Compared to the default iPhone camera, third party apps exist that provide more control (manual focus, shutter speed, white balance, etc.). I miss my broken SLR, and I’m thinking about purchasing one of these as a cheap alternative way to regain a bit of control. Camera+ 2 and ProCam 8 are two apps that I’m considering, though there are others. I’d like to choose one that has the smoothest possible interface with iNaturalist.
I’m curious whether these 3rd party camera apps store photos in a way that the “Camera roll” option can easily and directly access the pics? I get the impression that Camera+ 2 doesn’t immediately store photos in the iPhone Photos library, for example, but it is hard to confirm before buying the app.
I’d appreciate any thoughts from those with first-hand experience with these or similar apps, especially regarding the ease of getting photos into iNaturalist. Thanks!
I have Camera+2. The photos go directly into the iPhone Photos camera roll, just like from the regular camera. (It’s possible that’s a setting I set early on, but it works.) Since I don’t submit observations from the iNat app in the field, this works fine for me. The only function I use on Camera+2 is the Macro, which is a little better than a zoomed regular photo, but there are many other bells & whistles on that app you might like.
Every camera app I’ve used with an iPhone saves a copy of the photo to the camera library, but you have to give it permission to do so, otherwise it can’t and won’t. Generally the app asks permission when you first open it.
I have (or had, deleted many of them) a lot of camera apps on my iPhone, but the only one I really use now is:
ProCam. It’s one of the best ones for near full camera control, but it can get a bit fiddly if you start trying to micromanage too much (something that’s shared among all camera apps).
The only other camera apps I use are specialized for slow-motion or long exposures, or are remotes, or DOF calculators and the like.
I’ve tried a few third party camera apps that allow for third party control but so far haven’t had the patience to really work with them so I pretty much always just end up using my iPhone’s standard camera app.
The photos will have to go to your devices photo library/camera roll. I think many/most of these apps allow you to do that automatically but you may need to go into the app’s settings.
Thanks to all for the responses. I decided to give ProCam a try, and I went out this afternoon to test it out. Overall, I’m very happy with the additional control, especially with regard to focus. I still have some things to figure out (and to get used to), but I feel like it is a big step up from the default camera.
When I installed the ProCam app, I simply gave it permission to use the photo library, and getting photo from there to iNaturalist is, of course, no problem.