Review: Camera Bag
by Ian
April 27, 2009
Overview
Use Camera Bag to apply filters that make photos look like they were taken with cameras from different eras. It has a slick interface that makes it really easy to apply some convincing effects. However, it lacks options, making it impossible to fine tune the look of a photo from within the app. Camera Bag is probably for the snapshooter rather than the power photographer.Features
You can take a new photo or use one from the library and apply a short list of cool effects to emulate the look of various cameras, including Helga, Instant, Lolo, Cinema, Mono, Fisheye, 1974 and 1962. I've got examples of what each of these look like later on. Some of the filters can add some real style to otherwise boring photos while a couple of them are generally worthless. In any case, it is a snap to see what a photo would look like in any style. Once you have a photo selected, a simple swipe to the left or right shows what the photo looks like using the different effects. This is perhaps the greatest strength and the greatest weakness of this app. Camera bag is both a pleasure to use because it is so speedy and simple, but it's also a bummer because there are no options to really fine tune an image. When you're done picking a filter, you can save your photo to the iPhone's library or e-mail it using a built-in mail function. Unfortunately, e-mail is separate from Apple's default mail app on the iPhone, so the function in Camera Bag has to be manually set up. During testing I found this not to be a very good solution for sharing the finished photos, but the option is there.The Breakdown
I picked a photo of a friend chomping on a chicken wing as the test photo (which I'm sure she'll be happy with) to demonstrate the different filters available in this app. It is the sort of standard cell phone picture one might take hanging out with family and friends. I found many of the filters quite satisfying when it came to emulating the look of classic cameras while a couple of them simply sucked.The Good
Camera Bag is uncomplicated, which is my way of saying it is quick and easy to use. What you see in the screenshots below is the pretty much the only important screen on the app. All I'm doing is swiping left or right to see my test photo with a different look. When I find one I like, all I have to do is click the save button at the bottom of the screen. Many of the camera filters look really nice. Check out these examples:
I really love the look of many of these filters. I have a real fondness for the Instant (a.k.a Polaroid) photo. Instant, as well as the 1962 and 1974 filters, do a superb job of achieving that vintage look. It would be interesting to see what a more skilled iPhone photographer could pull off with these filters and some forethought in setting up a scene.
The Bad
My biggest beef is the app doesn't feature any customization at all - no sliders or dials to tweak the effect of the filters.
But, like I said before, this is both a strength and a weakness. Yes, Camera Bag is simple to use, but the lack of options and customization doesn't give you very much bang for your buck. It'd be great to adjust the opacity of a filter to just give a hint of the effect you want.
While you could argue that'd slow down an otherwise speedy app, there is one area the app could definitely use customization and that's cropping. For example, some of the filters crop your photos to achieve a certain aspect ratio. Compare my original above to some of the filters and you'll see the faces are cut off. It would be phenomenal to be able to adjust the crop. You do have the option to turn cropping off, but I'd like to adjust the crop manually so as to keep the look of the camera intact.
It's also a pain to set up the mail function. I'd prefer Facebook Connect integration or something of that sort so these photos can be uploaded to a Web site. As it is, it's just simpler to save the photo to your library so it can be used in any app, including Apple's mail.
Though I could imagine some rare uses for these filters, I found Fisheye and Infrared to be pretty lame:
