Manually setting iPhone 5 Camera?

TehMac

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2006
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I have been doing some small research for an iphone camera app that allows me to manually set ISO, shutter speed, and film speed settings.

The most recent articles I have read are more than a year old-- is anyone aware of any new camera apps that allow the user to manually set and fix these camera settings on the iPhone 5?
 

nickbits

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2008
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I don't think any of that is exposed in the API. At least I didn't see anything when I just checked now.
 

TehMac

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2006
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That is really annoying. I wonder if Sony or Canon are paying them not to.
 

vshah

Lifer
Sep 20, 2003
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That is really annoying. I wonder if Sony or Canon are paying them not to.

huh?
that makes zero sense. plenty of smartphones allow you to set ISO. some let you specify long shutters using night mode. not sure what relevance film speed has in digital cameras....
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
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C'mon, this is Apple we're talking about here. They don't need any encouragement to prevent the user from doing something.

TBF I'd rather a really good auto mode on a smartphone rather than messing around with settings.

Theres a few modes I find useful on my phone (best face is cool) but if I'm going to have to dick around with the ISO or exposure or whatever I'm probably going to either miss the shot or wish I had a decent camera with me.
 

bearxor

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Jul 8, 2001
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I use Camera+. It lets you pick indepedent spots for focus and exposure. Typically good enough for me.
 

3chordcharlie

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Mar 30, 2004
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TBF I'd rather a really good auto mode on a smartphone rather than messing around with settings.

Theres a few modes I find useful on my phone (best face is cool) but if I'm going to have to dick around with the ISO or exposure or whatever I'm probably going to either miss the shot or wish I had a decent camera with me.

For the most part I agree, given what a smartphone camera is really capable of doing; if it manages decent face-shots and reasonable exposure on decently lit landscapes, I'm pretty happy.

Access to ISO exposure and shutter settings still allows some pretty neat photos that are entirely impossible to achieve with an auto setting. In terms of shots you might actually use, think 'sunsets'.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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TBF I'd rather a really good auto mode on a smartphone rather than messing around with settings.
Not sure why these are mutually exclusive, though it's true that, e.g., auto night mode should default to On for the S4.
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
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Not sure why these are mutually exclusive...

I suppose so. I was just saying that I can fully understand apples decision to go for a good auto mode rather than bury the user under a ton of unintelligible (to the average user) camera options.
 

TehMac

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2006
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To be clear guys, the camera apps I'm looking at charge money-- I get that the standard camera app works the way it does (and I agree, it's nice for what it's worth) but it's odd that apple doesn't open up the API to devs who want to make a new solution for the camera.

I heard some people tried 'hacking' the api and were able to manually adjust ISO and shutter speed and apparently the iphone started overheating, although this was on an iphone 4s

I use Camera+. It lets you pick indepedent spots for focus and exposure. Typically good enough for me.

Does it let you 'fix' on that spot and not auto adjust?
 
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bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
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Does it let you 'fix' on that spot and not auto adjust?

Yes. It's actually kind of neat. You tap once and it does focus. The focus box has a plus sign on the top right, tap that and it will break out an exposure control. You can then independently move them around and they will stick where you put them. It adjusts as you move.
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It's only $1 right now. I highly recommend it.
 

Gorgenapper

Member
May 16, 2013
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I picked up Camera+. I like the independent focus and exposure (double tap the focus box to go back to autofocus), and I like the various filters it comes bundled with. Another neat feature is the ability to specify full res very high quality full size photos. Definitely worth it for the $1 I spent.
 

TehMac

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2006
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Really cool app, but unless I am mistaken, doesn't let you record video...rendering the thing pointless tbh.

I don't get why it's so hard to have an app for the camera that barely gives you any control to include video recording as a feature.