A very slick update to NightCap Pro ($1.99) was released on Monday with several new tools and settings to let you photograph even more things in the dark.
NightCap Pro is a very-low-light camera app that uses a combination of extreme ISO and shutter speed adjustments with a dash of magic sprinkled in. The net result is a great camera app that you can use for long exposures that photograph nighttime sky phenomena as well as other very dimly lit subjects.
Here’s a list of the update’s new features and improvements:
NEW: 4 automatic camera modes:
- Meteor mode for photographing shooting stars with ease. Just start this mode and point your device upwards, leave it for a while, and see what it caught!
- ISS mode for photographing the International Space Station and other satellites.
- Star trails mode for capturing the movement of the stars in the sky.
- Stars mode for taking clear, crisp photos of the stars.
(These features require iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad Mini (2nd Generation), iPod Touch (6th Generation) or later)
NEW: AI focusing. When the camera struggles to focus in very low light the new AI system takes over for fast, reliable focus.
NEW: 3D Touch shortcut menu for iPhone 6s / 6s Plus. Press firmly on the app icon for quick access to common features.
Improved manual focus – 100 now means infinite focus, not past it!
NightCap Pro screenshot
Where I live in the city, we have too much haze and light pollution for me to test out the new star trails, stars, and ISS modes. I’ve used Nightcap Pro to get some decent shots of a meteor shower. I’m looking forward to seeing what the new tools of the app can do underneath a blanket of stars in a clear nighttime sky.
For the most part, though, the new focusing improvements work as advertised.
Low-light/high ISO photography is pretty tricky. It takes time and a lot of trial and error on an iPhone. It’s unpredictable. It’s often noisy even with the best of apps or equipment. To get the clearest shots possible, you’ll need a tripod of some sort to hold your iPhone or camera steady during those long exposures. It’s all worth it when you sort through a night’s worth of shots and find one or two killer exposures that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to capture.
Download Nightcap Pro
App Store link: NightCap Pro – Chris Wood
