Shot Control - Android App review
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Leif
Mar 29, 2012, 4:29:15 PM3/29/12
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I've announced this review already a few days ago in reply to another mail here. I already wanted to write about this app a while ago but since the developer shared a pre-release version with my which had some awesome additional features I wanted to wait until those are in the public available version. Now it is...
If you prefer to read it on a website with a picture you can also read it in my blogpost, but the content in this mail is the same.
http://www.androidapphighlights.com/2012/03/shot-control-awesome-camera-app-for.html
_____
Shot Control is my favorite camera app since it has been released. There are many great camera apps but I haven’t seen any other app which offers such a quick and detailed control of the exposure as Shot Control does. This app has two main parts - the camera function and the lightbox for an easy photo management. So basically everything a mobile photographer needs.
Camera:
The viewfinder is in the top left. It shows a rule-of-thirds grid as well as a build in level which changes its color to green if the phone is aligned properly. On the left side is a slider to adjust the zoom while on the right side of the viewfinder is a slider to adjust the exposure control from -3.0 to +3.0 in .1 steps. This is the first of a few features why I think this app is so awesome. I can adjust the exposure in a breath without having to go in any settings or menu and I can see the change instantly.
Another feature I love is the tap to focus/meter. Once you tap on the viewfinder a little rectangle will show up which you can move and resize. Until the last update the focus as well as the exposure was measured at this point, but since the last update you can also add multiple rectangles and choose for each of them if it should be for focus&metering, focus only, or light metering only. This is a new feature in Android since Android 4.0 and API Level 14 so this will only work on Android ICS devices who support this. It works pretty fine on my Galaxy Nexus and I’m glad to finally see this in an Android App. As far as I know Shot Control is the first App which makes use of this new camera API feature.
On the top right are multiple buttons for switching camera, focus, ISO, whitebalance, flash (supports also torch mode), live filters, scene modes and the resolution. Once you click on one of those buttons you can switch it’s parameters on a little wheel below the viewfinder. The shutter button is in the top right as well.
Another nice feature is the mapping of hardware buttons. On my Galaxy Nexus for example I can map different functions to the volume buttons which are exposure +/-, focus, or the shutter release.
Lightbox:
Two parts of the lightbox are always visible on the bottom and in the bottom right corner. After each photo you take it will show a bigger preview on the right side and a film strip with the last pictures you took on the bottom. The film strip is scrollable so it’s possible to check the last pictures without leaving the camera. But the best feature still comes - there’s also a little fav button. Every picture you “fav” in this filmstrip will be moved to a separate folder on your phone and also be automatically uploaded to Google+ if you’ve activated the auto-upload feature in the G+ app. First I was skeptical about the use of this feature but now I don’t longer want to miss it. I got used to fav every photo where I think this could be worth a more detailed look later. This saves me so much time every day since I can just delete the whole bunch of unstarred pictures and have the worthy ones already marked, backuped and in a different folder.
The Developer of it:
I've mailed a few times in the past with him and he's very friendly and always open for new suggestions. So if you might have any kind of issues or suggestions - contact him.
http://www.androidapphighlights.com/2012/03/shot-control-awesome-camera-app-for.html
_____
Shot Control is my favorite camera app since it has been released. There are many great camera apps but I haven’t seen any other app which offers such a quick and detailed control of the exposure as Shot Control does. This app has two main parts - the camera function and the lightbox for an easy photo management. So basically everything a mobile photographer needs.
Camera:
The viewfinder is in the top left. It shows a rule-of-thirds grid as well as a build in level which changes its color to green if the phone is aligned properly. On the left side is a slider to adjust the zoom while on the right side of the viewfinder is a slider to adjust the exposure control from -3.0 to +3.0 in .1 steps. This is the first of a few features why I think this app is so awesome. I can adjust the exposure in a breath without having to go in any settings or menu and I can see the change instantly.
Another feature I love is the tap to focus/meter. Once you tap on the viewfinder a little rectangle will show up which you can move and resize. Until the last update the focus as well as the exposure was measured at this point, but since the last update you can also add multiple rectangles and choose for each of them if it should be for focus&metering, focus only, or light metering only. This is a new feature in Android since Android 4.0 and API Level 14 so this will only work on Android ICS devices who support this. It works pretty fine on my Galaxy Nexus and I’m glad to finally see this in an Android App. As far as I know Shot Control is the first App which makes use of this new camera API feature.
On the top right are multiple buttons for switching camera, focus, ISO, whitebalance, flash (supports also torch mode), live filters, scene modes and the resolution. Once you click on one of those buttons you can switch it’s parameters on a little wheel below the viewfinder. The shutter button is in the top right as well.
Another nice feature is the mapping of hardware buttons. On my Galaxy Nexus for example I can map different functions to the volume buttons which are exposure +/-, focus, or the shutter release.
Lightbox:
Two parts of the lightbox are always visible on the bottom and in the bottom right corner. After each photo you take it will show a bigger preview on the right side and a film strip with the last pictures you took on the bottom. The film strip is scrollable so it’s possible to check the last pictures without leaving the camera. But the best feature still comes - there’s also a little fav button. Every picture you “fav” in this filmstrip will be moved to a separate folder on your phone and also be automatically uploaded to Google+ if you’ve activated the auto-upload feature in the G+ app. First I was skeptical about the use of this feature but now I don’t longer want to miss it. I got used to fav every photo where I think this could be worth a more detailed look later. This saves me so much time every day since I can just delete the whole bunch of unstarred pictures and have the worthy ones already marked, backuped and in a different folder.
The Developer of it:
I've mailed a few times in the past with him and he's very friendly and always open for new suggestions. So if you might have any kind of issues or suggestions - contact him.
Google Play Store link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.starvingmind.android.shotcontrol
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.starvingmind.android.shotcontrol
It costs a bit, but for me it was worth it and with this developer I'm sure we'll see some other nice improvements.
Ambsy Rogers
Mar 29, 2012, 5:09:31 PM3/29/12
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i cant enter this market to check it out. it kept on saying error i guess my phone isn't compatible with this app.
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Ambsy Rogers
Mar 29, 2012, 5:09:54 PM3/29/12
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my phone is mytouch 4G by the way.. sorry forgot to add that.
On Mar 29, 2012 1:29 PM, "Leif" <cerbe...@googlemail.com> wrote:
justin sheely
Mar 29, 2012, 7:57:44 PM3/29/12
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Is there a free trial version?
Nakeva N. Corothers
Mar 30, 2012, 1:20:06 PM3/30/12
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Excellent review Leif! Thanks for sharing with us.
Best of Life,
@Nakeva
@Nakeva
Leif
Apr 3, 2012, 9:13:27 AM4/3/12
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If someone likes the app you can support the developer a bit by a single click in the google moderator. If he gets enough votes his app might get reviewed by the Google team in their weekly friday review show on G+ and YouTube.
http://goo.gl/mod/O3QU
@justin
I also mentioned that to him since I personally think that apps which also have a free version to try it out do much better in the Google Store. He's thinking about that in the future - maybe with some kind of limited pictures in the film roll or so.
http://goo.gl/mod/O3QU
@justin
I also mentioned that to him since I personally think that apps which also have a free version to try it out do much better in the Google Store. He's thinking about that in the future - maybe with some kind of limited pictures in the film roll or so.
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