This weekend, I was totally obsessed with playing with a new iPhone camera app. Hopefully, the pix are so nifty that I can be forgiven for spending all my social time looking at my phone and squeeing.
Full disclosure: this is a compensated review without expectation of favorability.
I don't often do app reviews, except for the occasions in which I can't help but make a list of the coolest apps I've discovered of late. And I think that now that Shiny New App syndrome has worn off, a lot of us are simply returning to our favorite apps and not constantly seeking out the latest and greatest.
So it was kinda fun when the folks at Wondershare asked me to review this app. An excuse to futz with the iPhone camera? Sure!
The Skinny
PowerCam is a free iPhone camera app that enables the user to apply instant, live filters and effects to images and video BEFORE and WHILE shooting them. What you see on the screen before you snap the shot is what you get.
So here's what I see as the differentiating factor from services such as Instagram:
- Instant live filters (not simulated) for both video and photo--see the filters on the screen before you take the shot
- A plethora of effects--if you ever played with Photoshop, some of these will look familiar. But on live video and images BEFORE you take the picture? Crazy!
- Over 50 effects and filters overall
- No photo loss. All photos and videos go to your iPhone camera album as well as the Gallery section of the app.
- Instant sharing to social sites (Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr)
My explorations
There were so many effects and filters to explore; here is a quick slide show of my experiments with some of the coolest ones. My personal favorites: Burnt Paper (for photos at the Steampunk Ball), Neon (for that Saved by the Bell look) and Color Sketch (for the soft and artistic look).
The effects and filters can be applied instantly to live video as well, so that what you see through your iPhone screen is what is being recorded. A performance from the Beehive Juggernauts at the Steampunk Ball with the Chocolate filter:
And one of the contra dancers with the Ink filter:
I had a blast playing with this app, and it is currently my new favorite toy! The fact that I can apply the filters and effects to videos and images before taking them is like mannah from heaven for this lazy photographer's soul. What about you? If you've downloaded and played with this app, what do you like and dislike about it?
