The iPhone's inbuilt camera really isn't anything special at all. Throw a brick at any mobile phone store, and you're bound to hit a dozen competing phones with better inbuilt cameras.
You'd also get arrested for criminal damage and possibly assault, depending on where the brick bounced, so don't take that advice too literally, please.
In any case, while the camera onboard might not be all that exciting, there's no end of camera-specific applications that can make something special out of your photos once they've been taken. Here's five of our favourites:
Camera Bag
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| Take a shot, and then see how it would have turned out with a classic camera with Camera Bag |
Camera aficionados will often talk about classic camera or lens types with affection. Camera Bag is essentially designed to replace those classic camera types.
It's a simple app to use; once you've taken a photo a swipe will render the given camera type effect over each shot, saving your original snap along the way.
Camera Genius
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| Sick of blurry iPhone photos? Camera Genius' motion sensor won't take the shot until the phone's nice and still (which it clearly isn't here...) |
Apple loves the word Genius, but very few of us are in that elite group when it comes to photography.
Camera Genius is a neat little App designed to make basic photography easier, combining an overlay grid, motion sensor (for blur-free photography) and even a big friendly camera button that you can't possibly miss.
ColorSplash
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| It's a simple trick, but it's quite surprising how creative ColorSplash can make your otherwise pedestrian photos. |
ColorSplash is a saturation tool that works as simply as possible. Pick a photo -- or take one -- and it'll suck all the colour out of it.
Wherever you "paint" with your finger it'll restore the colour, giving you a range of creative as well as genuinely fun possibilities.
TiltShiftGenerator
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| Selective focus usually costs a lot in either Photoshop time or expensive lenses. TiltShiftGenerator makes it as simple and low-cost as possible. |
Focus is something that can be tricky enough to achieve with the iPhone's camera at the best of times, but if you do want to selectively work with focus for artistic effect, TiltShiftGenerator gives you the tools needed to get to work.
Although it does launch with a tutorial, it's not the easiest of concepts to "get" for the amateur photographer, but some results can be stunning.
Best Camera
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| A community of like-minded iPhone camera fans and an easy to apply series of interesting filters should get your creative photography juices flowing. |
Best Camera's got an interesting philosophy behind it, if nothing else. Developed by pro photographer (and shameless self-promoter) Chase Jarvis, it offers a slew of simple filters tied into photo sharing, all behind the simple idea that the best camera you can get is the one you have on you.
This pushes the focus back on your skill and framing, rather than the equipment to hand, forcing creativity -- at least in theory.
Also in this series, Amazing apps for your phone:
Part 5: Get from A to B on public transport
Part 4: What's the weather like out there?
Part 3: Top 3 twitter clients for iPhone
Part 2: Here's how to get cheap iPhone apps
Part 1: How to make the most out of your iPhone's GPS
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