The current top selling application is Camera Genius. It is right above Camera Zoom and will put it out of business instantly since it does so much more than simply zoom. Camera Genius packs zoom, anti-shake, timer, and along with other things a very innovative feature called sound capture.
I have been using Camera Zoom for nearly a month as my primary camera app and wasn’t too happy with it. What I liked about it though was the fact that I had the choice to digitally zoom and touch anywhere to capture the photo. Now I am not stuck with such a limited camera.
The zoom is much like the zoom in Camera Zoom. During the testing I discovered that the quality was virtually identical. Genius’s version only had the option to have a lower resolution photo, whereas with Camera Zoom there was a choice to have a higher resolution picture.
Sound capture is a pretty innovative feature. Basically instead of having to tap the screen to take snap the picture, you merely make a noise or just say something. In testing though it wasn’t all that practical. I thought it would be a good idea to test it by leaning it up, stepping back, saying cheese, but ran into a problem. Since the mic is located on the bottom of the phone it, there was a decent amount of noise when I set it down. This of course caused the phone to take a picture.
If you have the iPhone 3G or the original iPhone, then chances are you get some blurry pictures from time to time. Camera Genius contains an anti-shake feature. All this does is take a picture once it senses the phone is still using the accelerometer. You only notice a slightly clearer picture if you have a steady hand, but the best part is it assures you that you will not waste your time with a blurry photo.
Like many other applications, Camera Genius gives you an option to tap the top three quarters of the screen to take a picture. The reason it doesn’t extend the rest of the way is because you would get some accidental pictures taken when trying to slide the zoom bar. I have had this happen on many occasions using Camera Zoom so this is a much appreciated feature.
People that like their preview screen split up into sectors to assist them with positioning photos will enjoy the guides added to this application. Personally this is not a feature I plan on ever using but I’d rather have too many features than not enough.
The default camera app is so basic that it doesn’t even include a timer. Many other apps in the App Store have this feature as well as many of the others, but this one has so many features all in one. All you do to change the timer time is tap the number to cycle between 2, 5, 10, 15, and 30 seconds.
The one thing I never thought I would see in this application was manuals on how to take good pictures. They are actually very useful tips for beginner to intermediate photographers. Using them can maximize the effectiveness of the iPhone’s built in camera and photos in general.
Some other things that are worth mentioning is Camera Genius remembers what settings you had on the last time you closed it, so when you open the camera back up they are still set to how you want them. Also it counts how many pictures you take while the app is open and displays that number in the upper right hand corner.
To summarize, you should buy this app now if you want some much needed features for your camera. It only costs $0.99 USD for a limited time. Go purchase it on iTunes now or go to CodeGoo.com for more info.
