The Best Camera

Before I got my iPhone I had a Nokia N95 – It had a 5 megapixel camera, lense cover, flash and zoom. As a camera on a smartphone it spoiled me and the lack of camera features & functions was one of my main criticisms of the iPhone with its 2 megapixel no flash/no zoom camera, but I still brought an iPhone anyway.

Taking photos on the iPhone was really a last resort; If I wasn’t using my Canon EOS 30D (obviously not practical for all occasions e.g. mountain biking, going down the pub, getting into gigs etc) or my old Fuji A350, which is still kaput, then I’d also carry round my N95 for taking “proper” snaps as well as having my iPhone.

Then some time ago my friends at 2020, the Farnborough photographic lab, showed me the work of Chase Jarvis. He’s a great photographer, particularly for action shots, mood lighting, innovative shooting and the like. Check out his commercial portfolio to see what I mean.

Monster TruckChase Jarvis also produces an iPhone app, The Best Camera… is The One That’s With You™ It took me a while before I found the time or inclination to install the app but now that I have it has certainly put the creative slant back in my attitude towards the iPhone camera, limited as it may be.

Train TracksPut it this way – OK, the iPhone may be just 2 megapixels, and sure it has no zoom and no flash, but when you add the simple effects from The Best Camera app you get the iPhone equivalent of Lomography, the photography from that old cult Russian film camera the Lomo Compact Automat.

I’ve always wanted a Lomo Compact. It’s a solid state communist-era camera that takes shots that often appear very saturated with a vignette style. But The Best Camera app means I can do the same with my iPhone – Just adding the “Candy” filter with the vignette is enough to get a simple retro feel to a shot.

It’s early days yet and there will be plenty of opportunities to grab some nice iPhone shots during the summer (Guildfest, days out etc) and see if we can get that 20th century reel feel to them, but here are my Best Camera photos so far and don’t forget to give The Best Camera app a go yourself.

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