and fairly intuitive, although a read through the short help file was needed to clarify a couple of things. There are some minor, typical v 1.0-type interface issues that I suspect will be addressed in an update...and then there are a couple more serious ones that need to be addressed sooner.

First is the crop function: when it's turned on, the software auto-crops at it's discretion, and you are not able to change or reposition the crop. Same way it works on the iPhone, in fact. I've always been able to put up with it on the iPhone since it seemed kinda quaint and sticking with the app's minimalist nature. But on your Mac, the fixed crop is somehow not quaint. It's annoying and frustrating, and needs to be remedied.

The other more aggregious issues are with file output. First, as Jorn mentioned above, it applies your monitor's color profile to the jpgs it saves. Which is both odd and strange, as well as puzzling and incomprehensible. And if you're doing color-critical work (making prints or a book or album), potentially damaging - not to mention just plain wrong.

Oh, but wait - you won't be making any prints. Because lastly, and worstly, while you do get several choices for the resolution of the jpg file it saves - including "Original Size", no matter which one you choose you get a file that's 72dpi. Which is far, far beyond incomprehensible. Well, actually, it's not. The makers clearly assume that the only thing anyone wants to do with their CameraBag creations is put them on Facebook and Flickr...relegated to a computer screen for eternity. They apparently have decided that crazy people who are so nuts about photography that they actually have their photos printed on paper would have no interest in their program. Or maybe they've got CameraBag Pro waiting in the wings for us...err...those nutjobs.

So...yes it's capable of really lovely effects, and yes it can make a plain photo look artsy with a couple of clicks (which I realize is ultimately the single simple goal of CameraBag). I just really wish they'd consider the possibility that "serious" photographers would be interested in the program and build it's features accordingly. And I'm only half-kidding about a 'pro' version - I would gladly pay more than the $19 price for the added features.

In the end though, even with the frustrations, it's a relative bargain at $19. Just don't plan on making decent prints of your newly beautiful photos.

[Glyn Evans]

All, thanks for the feedback.