Don't want to shoot square, then shoot 6x7

Give your iPhone a taste of classic medium-format photography. Sick of square? Weary with widescreen? Let 6x7 give your photographic world a new shape.

6x7 is a new app from developer Michael Hardaker, the developer behind the very good square format camera app 6x6.

As Michael says, "For high-quality images, medium-format cameras were the professionals’ choice for years. And many preferred the framing of the 6x7cm format above all. Now 6x7 takes you back to that time, with beautiful, high-resolution images that aren’t quite square – but aren’t too stretched out, either."

FEATURES:

• 6:7 image ratio
• Blistering performance
• Optional Volume+ hardware shutter release
• Full EXIF support – including location-tagging
• Manual focus and exposure control
• What you see is what you capture
• Framing grids help you keep your verticals and horizontals where they should be
• "Split-image" shows where the middle of your composition is, and even whether it's level
• Fixed focal length lens (no digital zoom to make your photographs fuzzier)
• Saves straight to the Camera Roll
• Manual flash control - it's either on or off
• Color or B&W
• Elegant user interface

ADVANCED SETTINGS:

• Opt-in to Volume+ hardware shutter release
• Standard or Dynamic (more contrast/brightness) B&W
• Standard or Dynamic (more saturation/contrast/brightness) color
• Control sounds: audio feedback when you click a switch or press a button
• A retro flashgun sound, for some serious nostalgia
• Settings button is a "film counter" that shows you, through a red jewel, when (and how many) images are background saving

MANUAL FOCUS/EXPOSURE CONTROL:

• Tap to set the focus/exposure point-of-interest
• Tap-hold to set an independent exposure point-of-interest (a single tap now manages focus alone)
• Swipe the display to lock the focus and exposure
• Double-tap to return to Autofocus/Autoexposure

App Store Link: 6x7; Price: £0.69/$0.99/€0.79

Comments

[Terry]

Wouldn't it have been better for the user to have the 6x7 choice inside the 6x6 app even if you needed to do it as an in App purchase. Now forced to have two apps that aside from aspect ratio essentially do the same thing.

[Mike Hardaker]

That's a fair point for 6x6 users, and we really did consider it very seriously, but

a) we wanted to take into account the millions of people who are entirely happy taking square photographs with other apps (however shocking we may find that!), but are intrigued by the idea of shooting in the 6:7 ratio. Telling them to buy one app and then buy an in-App upgrade seemed a bit harsh...

b) over time, this probably provides a better platform for the apps to diverge in functionality

c) personally I (and I have to assume at least some other people...) prefer having two apps running at the same time that I can switch between, rather than having to dive into the settings to change between different image ratios.

It's one of those things where there's no perfect approach, so we had to go one way or the other. And this seemed to deliver the most flexibility to the most people. Sorry it doesn't suit you, though.

[espekayen]

Looks like a nice app. No matter what you do, there will always be some people who disagree and end up disappointed, so don't sweat it. Such is life.

[Mr Tmney]

Well I don't own either apps... Shocking I know seeing I have 1600+ apps.
They both intrigued me but I have yet buy either, though I'd admit having both in one app & knowing I could have more in one & one less app installed that I just do not need would have been my choice.


@mr_timney

[Richard G]

Thanks for the frank & classy response, Mr Hardaker. We really appreciate developers taking an active part in these discussions.

I've been a fan of 6x6. A clean and lovely tool to work with, and I'd be fascinated to hear your thoughts & reasoning around the recently added "dynamic" settings, inasmuch as they do seem to depart somewhat from the original purist design of the app.

I look forward to trying out 6x7.

[Mark]

What a great app! I already love 6x6 and 6x7 looks really good to. Just picked it up off the apps store. Big PLUS to developer's (Mike) for kicking in on the discussion here.

[Mike Hardaker]

Mr Tmney: I do see your point, and we may well do some form of "Swiss Army Knife" at one time. Although, as I say, I can see advantages to both approaches

My biggest frustration, I guess, is the lack of a cross-product upgrade system on the iTunes App Store within "families" of products. I'd love to be able to say "here's our new product, and if you have 6x6 or 6x7 they can be upgraded for only $X, and if you have both then it's only $Y - but if you just want 6x6 and or 6x7 you can get them as standalone products.".

But then I do remind myself we're talking about pretty small sums of money here - it's not exactly Adobe Creative Suite country!

As I said earlier, I don't think there's a perfect approach and developers just need to combine market research and a little instinct to come up with what they see as the best compromise.

Richard G: Arguably, as soon as we added the B&W option the "purity" of 6x6 was threatened (after all, that's easy to do in post using Photoshop, right? ;-)). But I think it's possible to overdo the strict adherence to a design philosophy if it ends up being too far from what a product's users actually want. In this case, the feedback we got was that the majority of image-tweaking that people were doing (short of adding serious filters) was to "push" the images just a bit, so it seemed sensible to put that functionality - as I like to think of it - "in camera". Personally, I rarely use the Dynamic Color and nearly always use the Dynamic B&W, but then I was the kind of guy who avoided Velvia used to print HP5 on really hard paper back in the day; others' tastes will differ (Standard B&W has more of an FP4-on-normal feel, I'd say).

I guess it all comes down to what feels somehow right being "in the camera" (and that includes the issue of performance, which is really important to me). And that's why I've made philosophical peace with the Dynamic options!

espekayen & Mark: thanks for the kind comments.

[Mr Tmney]

@ Mike

I think I will buy both! You sold me on the B&W options.
Cheers

[Ranga]

6x6 is my panel one app, right next to instagram, streetmate and quickpix. I *heart* the app. But, *heart* your style more, Mr.Hardaker! And that is the only reason I have just bought this 6x7 app.

Anyways, that is not what I wanted to say here.

Are you familiar with the PhotoArtista apps, Mr.Hardaker? They come in three flavors. But given their phratry, JixiPix allows users to integrate them into one app. In spite of leaving the other two as stand-alones, that is. With the functional (and familial) kinship between 6x6 and 6x7, is this something you could consider as a possibility?

[Mike Hardaker]

Ranga: no, I'm not familiar with the PhotoArtisa apps, but I will become so! Since I don't know exactly what they're doing, I can't really comment on whether we can do something similar, but it certainly sounds like an attractive approach from your description. "Kinship" is a concept I like.

[Mr Timney]

@ Mike

Bought both & fantastic!
But I found a bug.... In settings if I only select dynamic B&W on, then take a photo it is saved in color. For on the app screen I didn't slide over to B&W vs color switch.
That seems to defeat the purpose of having only the dynamic B&W selection turned on in settings?


B&W results.... Excellent !!!

[Mike Hardaker]

Mr Timney - the different Color and B&W modes affect how the image will be processed when you are shooting in Color and B&W respectively - it's like deciding which film you will use for each core option. Selecting Dynamic B&W does not set the camera to take B&W; it tells the camera that when you set it to B&W it will use Dynamic rather than Standard.

Sorry, but it's, er, a feature rather than a bug...

[Kent Kangley]

Somehow I missed out on the existence of 6x6 until this post. After doing a bit of research and reading the comments here, I decided to buy both apps. I like the idea behind them. Simple 6x6 and 6x7 images without all the filters. Should be fun to use.

[Mr Tmney]

@ Mike

Ohhh Ok I understand now =D

Can you add the option to load your own images?
So I can filter my own images with the Dynamic B&W filter of your apps?

Cheers