After a long, long wait, Chase Jarvis' app, Best Camera has finally been updated and now supports the iPhone 4, offering multi-tasking, new filters, a customizable filter interface and sharing options.
So what's new?
iOS 4.0 compatible, including multi-tasking
Supports max resolution of iPhone 4 camera
Customize dock by organizing your filters
Partial (50%) versions of filters (in "Settings")
Supports iPhone 4 Retina display
Shortened bestc.am link now appears at the end of tweets
Following on from day 2 of the PMA event (which was actually day 1 of the official trade show), the Best Camera app demonstration attracted a nice crowd (this was possibly due to the misleading wording for the presentation, as I heard a number of people say "look Chase Jarvis is going to be here"). Anyway the presentation started, I showed a short video of Chase promoting his app (Chase and his people gave me permission to do this), and then made a short joke about Chase not being here and that they had drawn the short straw and it was me doing the demo. Thankfully, and despite the technical issues we were have with WiFi connectivity at the event, the demo went without any hickups.
After lunch it was Sion's turn to give his second presentation about his iPhoneography, and this was to an almost full house.
Above: Sion presenting to an almost full house at the 'PMA Photo App Pavilion'Following on from Sion, it was the turn of John Martin from Reallusion Inc., who was the first of our guest speakers for the day. John enthusiastically demonstrated his 2 apps, Photo Makeover and 10x Camera Tools (PRO)
Above: John Martin from Reallusion Inc. demonstrating Photo Makeover and 10x Camera Tools (PRO
John has very kindly given me 3x promo codes for each of his 2 apps to give away here on the iPhoneography blog, so if you would like the chance of getting one, then post your request specifying which app you would prefer, or any, if you have no preference in the comments section. Note: As with all promo codes you will need a US iTunes account to redeem them.
After John had completed his presentation it was time for me to take the hot seat again, giving an overview and comparing Adobe's PS Mobile app with Photogene.
For our final session of the day, we had Hal Denton and Ross Pirtle from Tunaverse Media Inc., who talked about their photo syncing app Cinq.
Above: Hal Denton from Tunaverse Media Inc. kicking off their demonstration of CinqAbove: Ross Pirtle from Tunaverse Media Inc. doing a live demo of their Cinq appWell that was day 3 out of the way, and thankfully I had only had the one presentation that afternoon, as my voice was fading fast.
Over the past week some of my most favourite photo apps, and those that have been featured on this blog received updates, but rather than create separate posts for each I have decided to rap the updates all in one post, so here goes.
First off the mark is Best Camera, which received the following minor update.
New option to Auto-save your original photo when shooting with the camera
Facebook sharing now uploads to the "Mobile Uploads" album
Then iFlashReady was updated to address bugs related to the stability of the app, but sadly this has not fixed the app crashes I've been experiencing.
Apps that we've covered, but not necessarily recommended have also been updated, and these include...
...but sadly still does not support full resolution. Despite this app being free, the same effect could be achieved by cropping your photos at a later stage.
iStalin got an update, adding a whole host of new features and bug fixes, as well as having its price reduced to £0.59/$0.99
NEW FEATURES:
Share your pics on Facebook directly from iStalin
NEW ADDITIONS:
5 new stickers
CHANGES:
Changed the background colors of several stickers in order to blend better on the pictures
BUG FIXES
performance improvement when selecting an image
fix picture rotation depending on the camera position
fixed 2 possible memory leaks
less memory consumption
use the same background picture for stickers and texts
fixed stickers and texts flickering while zooming
keep current scroll position of background picture after selecting a new text or sticker
Mill Colour, whilst not my favourite of apps got a much needed boost for iPhone 3GS users with...
Added support for the higher resolution camera in the iPhone 3GS, with image sizes up to 2048 x 1536
Increased the default resolution to 1280 x 960, up from the more conservative 1024 x 768. Changes can be made in the Application Preferences, in Settings
The book is a nicely presented 6"x6" paper back containing over 200 photos charting the past year of Chase's iPhoneography journey, and contains a wide range of iPhone photos, which depending on your tastes you will either like, dislike or think are just plain rubbish, but in Chase's words "What you're holding in your hands is a chunk of me. My guts. My process. My study. It's a look into the production of my ideas."
As you flick through the book you will notice that each photo has a description of some kind, and then at irregular intervals Chase breaks up his photos by adding a little note about that photo on the facing page.
Like Chase says "Writers have notepads, painters have sketchbooks, and I have a camera that's always with me", and this statement is true for all photographers, whether they be regular photographers or iPhoneographers.
Overall this is a nice book of photo art that should appeal to most of us, inspiring us all to shoot more photos with our iPhones, and priced at a reasonable £11.99/$13.59 from Amazon (although prices will vary) will sit nicely on any iPhoneographers coffee table.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 7:53AM | Glyn Evans
If you check for app updates today, you will find version 1.0.1 of Best Camera is ready and waiting for you, and fixes some of the issues raised here on the iPhoneography blog.
Fixed:
Issues with Facebook captions
New Features:
Reset zoom with double-tap
Faster Best Camera & Twitter upload speeds
Sadly this update has not resolved the crashing issue I get when editing at full resolution on my iPhone 3G.
Monday, September 28, 2009 at 11:30AM | Glyn Evans
Ok, I'm not going to write a full review of this app, because Chase Jarvis has done an excellent job of producing a walkthrough video guide to his app Best Camera, so instead I am going to jump straight in with my own verdict/opinion of the app.
If you haven't already watch Chase's video guide, then I would suggest you watch it before reading the rest of my post.
So what do I like about Best Camera?
All apps have their good and bad points, and for me the best bits are:
The apps interface and ease of use.
The online community that Chase and his crew have created over at thebestcamera.com.
The ability and ease of sharing your photos on Twitter, Facebook and via email to photo blogs like Flickr, Tumblr and Posterous, or any email service come to that.
Being able to view and vote on the community photos with in the app.
The ability to apply multiple filter effects to a photo, and multiples of those filters, for example if I darken a photo and it is not dark enough, I just add another dark filter on top.
The ability to remove a filter or change the sequence of a filter.
Support for full resolution.
The ability to apply the same set of filters to the next photo allowing for basic batch processing.
Being able to see the filter effects applied to photos on the community website, which allows you to get effect ideas and try them on your own photos (great for learning).
What I don't like about it?
As with all good points there have to be bad points, and for me they are:
Not being able to change the output resolution without re-opening the photo you are editing. This is a pain if you want to save a high res photo, but only share in low res.
Limited control over your thebestcamera.com profile (not being able to delete your shared photos).
Sharing is a little slow when sharing to multiple sources, and especially at high res.
The bugs and the glitches
As with any app there are bugs and glitches, and Best Camera is no exception, with the following major/minor bugs found during my time with the app:
Facebook upload shows as "Photo from Chase Jarvis' Best Camera". This is a bug and a fix has been submitted to the AppStore, so this should be resolved any day soon.
For me this is a big one, the app regularly crashes when either editing or saving at full res on my iPhone 3G. I don't think this is such a problem on the 3GS, but whilst writing this post the app crashed several times!!
My wish list
This app is far from perfect, and for some reason there are effects missing that you would not expect to be missing and some features that would be nice to have, and for me they are:
Fix the memory management problems which should resolve the app crashing problem on at least the Pphone 3G.
Add a soft focus filter (not sure why this one was missed out in the first place).
Add the ability to save effects for future use, not just the next photo, by creating a save custom effects option.
A grain effect filter would be nice to add some grit to my photos.
Colour graduation filters would be nice.
A 35mm frame to frame the photos, creating a slide effect.
Above: Original photo, and Best Camera manipulated version. Click on the photo to see how I created this effect.Above: Original photo, and Best Camera manipulated version. Click on the photo to see how I created this effect.Above: Original photo, and Best Camera manipulated version. Click on the photo to see how I created this effect.
So ultimately what do I think of Best Camera?
When I first downloaded and installed Best Camera, I thought WOW this does look like this could be the ultimate photo app, then as I began to play more with it, the shine wore off and I began to think this was more of a marketing exercise, with an app thrown in, than an actual app release; after all the app was only one third of the overall Best Camera experience, as there is the book (revenue generating) and the community website. Then as the days passed and I continued to use/play with the app trying to recreate effects from some of my favourite standalone apps, so Best Camera began to shine through again, and the more I played the more I liked it. Now nearly a week on and this app is firmly on my main photo app page, and whilst it will not replace some of my standalone apps like Spica (which produce high contrast and grainy B&W images), it will probably replace the likes of CameraBag as I can produce similar results, with the same ease of use but with better resolutions and greater flexibility and control.
So back to my question and heading for this post "Is Best Camera really the best app?" In short NO, but it very nearly is, and if the things on my wish list get implemented, then for me this app could well become the best app for my iPhoneography. OK it's not going to ever replace the likes of Photogene or EffectsLab for those who want greater control over their iPhone photos, but for the majority of people (including myself) if all you want is to create some good looking photos quickly and easily, and then share them with friends, family and the online communities, then Best Camera could well be the best thing to hit the iPhone in a long time, and this whole experience of app and community could set the standard for future photo apps.
To sum up, this is a great app that will provide a great experience for the majority of users, and whilst it may have a few bugs, be lacking in some areas and have a higher price tag than most of photo apps in the AppStore, in my opinion is well worth the £1.79/$2.99, and gets the iPhoneography's blog "recommended" award for overall user experience.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 9:15PM | Glyn Evans
Description from the AppStore: Best Camera allows you to shoot, creatively edit, and share your iPhone images more simply than ever before.
Created by world-renowned photographer, Chase Jarvis, this app provides you with an easy-to-use set of effects that can be applied at the touch of a button. Stack them. Mix them. Remix them. Virtually infinite creative possibilities with your photos.
And what good is taking a picture if it’s not easily shared? Best Camera allows you to share your images with the touch of a button via Facebook, Twitter, email, and www.thebestcamera.com, a new photo sharing community that allows you to a contribute to a real-time gallery of iPhone photography from around the globe that is displayed right on your iPhone. That’s right, view images pouring in from all over the globe right in the palm of your hand.
It’s called Best Camera for a reason. Through the course of creating the world’s first picture book of iPhone photography appropriately titled, The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You, award winning shooter Chase Jarvis spent 6 months finding the shortcomings of almost every photo app in the market, and then he partnered with superstar developer Übermind, Inc. to bring you this app. Used by beginning amateurs and the top pros alike, this one photo app does it all.
Shoot:
Take a picture from within the app or choose an image in your library
Filters/Effects:
Best Camera comes equipped with a selection of one touch filters to enhance your images. For the basic user, just touch your favorite signature filter and your photos will take on an amazing new look. For more advance users, click on a few more filters, add them, stack them, and create something truly unique.
Some signature filters:
“Jewel” - One touch signature filter creates a warm, rich, textural look inspired by many images in Chase Jarvis’ current portfolio.
“Paris” - One touch signature filter creates a high contrast, high impact black and white look, much like Chase’s fine-art work from Paris and elsewhere around the globe.
“Slate” - One touch signature filter creates a cool, textural, low saturation look inspired by architectural art images.
“Candy” - One touch signature filter creates a high saturation, high contrast look inspired by Chase Jarvis‘ popular commercial advertising work.
Also enjoy:
fade, contrast, lighten, darken, cool, warm, vignette, crop, and frame.
Share:
With just the touch of a button, share your image directly with the world via Twitter, Facebook, email, or by uploading it to the new online photo sharing community www.thebestcamera.com
Community:
Don’t forget about community! Touch the globe icon and you’ll be immersed in a real-time gallery of images from people around the world also using Best Camera.
They’re displayed in a visualizer that allows you to find out who is creating your favorite images, sort them via popular or recent, and find how those pictures were made. You can view these images online at www.thebestcamera.com
Visit www.thebestcamera.com to learn more about the app, watch a virtual tour of the app, and check out some of the world’s best iPhone photography.
Monday, October 4, 2010 at 6:07PM | 
After a long, long wait, Chase Jarvis' app, Best Camera has finally been updated and now supports the iPhone 4, offering multi-tasking, new filters, a customizable filter interface and sharing options.
