Is KingCamera The One To Rule Them All?
King Camera ($0.99) by Applications Saycheezzz.com is a camera replacement app for your iPhone.
iPhoneography is very popular nowadays, with the influx of apps from the App Store. Now there is yet another one, KingCamera. But is it worthy of being called "king?"
When KingCamera is launched, it automatically goes to the Camera mode. Along the left side are the various camera controls, including: flash, shutter triggers (timed, anti-shake, audible, and burst mode), big shutter button mode, time lapse mode, white balance lock, and KingCamera settings. If you swipe on the screen, this will hide the camera controls or bring them back if they are hidden.
There is also a zoom bar on the right hand side for easy zooming, and the front and rear camera of the iPhone 4 can be switched at any time. Another bonus - KingCamera also supports video recording, which can be toggled from the button at the bottom corner.
KingCamera also has sound effects, so if you choose the self-timer options, there will be different audio beeps for the last three as a warning that the photo is about to be taken. This is a great feature and not often found in camera apps. It's good for preparing your silly face for the camera.
When a snapshot is taken, the photo will be moved into the thumbnail at the bottom left corner, kind of like how the native iOS Camera does it. Tapping this will take you to the Photo Desk. This is where all your images taken with KingCamera will be located. You can also import photos from the Photo Library if you want to use KingCamera's photo editing features, Quick Matik or Pro Matik.
In Quick Matik, this is KingCamera's mode for quickly applying filters and effects to photos. There are four categories of effects: Color, Monochrome, Grunge, and Themes. There are several filters in each, and you get to see a small preview of the effect on the image, which can help you make any decisions. If you select an effect, you can also adjust how strong the selected filter is with the slider. From that screen, there are also options for applying a border effect and even cropping. When you're satisfied, just hit that Apply button to make those changes final.
You'll get taken back to the Photo Desk when the changes are applied. There will be a number count on the image you edited, and this number represents how many images are in that stack. Stacks will consist of the original photo and any edited versions of it. Tapping on the stack will take you to the last edited photo, but if you want to see the original, tap and hit the "Browse" button to view all your images, edited and original.
The Pro Matik is like the Quick Matik, except this is more like the photographer's darkroom. You can adjust the white balance to be warmer or cooler, exposure settings, color saturations, vignetting, paper textures, different cropping sizes, and borders. While Quick Matik provides pre-made filters and effects, Pro Matik allows you to fully customize your photo to the way you like it. If you don't like a change you made, there are undo and redo buttons for your convenience (but these aren't in Quick Matik). The best thing about the Pro Matik is that you can even save your settings for Quick Matik (and save it to the camera roll too). This leaves the app open to unlimited possibilities when it comes to effects, because you can create them yourself. When you're done editing a photo, you can go back to the Photo Desk.
Tapping on a photo to select it will also bring up buttons for the most commonly used options directly on the thumbnail image. These options are Quick Matik and Pro Matik, as well as Photo Info. There are more options along the bottom toolbar that will show up when a photo is selected, including: Share, Export, and Delete. Sharing will allow you to upload to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Dropbox, and by email. The Export option will allow you to choose the size you want (small, medium, or full) and save it o the device's Camera Roll. You can even edit your edited photos, or the originals. They will all be kept together in the stack, always organized.
KingCamera is a very well polished camera app for a version 1.0. However, the interface isn't the prettiest nor is the icon, which is a shame. I hope that the developers plan to improve the interface and icon in the future but if you're looking for a solid camera app, then KingCamera is definitely one to check out.
