Life in LoFi: iPhoneography | iPhone Photo News, Showcases, App Reviews

While I’m generally leary of under the radar apps that are discounted to free, Lens+ is a refreshingly nice surprise. It’s an easy to use retro camera app with a bunch of filters that look great. I’d say it’s not a bad app at it’s normal price of $1.99. Right now, it’s been discounted for a very limited time to FREE. Grab it now. The App Store link is after the jump. >>>

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iPhone lomography app Lomora has a new update. Lomora 3 was just released and is a major overhaul of the app. New users may like the combinations of Lomora’s filter set and the many of the new options. Previous users may like them, too, but will have to shell out three bucks to find out. This is a paid upgrade.

It’s an ambitious update. Many of the new features are well done and great. Many others seem thrown together and poorly coded. And I’m puzzled by some of the app’s changes.

Read past the jump for more details. >;>;>;

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Camera Awesome
Version reviewed 1.0.1
Price: Free (bust out your wallet for all the in-app add-ons)

Bottom Line: This is a great all-in-one camera replacement. I have almost no issues with the app. It’s even worth paying for.

Before long, Camera Awesome, the new iPhone photo app from SmugMug, will top Instagram as the number one free photo app. It’s that good. It’s a full-featured camera replacement that for the most part lives up to the “awesome” moniker. The app has a lot of in-app add ons, but most users will be very happy with just the free version.

Click past the jump for my full review. >>>

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Photo Editor+
Version reviewed: 1.0
Price: $0.99

Bottom Line: I don’t like it. A good toolset, but it fails to do a lot of basic functions well.

When an iPhone photo app cracks the App Store Top Ten, it’s selling hundreds, if not thousands of copies a day. Generally, when it’s that highly ranked, it’s a safe bet that the app has been vetted by users and is going to be a pretty good buy.

Which leads me to wonder how Photo Editor+ by Axiem Systems has ranked so high so quickly from its initial launch two weeks ago. Currently, the app is #5 on the App Store Paid Photo & Video sales chart — better than stalwart apps like Snapseed, Photogene2 and even Hipstamatic. It’s not a horrible app, but it’s definitely not worthy of number 5 with a bullet.

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pxl
Version reviewed: 1.0
Price: $1.99, introductory priced at $0.99

Bottom Line: Great looking effects, but low-res output. At least a four-star app when it supports high-res.

pxl is a new iPhone photo app that adds geometric and abstract effects to your photos. Rather than simulate low-res pixelization or a censored mosaic, pxl applies creative pixelization in a variety of styles to your images. Like photo apps Percolator and Decim8, it’s one of the rare modernist apps that looks forward in style, not backward.

I really like pxl except for one detail — the app only currently supports 640×960 on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

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I like instant camera apps — fake Polaroids or fauxlaroids as I call them here. Few cameras elicit such an emotional connection and warm fuzzys as an old Polaroid instant camera. The border and shape of the SX-70 prints are so iconic, they’re trademarked.

There are a lot of fauxlaroid apps and photo apps with instant camera effects. Some of them emulate instant photos better than others. New photo app PolarCam tries to, but just misses the mark for me in capturing that visceral magic of classic instant cameras.

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Although I passed on it when it was first released, here’s a look at Nofinder, a toy camera app that, as the name suggests, lacks a viewfinder. It also lacks flash, autofocus and front camera support. It’s not really a stealth cam, although it can be used as one. It’s a shoot-from-the-hip camera — just shoot blind without first being able to compose your shot.

Nofinder is not a camera replacement or an everyday shooter. Even the developer says it is not a “friendly photo app.” I think it makes a good “project” camera — an app you can use on a photographic mission to challenge yourself creatively.

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When Hipstamatic’s new America HipstaPak is released later this week, there will be 420 possible film and lens combinations. Figuring out which lens and film combos to use is either time-consuming or often just left to “Shake to Randomize.”

The new app Hipstamatch™ is an easy to use, thorough guide to nearly all of Hipstamatic’s films and lenses. If you shoot with Hipstamatic, this is an essential purchase.

More after the jump. >>>

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Paint FX
Version reviewed: 2.1
Price: $1.99

Bottom Line: I think Paint FX is okay. It’s unique workflow is offset by several annoying glitches.

Paint FX by Sprite Labs was recently updated to version 2.1. The name suggests that it’s a paint program. It has a few paint-like effects, but it’s really more of a photo effects app that lets you “paint in” effects. Although it has plenty of standard color and overlay effects, the app’s painting and layering workflow is different and and what sets it apart from most photo apps.

While it has a lot of cool features, Paint FX has a few annoyances that keep it from being a great app for me.

More after the jump. >>>

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UPDATE 02.03.12: After about a day in the App Store, Instagrunge has disappeared. No reasons were given in the dev’s Twitter stream and the app’s Facebook page is offline as well. There is a short explanation at the bottom of the Instagrunge website:

“But the app isn’t quite finished yet, so you will have to wait a little longer before you can start dirtying up your images. Stay tuned…”

New iPhone photo app Instagrunge recently hit the App Store. As the name implies, Instagrunge quickly and easily scuffs, fades, scratches, damages and stains your photo quickly and easily.

Currently, it’s free through February, making it fairly easy to download and try out. Even while free, though, it’s got a lot of problems, though, before it finds a place on my iPhone. >>>

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