Lenses 1.2 Sneak Peak

Following feedback from the readers of this blog, bitCycle the developers of Lenses have been working hard on making their app even better, and looking at this sneak peak video, it looks like they're doing a good job.

Lenses price drop

*** 50% OFF UNTIL MONDAY ***

If you liked the look of Lenses, then you can grab a copy for just £0.59/$0.99 until Monday.

AppStore Link: Lenses - Price £0.59/$0.99

New iPhone Photo App: Lenses

Description from the AppStore: Lenses, iPhone photography taken to a whole new level!

Select from 40+ lenses ranging from fun house mirrors to professional photo enhancing filters. Watch their effect next to the view finder as you point the camera around and adjust the zoom slider. Simply tap a lens to capture.

• Photo effects are applied in real time.
• What you see is what you get.
• Simply aim, capture and share.
• No more tedious post processing.

Current lenses include:

• Color: Vivid Colors, Expand Lightness, Invert Lightness, Rotate Hue, Posterize, Sepia, Desaturate, Invert RGB, Invert Gray, Rotate RGB 1, Rotate RGB 2
• Mirrors: Alien, Jumbo, Pinch, Polar, Punch, Angry, Big Smile, Kaleidoscope, Horizontal Mirror, Vertical Mirror, Quad Mirror
• Artistic: Halftone, Blur Out, Andy Worhol, Stencil, CG Illustration, Soft Glow, Pixelate, Neon Glow
• Frames: Hope Poster, Che Guevara Poster, Mona Lisa
• Misc: Heat Cam, Tilt Shift

AppStore Link: Lenses - Price £1.19/$1.99

Editors comments: When I first saw this app listed I was intrigued by its "real time" capabilities, so bought the app straight away.  When I first began to play with the app I was a little disappointed with the split camera view, as I would have liked to have had a full screen view, however the more I played with it the more I liked it.

The app itself is extremely easy to setup and use, and as my screen-cast below shows, there is a wide range of lens effects possible.

To use:

1. Switch lenses by tapping the red triangle at the top corner of a lens. Browse the lens collection (press back from the current lens description) and pick a lens. You can also press and hold the red triangle to get a random lens.
2. Capture by tapping a lens at its center. Remember that the photo is taken when you release the finger, so hold it until you're ready and then release it gently. No more blurry photos!
3. Select resolution (from low to high res) and then save or share the photo.

So what do I think about Lenses?

Overall this is a nice app that offers a good range of lens effects that can viewed in real time, allowing you to see the effect before you take the shot. I particularly like Expand Lightness, Vivid Colors, Desaturated (B&W) and Andy Warhol.

Whilst originally I did not like the split screen camera view, I now find it really useful as I can select 3 of my favourite lenses and then take the shot with the lens that suits the shot best.