CameraBag: A Bag Of Filters To Spice Your Photos Up In A Cinch

The name CameraBag suggests the notion of an app that is like a magic bag with several different cameras in it. Simulating the look of some famous vintage cameras, like Holga and Lomo, CameraBag for iPhone is a promise of photographic enjoyment for many to have always in their pocket.

Features

  • Full resolution available;
  • Thirteen filters to choose from: Helga, Colorcross, Lolo, Plastic, Magazine, Instant, Silver, Mono, 1962, 1974, Cinema, Infrared, Fisheye;
  • Borders on/off;
  • Cropping on/off;
  • Possibility to share the photos via email.

Appotography Opinion

CameraBag is a very intuitive and simple to use app for photo editing. It works both with the camera and with photos stored in the camera roll. The ready-made filters cover a variety of effects and all the user has to do is to scroll, choose among them and save. Some effects are very well done and effectively convey the feel of vintage cameras; some others perhaps don’t work quite as well. The Infrared filter, for instance, isn’t very convincing in its results. We’re not fans of fisheye simulators either, which often look like nothing more than vaguely distorted versions of an original that’s clearly not taken with an actual fisheye lens; the CameraBag Fisheye filter is not an exception. Some weaker filters may work better in combination with others, and in general it’s possible to experiment filtering photos again and again to look at sometimes unexpected results. At any rate, the CameraBag app, for its immediateness  of use and clear interface can be a good choice especially for those who don’t like to spend too much time playing with filters but still want to spice their otherwise plain photos up.

Overall

Name: CameraBag
Developer: Nevercenter Co. Ltd.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. iOS 2.0 or later.
Price: £1.19||$1.99||€1.59
Vote: 3/5

CameraBag - Nevercenter Ltd. Co.

InstantCam™: instant photography on the iPhone has rarely been so bad

Polaroid-imitating applications are not a novelty. There are quite a few in the App Store, some with only very basic functionalities, some with many gimmicks and features to keep everybody busy for a while. The renown instant look in all its variations is an everlasting favorite of the public and thus an inexhaustible money-making source. Even those who have never used an actual instant camera in the Polaroid brand to take a photo, know them by name and by their looks.

The Polaroid Corporation recently woke up from their torpor, ages after the App Store had reached the saturation level with instant photography apps. The original Polaroid® appeared in the app store with its own application developed by Montreal-based Penté Group. But is it really worth it? Let’s look at the app in detail.

Features

  • Multiple cameras: InstantCam™ offers four different camera modes, B&W, Vintage, Colorize and Digital, to recreate the looks of old and recent Polaroids
  • Camera and library mode: to take a picture on the spot or edit previously taken photos
  • Shake or blow: like with the original Polaroids, shake or blow to develop the photo
  • Add text: annotate photos in handwriting-looking text on the bottom border with the built-in editor
  • Compatibility with Polaroid Studio: create custom albums to organize the photos and share them online. Requires a Polaroid Studio account

Appotography Opinion
In theory it’s all very good, but actually the InstantCam™ app is a big letdown. And letdown is a compliment. It’s been proved more than once than big brands and companies are not necessarily equivalent to great quality. It’s usually the opposite, as big brands tend to take advantage of their name instead of worrying about substantial matters. Using the original “Polaroid Instant Camera application for iPhone” reinforced this thought even more.

InstantCam™ iPhone


InstantCam™ iPhoneInstantCam™ iPhone
Not only the quality of the photos isn’t particularly good, the effects aren’t particularly striking – hardly mediocre I’d say – , but also the final picture resolution is a mere 302 x 307 pixels. I mean, really… what were they thinking?! Yes, those we posted are not resized images; they are the actual images. Absolutely ridiculous. Also, the final image has an added white border around the Polaroid-style frame (around 8 pixels) to grant the drop shadow effect on the Polaroid frame the  that is very annoying to look at and very troublesome if you have to, for example, use the photo against a background that isn’t white. Of course, you could get rid of those additional pixels importing the image in Photoshop or some equivalent photo editing program, but what would be the point?

Even paying a small amount of money for such a useless app is quite outrageous, especially with all non-original Polaroid apps out there that deliver the same and more, in a much better and effective way.

Overall

Name: InstantCam™
Developer: Penté Mobile
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. iOS 3.1.3 or later.
Price: £0.59||$0.99||€0.79

Vote: 1/5