The news that the iPod touch wasn’t getting a camera (yet) may have pushed you over the edge in your decision to pursue Apple’s flagship mobile device, the iPhone. So now you have the camera you’ve wanted and we want to show you an app that is going to enhance your experience above and beyond the native features. Say hello to Codegoo’s Camera Genius. Camera Genius is somewhat of an App Store veteran, being released in February of 2009. With such a relatively long history, Camera Genius brings many yearned for abilities to the device, while leaving out some that we would like to see.
The app’s icon is a striking nod the built-in camera app. However, the icon looks like an upscale SLR lens which appropriately points to Camera Genius’ additional abilities. Launch the app and you’ll recognize a familiar environment. Pulling cues from the native camera interface, Codegoo places their extra content in the lower left corner. Here you will find an assortment of goods that will leave you wondering “why doesn’t the iPhone do this straight out of the box?”
First of all, the one thing we were dying for was a larger capture button. Camera Genius does that by transforming the entire screen in to the capture button. When would this come in handy? Most likely when you are taking portraits of yourself with friends. Frustration can blot out a natural smile when you can’t find the capture button because the screen is facing away from you. Now, it is necessary to mention that with the Big Button enabled, the iPhone 3GS’ double-tap-to-focus feature is deactivated.
Next on our list was an image stabilization feature on the iPhone. Because no flash is offered on the device, dimly lit surroundings can quickly lead to blurry images. Camera Genius comes to the rescue in a somewhat roundabout way. Unlike standalone digital cameras that sport auto correcting stabilization technology, this app utilizes the iPhone’s accelerometer to discipline the shot. With Anti Shake turned on, Camera Genius will place a shake-ometer at the bottom of the screen. Tap the capture button and when the device reaches stability, the picture will be taken. Kind of a neat idea, although some users won’t want to wait for the camera to decide when the best shot exists.
Thirdly the app grants a Timer function that is sadly missing from the native camera application. Prop up your iPhone on a steady surface (easier said than done) and activate the Timer. Set the desired intervals: 2, 5, 10, 15, and 30 seconds. A nice selection of intervals considering many stand alone digital cameras only offer a couple choices.
Zoom is one attribute many we asking for in future iPhone updates. While it’s true that a zoom function is a great idea, the means by which it is carried out is an essential aspect. Optical zoom is the best option as it relies on hardware (lenses) to enlarge the image, much like a telescope. Due to the size of the iPhone, a true optical zoom is difficult to pull off. Digital zoom provides the effect of optical zoom, but at a degraded quality. What digital zoom does to enlarge an image is simply to blow up the pixels. This causes a result much like blowing up a scanned picture on your computer. The quality never exceeds the original, it just gets bigger. Often this leads to the “it looks fuzzy” complaints. Unfortunately, unless Apple integrates new hardware into the device, app makers are subject to digital zoom methods only. Camera Genius brings digital zoom to the iPhone in a simple to use way. A slider bar appears on screen allowing you to enlarge your object pretty easily. For your best pictures, we recommend you just get closer to your subject if you can.
Guides are included in Camera Genius as well. The help you compose your shots according to photography set-up rules that leads to more satisfying pictures. Turning on Guides will display phantom lines on screen that help with determining subject placement.
One characteristic we felt was a bit gimmicky was Sound Capture. This automatically snaps a photo when it hears a sound like “cheese.” We couldn’t find a huge use for this, but it does accentuate the iPhone’s cool-factor.
Now there were a few things we would love to see added to Camera Genius. One thing would be video camera integration. With the native iPhone camera app you can quickly toggle between still camera and video camera without leaving the interface. With Camera Genius, if you decide the circumstances better call for video, you will need to exit and launch another app for that. We would also like to see some photo editing built in. Nothing too serious, just maybe a few features from Photogene. Also lacking is the opportunity to share pictures via email or mms, although you can access the camera roll for viewing. One of the top App Store review complaints about Camera Genius is its slow processing time between shots. We agree that this is something Codegoo should be looking at updating in the next release.
All things considered, Camera Genius is a great compliment to the original camera app on the iPhone, but not a replacement. Since its release, the price has been fluctuating between $1.99 and $4.99. Currently, it’s available for $0.99 which we feel is a steal for so many cool, and much needed, features. Heck, $0.99 would justify the included photography tips. We give Camera Genius our 4-Dimple rating.
Camera Genius gets our AppSmile 4-Dimple rating:
