One of the greatest iterations of the smartphone industry has been the cameras that are attached to the devices. They have become sufficient enough to leave a separate camera at home or forget buying one altogether (Photo-philes will disagree, but for the average consumer this is true).
A result of this has been an increase in camera apps found in the Market. These can range from simple effects to a full on camera replacement app. One of the best that I’ve tried is Vignette, which can act as one of the full replacements. Let's take a look, after the break.
Vignette is an app that provides numerous photo effects, picture viewing and most recently, time-lapse photography! It boasts 62 built in camera effects and 20 frame styles, with more updates on the way. I'm going to list the basic options that Vignette provides; to list everything in adequate detail would be a much lengthier post. However, the developers' website goes through each effect in detail, so I encourage you to check it out.
Once downloaded and opened, the user will see their camera with a variety of options along the bottom.
The far left option is "Shooting mode," which can include:
- Normal
- Fixed Focus
- Blind
- Fast Shot
- Steady Shot
- Self Timer
- Time Lapse
The next option is to toggle the flash on/off or simply select ‘Auto flash’
The middle option is ‘Camera hardware settings’ which includes:
- White balance
- focus distance
- Anti-banding
- Brightness
- Shutter sound
The next option to the right it ‘JPEG file settings’:
- Resolution
- Quality
- Save folder
- Save filename
- Store location data
The option all the way to the right is ‘Effects and frame’:
- Effect (includes many outstanding effects, such as 'Colours swap', 'toy camera', 'Cinematic' and 'Vintage')
- Frame
- Favourites
- Home screen shortcuts
Vignette is truly a great app and one that can definitely replace the default camera app on your phone. The list of features continues to grow as the developers are hard at work. One of the latest updates brought the Time-Lapse feature, which is pretty spectacular. Check out a demo after the break. The full version costs a little under $5 (the price is in UK British Pounds, which is 2.99). There is a demo version to try, which we highly encourage. But if you enjoy the app, buy the full version. They are great developers and the app is well worth it. Shoot away! [Website of the developers]
