Most camera apps out there on the App Store are focused on providing cool filters. Sadly, not enough camera apps are focused on actually helping users take better, sharper photos. Camera Awesome is the best of both worlds: plenty of fun filters to play with, but also plenty of tools to better compose and “develop” your images.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Camera Awesome is like the Clorox 2 of iPhone camera apps: it makes your whites whiter, and your brights brighter. The app lets you shoot faster and take sharper, better-exposed shots. Professionals effects can also be added to your snapshots.

Pros

• Share to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, SmugMug, Picasa, Photobucket and Flickr.
• Features professionally designed special effects from renowned photographer Kevin Kubota
• You can now use the volume button to take photos and video.
• Improving contrast and brightness is as simple as tapping the “Awesomize” button
• Easy to add frames to your photo creations
• Tons of tools to help you better compose your photos

Cons

• The app is free, but buying all the provided filters and presets will set you back almost $10
• Slight delay when using the “Awesomize” slider bar, which makes it harder to select just the right level of “awesome” (aka brightness)
• You only get 9 free presets to start with, some of which are VERY heavy are not suitable for everyday photography (However, these are augmented with additional filters and textures)
• Loading your final photo through the Awesomizer can take 30 seconds or longer: it removes the immediacy from digital photography

Discussion

Camera apps are a dime a dozen, so it takes a lot to stand out from the crowd. Camera Awesome accomplishes this by having a whole host of filters, presets, and textures that users can add to make their photos pop. Some of them are subtle, while others are quite intense. You only get 9 free presets to start with, but you can purchase additional presets from within the app.

The navigation is a little complex, which I guess is sort of to be expected for an app with so many features. I do wish getting around was a bit more straightforward. However, one thing I can’t fault are the effects and composition guides themselves. If you want to actually take better pictures (as opposed to slapping a filter on a photo to make it passable), this is the app to use.

The Awesomizer is the main feature of the app, and it basically takes a good photo and makes it better through contrast and brightness adjustments. You can see an example of the tool at work in the top image above. The only down side is that your changes using Awesomizer aren’t instantaneous: there is a lot of waiting about while things load, which can be a drag.

Conclusion and download link

If you want to take better photos, Camera Awesome has the tools you need to edit photos, as well as the tools you need to take your photography to the next level. It may not have the most intuitive design, but it is a feature-rich app that is free to use. Shutterbugs, don’t miss out on this one!

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.1.3

Requires iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, iOS version 5.0 or later

Download size: 48.9 MB

Camera Awesome on Apple App Store