100 Cameras in One is mainly a texture app. It’s square format only. It doesn’t apply vintage or retro effects per se, but among its filters are a lot of color shifts and a lot of overlays which apply subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) textures to your photos. You’ll find some of them work better than others. Click here for my recent review of version 2.0.
The version 3.0 update was just released. If you liked the previous versions of 100 Cameras, you’ll like the new update. It’s an improvement and has some new cool features. Otherwise, the new stuff isn’t really compelling enough if you are on the fence about this one.
The app has a new, spiffy retro camera logo which belies the nature of the app. It’s still more of an overlay app and doesn’t have dedicated retro camera filters.
100 Cameras has some really cool new composition gridlines which are user selectable between standard rule-of-thirds and the Pythagorean “Golden Ratio” model. I like the new viewfinder a lot. The finder is obscured and only previews the square image that will be captured. Grid controls are clearly labeled and easily accessible. One quirk the new finder has is the app defaults to the less-standard Golden Ratio composition grid. Just something to look for when you update — it’s super easy to switch them off or to rule of thirds.
The shutter release fires when you release the button, not when you press it. That seems like an insignificant feature, but being able to hold the shutter release button gives you time to steady the camera and capture the perfect shot. The camera supports onscreen auto-fcous, but none of the additional hardware features now standard on iOS devices. Overall, though, the camera has several great new features and is nice to shoot with. One important feature that needs to be added is the option to save your original full-size capture — an essential feature for an app that alters pixels as much as this one does.
Quick Tip: “Open app in camera view” is turned off by default. To shave a few seconds off start up, you can turn this setting on in the app’s Options.
The other new big addition to the app is greatly improved photo sharing within the app. 100 Cameras includes built-in sharing with several photo and social sites, including a couple of the cool but lesser-seen ones in an app. In addition to built-in support for Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr, you can now also share images straight to your SmugMug and DropBox accounts. Nice to see both services getting some use here. The update’s description also mentions in-app Tumblr support, but that option seems to be missing from this release.
Occasionally, the app opens with an ad for the new 100 Cameras in 1 for iPad version of the app. I don’t have an iPad yet and it would be nice to turn these ads off or have it show just once.
Apart from some filter and overlay tweaks, the rest of the app is essentially the same. It’s still an overlay app. The filters still are a collection of unrelated, very Zen names.
If you like the app, the new features are definitely an improvement and make 100 Cameras nicer to use all around. But the filters and overlays are still the same. The new features are nice — I’d like to see them in other camera apps. They aren’t enough to attract many converts.
100 Cameras in One sells for $1.99. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.
=M=
—
Here’s the entire new features list for version 3.0:
Major 3.0 Update ➤ New elegant custom camera interface with Phi and Rule-of-Thirds guides
Major 3.0 Update ➤ Remastered effects for you to discover
Major 3.0 Update ➤ Slider adjustments remember settings when swiping
Other 3.0 Updates:
- 8 New Achievements including location-based photo achievements
- DropBox integration! Now you can put your photos right into your DropBox account
- Share your photos on SmugMug
- Share your photos on Tumblr
- Share your photos on Posterous
- Clever popup tips to help guide you through features and give you tips
- Updated the Options page so that it scrolls… since the app is getting so many sharing options, we wanted to make it more user-friendly so people could just use their favorites.
- “Trey’s Helpful eBooks” now points to FlatBooks.com where there is a free eBook
Also:
- Fixed two mystery achievements in a mysterious way.
- When the intertubes act up and don’t post your photo with your text correctly, it will save your text
- Effects have been re-ordered and optimized
- Various bug fixes and optimization
~~~~
