iPhone - Specialty Toy Camera and Plastic Camera Apps

These Cameras all have a cool Toy Camera interface and are loaded with toy camera effects. They all let you either swap lenses, flashes and/or films.  Some have in-app purchases for more lens packages. If you are at all into iPhone photography they are really fun to play around with and you can get some great pictures pretty easily. A lot of these cameras also have Flickr groups that you can check out to see what kind of pictures you might be able to get. I find the Flickr groups very helpful when deciding whether or not to purchase a new camera app.

Hipstamatic

There is a reason why Hipstamatic is one of the most popular toy camera apps in the appstore. It's got a great user interface, some really cool effects and I find it really fun to swap out lenses, flashes and films. The app comes with a basic lens/flash/film pack and offers other packs as in-app purchases. I bought all of them and think the extra cost was worth it.  This is definitely my most used camera app on my iPhone.

Pinhole Camera

So far the Pinhole Camera is pretty simple. Like the Hipstamatic camera, you get a little viewfinder to frame your pictures. The graphics and interface look pretty good and the pictures come out great. There are only three "film type" options so far but they are good. What I really like about this camera is the double exposure option that enables you to take some pretty cool, textured photographs. You can share your photos to Facebook or Email from within the app and turn the iPhone 4 flash on or off. The only problem at the moment is that it outputs at a low-resolution, but I'm sure they will be able to fix that quickly.

Retro Camera Plus

Retro Camera Plus is a free toy camera that is supported by ads. Although I'm not a fan of ugly ads cluttering up my screen, the app is decent so I don't really mind that much. There are five different vintage cameras, complete with descriptions and a color/b&w option. The app doesn't support full iPhone 4 resolution yet, which is disappointing but I'm glad to see another plastic toy camera app emerge. Plus it is free, so why not give it a shot?

Pudding Camera

Pudding Camera used to have a cool toy camera interface but with the most recent update it changed to a couple of small buttons. Regardless, Pudding Camera is a great and free toy camera with a bunch.  Unfortunately, its all in Korean and there isn't an English version yet. There are a bunch of different simulated cameras and films to choose from, including; A few Lomo-like toy cameras, a Panorama, a Fish Eye and two multi-photo cameras like the ClassicSAMP.

ClassicTOY - Plastic Toy Camera

All of the Classic series of cameras come from the same developer. They all have a variety of film types to swap out. My primary problem with this method is that there is no way to preview your film type selection to see what it may look like and I can't remember what they would all look like if I were to use them. With that said, the ClassicTOY camera takes some pretty cool pictures and has a nice and simple interface. It comes with a couple of lenses and film types and you have to purchase the rest inside the app. The addition lenses include a pin-hole simulator, a weird color wash lens, a four and six picture lens and a fish eye. I don't use this camera as much as Hipstamatic but still enjoy busting it out once in a while.

ClassicPAN - Vintage Panoramic Camera

ClassicPAN does one thing, it takes pictures with the top and bottom cut off to create a panorama. Its got some cool film types that you can swap out and a nice vignetting effect. I like using this camera for quick panoramic shots because its easy and fast. They pictures come out nice like all the other Classic camera but if I want to take a real panoramic picture, I use the app Pano.

ClassicSAMP - 4 lens toy camera

I'm not really a fan of the "mulit-lens" camera. They all take a series of pictures and just stack them next to or on top of each other.  If you are into that sort of thing this app is simple and does it well, with some nice photo effects.  I prefer to take my pictures separately and put them together in an app like Diptic.  ClassicSAMP is more suited to action shots, where you want to take 4 pictures pretty close together and place them next to each other.

ClassicINSTA

ClassicINSTA is another easy to use and quick toy camera with a variety of film types and three user interfaces that you can choose from. Its good for speed, when you don't want to take the time to swap out lenses on another more complex camera app but if you already have Hipstamatic or ClassicTOY then you probably don't need this one.

These Cameras don't have a toy camera interface but they are free and simulate various toy camera effects.  The other toy camera apps listed above can do the same thing that these apps do (except the Vint Shift camera) so if you get any of them, you won't need any of these free apps. If you don't have the money to spend and want to mess around with some vintage effects, try these out. All these apps do one thing and do them quickly.  I think the Vint Shift is a pretty good free app but you can't really adjust the line of focus. Once you take the photos, you can't make any changes in any of these apps, what you get is what you get.

