Field Cam gives your iPad all the functionality of a Victorian plate camera (only with worse photos)
There aren’t many iPad photo-taking apps yet, although there are plenty for editing. This may be because the iPad 2 is so new. It may also be because the iPad’s camera is so awful, an embarrassment along the lines of putting a pair of drum brakes onto Alberto Contador’s race bike.
One thing is certain, though. The lack of apps isn’t due to Apple’s effort being too good to beat. When people say that the iPad is “just a big iPhone,” they’re talking about the built-in camera app. Even the shutter button is impossible to reach when taking a snap.
Enter FieldCam. The app, from the people who brought the square-picture shooting 6X6 to the iPhone, does two things. First, it puts two shutter buttons under your thumbs, in both landscape and portrait orientations. Second, it turns your iPad into a Victorian-era Field Camera.
The interface is a wooden frame and a you see the image through a faux ground-glass screen, complete with gridlines etched upon it. The aspect ratio is also a little squarer than the regular iPad cam, at 1.31:1 vs. 1.33:1. And that’s pretty much it. You take a picture and it is saved to the photo roll and sepia-ized along the way, giving a warm-toned monochrome image. There’s no way to view pictures from within the app, no way to shoot video and the only other control is the standard in-camera tap-to-set-exposure function.
The best thing about FieldCam is that it is fast. I’d like to be able to save out a color original, too. That would make this my default camera app on the iPad. As it is, I’ll probably stick with Instagram while I continue my search for an app that can make the iPad’s photos less crummy.
FieldCam [iTunes]
See Also:
- Just How Bad Is the iPad 2 Camera?
- Crazy Apple Rumor: iPad With Camera Coming Soon
- Concept Case Adds Camera to iPad
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