ColorRight for iPhone and iPT on sale now for $0.99
.
ColorRight for iPhone is on sale now for a limited time for $0.99. It normally goes for $4.99 – that’s 80% off. It claims to be a custom white balance solution for iPhone, which would be cool, but in most instances it didn’t really work well for me without the additional $39 add-on iBal filter. ProCamera’s white balance lock works much better for me. For a buck, though, ColorRight might be worth a look for future updates.
This isn’t my official review. These are my first impressions of the app after spending an afternoon with it. They may change as I work more with the app.
It’s definitely a high-end app. The interface is for photographers who know their way around a camera. The app shoots and saves in your device’s full resolution.
ColorRight samples: White balance off (l) and white balance (r). Sweater courtesy of TheUglySweaterShop.com.
In less-than-ideal ambient light conditions, it sometimes added a yellow cast to the images — almost as bad as the yellow cast from the early iPhone 4s. Other images taken with the standard camera as well as other apps didn’t have this cast. Since first writing this, I’ve used the app under different lighting conditions and gotten better results but nothing I was really thrilled with. ProCamera’s White Balance lock more easily creates more brilliant, accurate and natural-looking whites.Really, I got better results with just about every other camera app I used, including Apple’s Camera app — with and without HDR.
I need to try ColorRight under studio lighting conditions. I think this is probably where the app will function best.
The iBal filter advertised on the homescreen is an additional $39 purchase and one that most iPhoneographers are probably not going to make. ColorRight includes instructions on setting the white balance using a sheet of paper, which is how most will probably opt. Setting the white balance with a sheet of paper as they describe is a little tricky. You’ve got to be very flexible in order to set the white balance without including the camera’s shadow as well. White balance needs to be set before every session. For example, you can’t set the white balance for generic sunlight and shoot for hours with it. Every time you exit the app, you need to reset. Not always convenient. ProCamera doesn’t have this problem — once its white balance is locked, that’s how it shoots until released.
ColorRight isn’t an everyday shooter. It might be a good studio shooter. I’ve got to dig out our lights and do some product shots to see how the app performs under controlled lighting.
ColorRight requires iOS 4.1 and works on any device that runs the latest iOS.
For $4.99, I can’t recommend this app yet. Right now, ProCamera performs white balance lock better and costs less. For $0.99, though, ColorRight might be worth considering to get into the update path. Given the developer’s reputation in the DSLR market, I strongly suspect these issues will be fixed in future updates.
=M=
~~~~
Related Link:
Marty is a self-employed graphic designer in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex. He is an avid Rangers baseball, Chicago Cubs, Packers and Highbury Arsenal fan. In addition to capturing random moments with whatever camera is close by (usually his iPhone), his other interests include coffee, film, music, and traveling in seats 5E and 5F with his fiancé.
6 Comments »
Leave a comment!
this appears to be a camera replacement app. Is the custom WB it sets only in effect while using the app?
Hi, Charles,
This isn't really a camera replacement app, in that it's a lot clunkier to use than, say, ProCamera or Camera Prime. It's a specialized camera app. The custom white balance setting is only in effect until you close out the app. It doesn't hold the setting between seesions — frustrating if you're shooting outside or doing a lot of photography under controlled lighting conditions.
thank you Marty. That's what I suspected. I applaud developers work with WB and would probably send them a couple bucks if asked. However the slow, methodical shot set-up method of photography doesn't fit with iPhoneography, at least not for me. I still have lots of 4×5 sheets in the freezer for that. Now a one or 2 tap focus, exposure and WB setting…that's the ticket…or the ability to set custom WB and have it stay until changed, that works too.
Hi Marty,
Thanks for the feedback, and for purchasing the app.
Do you have an iBal filter? It works much better with the spectrally neutral diffusion filter. Try pointing it toward the light source, rather than the subject.
You might also try to use the white paper as a diffuser (actually hold it flush against the lens and point back toward the light source (a so called "incident reading").
Please let me know if I may be of any further assistance.
We are still trying to figure out how best to package this app, as the app was specifically written to work a true neutral filter. The filter really is required for best results. White paper is not really neutral, subject to easy color contamination, shadows, etc.
This being my first App Store App I was concerned they would not approve a paid app they couldn't test via some method.
We are contemplating making the app free altogether and submitting the app as simply requiring the filter with no reference to the sub-optimal "white" paper method.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Drew Strickland
App Author & ColorRight Inventor
Drew,
Thank you for dropping in and sharing the tip about the white paper "incident reading" method. While not optimal, it's the least expensive and most likely the more popular method of setting the white balance. I have not purchased the iBal filters yet.
I did have problems getting the app to work properly under normal light conditions using a very bright white paper stock, but I was trying to set the white balance reflectively.
I'll let you know what I find using the diffuser method. Thanks, Drew.
=M=
Hi Marty,
Thanks for the response. Just a quick note.
We have gone ahead and reduced the price of the filter to $19.95 and made the app free (at least temporarily).
The bright white papers are especially poor for use as a "white" reference. The "brighter" the white paper rating the more OBA's (optical brighteners) that have been added to it. The "brighter" white papers are actually somewhat blue in tint. The App thinks it is being shown a true neutral reference. When it is shown something that is actually cooler (the blue tinted white paper) it will tend to yield a too warm result, because it tries to compensate by adding more yellow.
If you want to try another "cheap" white reference type of object, please consider trying to use a standard white coffee filter and point the camera and coffee filter toward the light source (rather than the subject). Curious to see how this works out for you.
Hope some of this is making sense?
Thanks,
Drew