Vint B&W, the original Black & White camera app gets an update

If you have been taking photos with an iPhone for as long as I have, then you may be familiar with Vint B&W, the very first black and white camera replacement app for the iPhone, that arrived way back in November 2008 (the same month/year that this blog started). At the time, this app offered some of the best tonal qualities of any black and white app available for the iPhone, however it only allowed you to take, and not import photos from the camera roll. Well, after 4 years, developer Erik Pettersson has finally updated Vint B&W with an iPhone 5 enhanced UI, live B&W preview, full resolution, and most importantly, the ability to import and convert photos from the camera roll.

Vint B&W MII is currently available from the App Store priced at £1.49/$1.99/€1.59, or free for existing owners of Vint B&W.

iPhoneography meets iCreate Magazine

Issue 87 of iCreate magazine which is published here in the UK by Image Publishing has a nice article all about iPhone photography called "iPhone 4 Photography: Tips, Tricks & Apps".  The article is pretty good, covering some top apps with readers photos, as well as a small section from me, called "My top iPhone photo apps".

Now due to space limitation, not all of my top apps were published, so for those interested, here is my article in full.

My top iPhone photo apps by Glyn Evans, editor of iPhoneography.com

The iPhone 4 is not just any old smartphone. With its 5 megapixel camera and wide range of photo manipulation app, its a camera and darkroom in your pocket.

With so many photo apps in Apple's App Store, you may be wondering which ones are the best, so here are my top apps.

1. PictureShow: If you only buy one photo app for your iPhone, then I recommend PictureShow [App Store Link].  PictureShow offers 28 different filters/photo style effects, 20 frames, 10 different light and 11 different noise effects, which you can choose from, or let the apps "Shuffle button" do for you.  In addition to these predefined looks, you can manualy adjust the brightness, contrast or colour, as well as being able to add text, before saving and/or sharing via Twitter, FaceBook, Flickr, Blogger or via email.

2. AutoStitch: Create sweeping panoramic photos with AutoStitch [App Store Link]. Simply take a series of photos with your iPhone from a single viewpoint, panning as you take them.  Then once saved, simply open AutoStitch, select the images and let AutoStitch go to work. When complete simply crop and save, and there you have a panoramic photo. It really is that easy.

3. Photogene: Photogene [App Store Link] is like having a desktop photo editor in your pocket, giving you the ability to truly edit your photos on the go, letting you crop, sharpen, straighten, rotate and add frames to your photos, as well as manually or automatically adjust histogram levels, gamma correction, RGB balance, the colour temperature and saturation.

4. Pro HDR: Pro HDR [App Store Link] lets you create tone mapped HDR images by taking one under exposed photo, one over exposed photo and merging them together, right on the iPhone.

5. TiltShift Generator: Available for both the iPhone and iPad, TiltShift Generator [App Store Link] lets you create photos with a limited depth of field or selective focus, creating that fake miniature look, reminisant of Tilt-shift photography.

6. Black & White apps: If you like shooting Black & White, then there are 3 apps that I would recommend.

• Vint B&W [App Store Link] is a camera replacement app that offers the best tonal range of any Black & White app currently available for the iPhone.
• Spica [App Store Link] is a one trick poney Black & White app that lets you create high contrast, grainy and gritty photos.
• Monochromia [App Store Link] is a Black & White editor, letting you adjust the contrast and brightness, as well as add vignette and film grain to you photos.

These are some of my top apps, which you can use singly, or why not mix together to create soemthing extra special!

New iPhone Photo App: RetroCam

RetroCam [App Store Link] is a free, simple black and white camera only app.

I tested this app against Vint B&W [App Store Link], which in my opinion is the best black and white camera only app currently available for the iPhone, and below are the results.

Above: Left RetroCam, right Vint B&W

Both apps function in a similar way, supporting full-res and interfacing with the iPhones camera, but as you can see from the above samples, Vint B&W is slightly more contrasty, and in my opinion produces the better looking result.

Free App: Vint B&W

Back in April I announced that Vint B&W was available for free in the AppStore, not knowing that the app was no longer available outside the US.

Today I got an email from developer Erik Pettersson, telling me that Vint B&W is back, and still free.

If you haven't tried this camera only app, then give it a go, as it produces what I think are the best tonal range black and white images of any iPhone app, and it even supports full-res on the iPhone 4.

AppStore Link: Vint B&W

Price Drop: Vint B&W now available for FREE

One of the best black and white apps for the iPhone is now available for free from the AppStore.

Vint B&W [AppStore Link] from Erik Pettersson offers the best tonal range of any black and white app currently available for the iPhone (see sample below), however unlike other apps in this category, you can only take photos with it, converting them to black and white as they are saved.

The app does however support full res, and tap-to-focus on the iPhone 3GS, and for free is a bargain not to be missed.

Above: "Stairway to Heaven" shot on an iPhone 3G with Vint B&W

In addition to Vint B&W being free, Erik's other apps, Vint Red, Vint Green and Vint Shift are also free.

Note: I am not sure why, but at time of writing, these apps appear to have been removed from the UK AppStore.

Update on Monday, May 3, 2010 at 9:45AM by Editor

UPDATE: I have contacted the developer of this app regarding its absence from the UK and European AppStores, and he hopes to have it back by the end of May.  As soon as I have more info on the return of this app, i will post it here on the blog.