Vint Red

Vint Green

Vint B&W

Vint Shift

iPhone Photography - Microscopic Images

This is a selection of Microscopic Photography that I took with my iPhone 4. A lot of the images were taken with the app Hipstamtic but I also sometimes use ClassicTOY, PictureShow, TiltShift Generator, CAMERAtan, Lo-Mob and other photo effect apps.

iPhone Photography - Objects

This is a selection of Object Photography that I took with my iPhone 4. A lot of the images were taken with the app Hipstamtic but I also sometimes use ClassicTOY, PictureShow, TiltShift Generator, CAMERAtan, Lo-Mob and other photo effect apps.

iPhone Camera Hacks - External Lenses

I've been experimenting with various camera hacks for my iPhone 4 recently. The first one I tried was a Mini Microscope Mod by Crabfu.  Next I tried the CD/DVD lens hack.  Both were fun and had some okay results.  The CD/DVD lens was incredibly difficult to mount and the quality wasn't that great.  The Mini Microscope Mod only works really close up and I often have lighting issues.  It's also hard to get things in focus and you have to use your digital zoom to get rid of the black circle around the frame.  I think I found a hack that is better than both, cheaper and much better quality.  Before we get to that though, if you want to try the CD/DVD lens hack, I made this video about how to remove one from an old PC CD player:

I was recently wandering though a thrift shop and saw a huge basket of old 35mm camera's for between $2 and $3 dollars.  I decided to buy one, tear it apart and see what kind of lenses I could pillage from the interior.  What I found was a gold mine and it was super cheap.  It did take a long time to get to everything though. It took about 1 hour of labor and you'll need a tiny screw driver and a pair of wire cutters.

I also purchased an old broken Polaroid camera and found an amazing lens that was similar to the dvd/cd lens but bigger.  Its much easier to mount and align with the iPhone camera and takes higher quality pictures.

You can check out some of the Microscopic pictures I've taken on my Flickr page.

Why I Don't Post Very Often - Other Places To Find Me

I've been a pretty busy guy recently and this blog isn't really a place to re-blog mobile tech news.  I'm much more interested in creating extensive applists that I can't seem to find elsewhere on the web.  I'm working on three new lists at the moment; specialty toy cameras, photo effects and music production apps.

I don't post here very often but you can also check out some more serious (non-app related) writing at my Fuser-Invent Blog or check out my music, art, design and photography at my Tumblr Blog.

If you find any of my applists helpful please let me know and spread the word.

Thanks!
-Benjamin

iPhone Productivity Apps - Organize Yourself

I don't like have a dozen apps when I could use one to get the same job done.  When trying to organize my personal and work life, I am looking for four main functions; a to-do list view, a calender view, a quick note option and a journal.  I tried a bunch of other apps that seemed to work well enough but a couple of months ago I spent $3.99 on Awesome Note (+Todo) by BRID.  Since then, I've been able to delete several other application that did their job just fine but cluttered up my iPhone.  There is a lite version as well if you want to see if the user interface works for you before shelling out the cash.  It definitely has nice graphics and is very easy to use.

 

Awesome Note (+Todo) by BRID

What I like the most about Awesome Note is that you can set up different folders for your personal life and work life.  My folders are set up with a to-do list for work, a folder with all my accounts and their information, a personal to-do list, a daily journal, a shopping list, a list for my ideas, a folder for my band, a folder for lyrics and a folder for quick notes.  You can put a password lock on any folder and change the color of the tabs, the icons, the background for the notes inside the folder and the font.

 There is a calender view for each folder individually or for all of your folders at the same time.  You can set due dates, change creation dates, color code everything and sync with google docs or evernote.  This is my number one organizational tool on my iPhone right now.  I got rid of all my other note taking apps with the exception of Evernote, which I sync with Awesome Note and frequently use the PC software on my computer.  I got rid of all my journal apps, with the exception of a dream journal app called DreamLoggr because I like the interface and have hundreds of dreams logged in it already.

Another application that I've started using to organize my contacts is called Groups 2: Contact Management with Style by Guided Ways Technologies Ltd.  It is an intuitive way to organize your phone numbers, emails and physical addressing and other contact information stored in your phone.  The user interface and graphics are good and work similar to Awesome Note, even though this app is made by a competitor who has a great app called 2Do: A Stunning To Do List with Push and Sync that would be worth checking out if you don't like Awesome Note.

