Camera Awesome iOS App Review

Features
Performance
Verdict

Camera Awesome is a free app for iOS devices from SmugMug. It works on iPhones and iPads and features a range of shooting options as well as ways to creatively enhance your shots. Here, we're testing the app on an iPhone.

Camera Awesome iOS App Features

• Spirit level for straight shots
• Focus in one place and set exposure in another with just a touch
• Image stabilisation
• Big button
• Slow & fast burst shooting
• Adjustable self-timer
• Interval shooting
• 1-tap and 0-tap Sharing
• 1-tap Awesomize
• Video Time Travel
• Compositional tools and effects
• Share to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, SmugMug and Flickr

Camera Awesome iOS App Performance

You can use Camera Awesome as a replacement for the Apple camera app that comes preinstalled on your iOS device, and there are plenty of reasons to do so. You have the added benefits of being able to use a self-timer, big button, speed burst, image stabilisation and interval shooting. Most of these options are fairly self-explanatory. You can also add a filter when shooting.

The image stabilisation option judges when you're holding the camera steady and takes a picture. With image stabilisation, we were able to shoot at 3 fps at full resolution with the slow option, fast allowed 16 fps, but file size is limited to a very low resolution of 480 x 320 pixels.

Camera Awesome also allows you to control focus and exposure points, which we find handy in situations where your subject is in a backlit situation.

iPhone Camera Exposure

Camera Awesome Selected Exposure Point

You can also record videos with Camera Awesome with the added bonus of being able to set the app to record a buffer of 5 seconds, so when you hit the record button, it will automatically add in the previous 5 seconds of footage as well.

When you've taken your picture, it's time to enter the editing part of the app by pressing the thumbnail of your image that appears in the bottom right hand corner. You can also load pictures from your camera roll as well.

Within the editing section, along the top is an 'i' button. This displays information about your picture such as date and time taken, size, shutter speed, ISO, focal length, flash and metering mode used. It'll also tell you if you've edited, exported, archived or shared the picture with Camera Awesome. In the bottom half of the screen is a map if your image has GPS information or you can view the image histogram.

On the bottom of the screen are share, edit, save and delete buttons. The share buttons lets you upload to a good range of social network sights. You can set up 1-tap sharing to make the process even quicker.

When you hit enter, new icons appear along the bottom. The first is Awesomize. This automatically adjusts the sharpness, temperature, vibrancy and contrast. You can manually adjust these settings as well.

Original

Awesomize

The next option is transform which lets you crop and rotate. The final options allow you to add an FX, filter, text and frame. There are 9 free ones available in each section, but you can also purchase more sets at £0.69 each, the whole range of each FX, filter, text or frame for £2.49, or every set for each for £6.99 - a total of 262,143 combinations! Here are examples of each of the free ones.

SmugMug Camera Awesome Sample Photos

You can now choose to export the original or edited picture to your camera roll or delete.

Camera Awesome iOS App Verdict

Camera Awesome offers the iPhoneographer an extended range of shooting options which aren't found on the limited iOS default camera app. It does include a low low light boost which is similar to the HDR option on the iOS app, so the only thing missing is a panorama mode. Taking pictures on iOS devices is all about sharing, the Camera Awesome app allows you to quickly edit your pictures and includes sharing options to all of the popular social networking sites. Best of all, the app is free!

Camera Awesome is one of the best iOS photography apps around, best of all, it's free!

Camera Awesome iOS App Pros

Offers more shooting options than the iOS default camera app
Can share images to an extensive number of social network sites
Works on all iOS devices
It's free

Camera Awesome iOS App Cons

Limited range of FX, filters, borders and textures for free
No panorama mode

FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

The Camera Awesome iOS App is available from the iTunes Store for free. For more information please visit the SmugMug website.