Cycloramic iPhone App Review

Features
Performance
Verdict

The Cycloramic app gives iPhone users a new way to take panoramic pictures and videos. If you have the new iPhone 5 it works completely hands free. You just have to place your iPhone upright on a smooth and level surface, then press go. You phone rotates 360 degrees, taking pictures, then automatically stitches them together. Your panoramas can then be viewed in the 3D viewer. The app also allows you to record panoramic videos and convert other panoramas into videos.

Cycloramic iPhone App Features

• Hands-free mode (iPhone 5 only)
• Guided mode (iPhone 4/4S/5)
• Creates panoramic pictures and videos
• 3D viewer
• Automatically saves to camera roll
• Convert panoramic photos to 24 second HD movies

Cycloramic iPhone App Performance

To use the hand-free mode on your iPhone 5 you need to set it to vibrate on silent and vibrate on ring via the settings. You must also remove the cover if you have one. The iPhone then needs to be stood in an upright position on a smooth, level surface - glass, marble or polished wood are listed as examples. Here is a video of the app in action:



As you can see it rotates round and matches up the circles, stops, takes a shot, then starts the process over until it has gone round the full 360 degrees. Your final picture is processed and displayed in the 3D viewer. Videos are slightly different as rather than stopping it just continuously moves until it has gone round completely.


Example photo

Picture quality is fairly good, our example is around 11 megapixels, but there are some slight stitching issues and the light shining through the window has caused a slight exposure issue.


Example video

The app originally only did videos and again, quality is good, but it does seem strange shooting a video in portrait, rather than landscape orientation. Version 2.1 has since been launched which allows you to convert any panorama photos, including those already taken using other apps, into HD videos.

Cycloramic iPhone App Verdict

The Cycloramic app certainly looks impressive when rotating itself around, but the images and videos produced aren't brilliant, certainly not as good as the panoramas produced by the new iPhone camera app. It's nice to see the iPhone being utilised in this way, but to make the app really worth while, image quality has to improve, with more detail and better stitching.

Cycloramic iPhone App Pros

A unique way to take panoramas
Fast and easy to use
3D viewer for picture playback

Cycloramic iPhone App Cons

Slight stitching issues when taking pictures
iPhone moves away slightly from its original position when shooting video
iPhone camera app produces better images
Needs a flat surface

FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

The Cycloramic iPhone App is available from the iTunes Store for £0.69. For more information please visit the Cycloramic website.