Groups 2: Contact Management with Style -

by Guided Ways Technologies Ltd

In Groups 2, I have split up my 400+ phone numbers, emails, addresses, etc. into several folders.  Once again I've separated my personal life from my work life.  One great thing is that you can add any contact to any folder, so someone you work with that is also a friend can be under two different groups.  There are also Smart Groups in this app which allow you to use filters to create a group, but I don't use them.  You can send group emails and the developer claims that when the new iPhone OS comes out, you will be able to send group SMS messages as well.  Groups 2 can sync with your contacts on the iPhone, in Yahoo, Google and other places.  At $2.99 I found it to be well worth the price.

 The last app I want to mention is called Mint.com.  Mint is software used for online money management and budgeting.  Organizing your financial life can relieve a lot of daily stress and Mint does a great job of bringing all your accounts into the same place and showing you the data in an easy to understand way.  The user interface looks good and is easy to navigate.  I had some trouble adding my bank when I first signed up but their tech support was very helpful and in less than a week they solved the problem.

 Mint.com Personal Finance by Mint.com

Mint.com lets you set a monthly budget and track your expenses and income.  It also lets you look at your bank account, credit cards, loans, investments and all of your transactions.  Mint.com will warn you if you go over budget or get a late fee on a credit card.  The website is very helpful and can show you exactly where you money is going.  Mint is free so it's worth checking out if you want a digital way to keep track of all these things.  I do still keep a checkbook but now I can easily look at how much I spend on food, entertainment or my car each month.

If you want to move files across different computers and to your phone, check out Dropbox.  Its very easy to use and makes transferring files a cinch.  One of the best parts about it is that you can drop your files from your computer into that computers Dropbox and hit the road while they are transfering, when they are done they will show up on your iPhone and every other computer that you have Dropbox linked to.  That means you don't have to find and plug in your cable and wait to sync your iPhone.

Awesome Note and Groups 2 make a great organizational combo and Mint.com is a great way to organize your finances.  I would highly recommend all of them.  Even though there are other apps in the appstore that do pretty much the same thing, these apps have good graphics and are easy to use.  If you are working with an app on a daily basis, you definitely want it to look good.  One thing that Awesome Note lacks is a voice recording function.  Groups 2 doesn't seem to have voicemail access and when you make a call it opens the regular iPhone "Phone" application.  Mint.com can sometimes be slow to update so it can't be used as a live look at your bank accounts.  Other than those minor problems, these apps are well worth it.

FourTrack By Sonoma Wire Works

FourTrack by Sonoma Wire Works is an iPhone music production app.  I've messed around with several single track music recording apps and haven't tried any of the newer mulit-track recording app yet because FourTrack has such a nicely designed user interface.  As soon as I open the application I feel comfortable and at home.  It's simplicity and excellent graphics make it a joy to work with.

 

FourTrack By Sonoma Wire Works

FourTrack allows you to bounce previously recorded tracks to add more layers.  To record you simply arm the recording button and slide the record button.  There are pan knobs and a couple of effects in the song tools area.  You can send your recorded songs to you computer using a wifi connection or Somoma's RiffWorks software.  In it's earlier incarnations there were some glitches and bugs but they were promptly fixed in updates.  The one thing FourTrack doesn't yet have, which is much needed, is the option to import tracks from the iPod/iTunes library.  I often have rough demo's I have recorded elsewhere and would love to be able to throw them into FourTrack and record vocal ideas over them.

There really isn't much else to say about FourTrack.  It does exactly what it is supposed to and looks really nice.  One thing that everyone getting into iPhone recording apps should know is that you can not control the input volume from within the app or iPhone settings.  The only way to avoid clipping in loud situations is to use an external volume control.  In my blog iPhone Mic and Guitar Cable by KV Connection I address this problem and some other limitations.

One other thing I love about FourTrack is that it brings me back to the days when I would record on an old Fostex cassette tape four track recorder.  There is some about being limited that really helps with the song writing process.  I used FourTrack primarily for song ideas or to record band practices.  I've had access to almost unlimited tracks for so long now, I almost forgot what it was like to be 16 years old and recording music in my dad's studio.  FourTrack costs $9.99 but I think it was well worth it and I hope that it continues to improve in the future.