Anybody who’ve been reading my blog knows that I’m a big fan of ProCamera. It’s my go-to Camera Replacement app and it’s always sitting on my home screen, ready for me to launch any time.

As I’ve written in a great details on my last post, ProCamera 7 is the new – iOS 7 only – successor of the ProCamera Classic which now seems to be discontinued as I can’t see it any more in the App Store. The new incarnation sports the iOS7-look flat User Interface and many of the functions have been repositioned to enhanced usability and accessibility. It also has a brand new photo editing tools and exclusive filter packs. Needless to say, as a regular user of Pro Camera myself, I’m very happy with the changes and the new improvements. However, some functions were still missing from the first version, things like Histogram, QR Code reader, and EXIF Viewer; and a few minor bugs were introduced like a shutter release lag when using Fullscreen Trigger (one of the most important feature for Streetphotographers).

Gladly these are the things that ProCamera dev team had fixed in the latest update (5.1).

Here are the list of fixes and new functions that are included in this update:

  • Fullscreen Trigger doesn’t lag anymore – I can confirm that this has been fixed.
  • Histogram is back! You need to turn it on from the setting first to show it.  Then you will see it at the top-bar in the middle (check out screenshots below).
  • And so is Steady Light – this is a feature to have flash light on continuously when taking picture or video which helps in low light condition.  Tap and Hold the Flash icon to turn the Steady Light on.
  • A complete PDF Manual is added – a great help when you don’t know what ‘that’ button does or what a particular setting means.  You can access the manual from the settings menu.
  • Last but not least, a new filter pack, inspired by classic 35mm films, called Analog is added. The filters apply subtle color shifts to your photos replicating negative and slide films.

 

Why Histogram is a very powerful tool for a Mobile Photographer

I was very happy that they fixed the Fullscreen Trigger lag, as I use this feature everyday. But another thing I was extremely happy for was the Histogram.

If you haven’t used or seen this function before, maybe you remember one of my post when I talked about the Dynamic Range of Brightness, between the Lightest and the Darkest, of one scene. The Histogram tool in ProCamera 7 will measure these light and dark values and show them in a little graph.

Here is a bit more detailed explanation taken from Wikipedia:

An image histogram is a type of histogram that acts as a graphical representation of the tonal distribution in a digital image. It plots the number of pixels for each tonal value. By looking at the histogram for a specific image a viewer will be able to judge the entire tonal distribution at a glance.

The horizontal axis of the graph represents the tonal variations, while the vertical axis represents the number of pixels in that particular tone. The left side of the horizontal axis represents the black and dark areas, the middle represents medium grey and the right hand side represents light and pure white areas. The vertical axis represents the size of the area that is captured in each one of these zones. Thus, the histogram for a very dark image will have the majority of its data points on the left side and center of the graph. Conversely, the histogram for a very bright image with few dark areas and/or shadows will have most of its data points on the right side and center of the graph.

You can see from the explanation above that Histogram if a very useful tool for a photographer. By looking at the graph, you can judge and subsequently set your Exposure as necessary.

The Histogram tool in ProCamera 7 has two additional features that makes it a very powerful companion for every mobile photographer.

The first feature is that it gives you visual warning in a form of a red-line indicator. When your scene is under-exposed (too dark), it will show the indicator on the left hand side of the graph. Similarly, if your scene is over-exposed (too bright), it will show the indicator on the right hand side of the graph.

The second feature of the Histogram tool in ProCamera 7, is that it will show these measurements in ‘real time’!

So as you pan and move your iPhone, or as you adjust the Exposure control, ProCamera 7 will show you the tonal values of the scene as the camera sensor sees it. This ability to see Histogram in real-time is quite unique for mobile photographer because even the modern DSRLs don’t have this functionality! Photographers who use DSLR can only check the Histogram ‘after’ the picture has been taken.

Subtle Analog Filters

To tell you the truth, I’m not the best judge for this filter because my knowledge of 35mm is very limited. But I’m sure many of you knows and may recognise what these filters are trying to emulate. Just for the fun of it, I include all of them with examples here:

By the way, it says that you have to like their Facebook page to ‘unlock’ the Analog Pack, but if you don’t have Facebook, you can just tap on the Like button – close the app and re-open it again and you should have it unlocked.  In anyway, I’ve seen a few apps that does this type of ‘Like my Facebook to unlock a Premium Feature’ thing instead of an in-app purchase.

 

If you are serious about your photography, don’t settle for less (aka the standard iPhone Camera). Take control of what you can or you can do about your photos and get ProCamera 7 (£1.99/$2.99/€2.69).

Check out my full review to get more information of all the features.

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