App Alert: FREE for 1 day only - NightCap, the day and night camera app

NightCap is a camera replacement app built for high performance around the clock, and for 1 day only its available from the App Store for FREE.

NightCap is described as "the first and only app to do real slow shutter photography. That means in low light it performs better than any other app thanks to its unique extended exposure range, producing brighter and more detailed images with less grain", and I recently commented, saying "it offers one of the most accurate, yet simplest camera interfaces I've used to date."

App Store Link: NightCap; Sale Price: FREE

Comments

[Kerry Wilson]

Thank yopu for announcement! I think this app could be of real help taking into consideration that IPone usually replace photo camera due to the absence of last. And the more useful application will be launched the higher wil be the chance of making really good photo with the minimum grain. And also how much does this app usually cost?

[Chris / Interealtime Software]

Kerry: It's normally $1/69p. I wrote it by the way, and I tend to read this site fairly often so let me know if you have any questions.

[Steven]

I was skeptical at first but damn does this app work wonders. Well done!

What I find really amazing, and have no idea how it's even possible, is that I can shoot fairly sharp shots handheld even at 1s exposure. I could never do that with any of my standard point-and-shoots (panasonic zs10 and even canon s100).

One suggestion - would it be possible that when you bring up the settings menu, that it 'suspends' the camera? I find that when you bring up the settings --> switch to manual --> decrease shutter speed, it lags the app drastically (I'm guessing because the camera itself is still doing its thing). I'm not sure I described that adequately but I think you get the idea. I'm using latest version of app on iPhone 4s, iOS 5.1

[Chris/Interealtime]

Steven: Thanks for the feedback, glad you like it!

There's one thing to be wary of with the manual exposure: in bright light, the camera itself detects that the image is over-exposed, and it automatically reduces the exposure time even if you have it on manual. You can see this happen on the live display - the exposure indicator will turn red. You can prevent it by covering the lens so it drops back to manual control, then locking exposure (but it might be over-exposed of course!)

Stopping the camera when the settings menu is open: it's possible, but then you can't see the results of any changes you make, and starting the camera again causes the same delay (when you turn manual on or off it effectively restarts the camera). This is something I'm looking to improve though.

[espekayen]

This is an excellent app. I have had some very impressive results from using it, especially with a tripod. I had a problem with NightCap initially and contacted Chris for advice; he was very helpful. Here is my query and Chris's response...

My email:
"There is a problem with NightCap for iPhone. Every time I take a photo using NightCap, there are two purple/violet flares on the bottom; they are small but noticeable. This happens every time and on every photo, regardless of location and subject. It does not occur when using the built-in camera app."

Reply from Chris:
"It isn't a bug - it's actually a minor issue with the camera that's not normally visible.

It's normally caused by the chip that actually records the image at the back of the camera getting warm. The warm areas tend to cause a purple (or sometimes red or pink) area in the image. This is very common with longer exposures, and is something you see even with high-end DSLR cameras. You'll find that the longer the exposure time is, the more you'll see this pattern.

There's not very much that can be done unfortunately. You can try to keep the area you want to photograph away from this area so you can crop later. It's not an issue at all from what we've seen with the iphone 4S camera so it seems to have been fixed by apple now."

[Steven]

Thanks Chris. Always a please speaking with developers who you can tell are passionate about their product.