As I mentioned a few days ago, I would like to present you Android applications I find interesting, useful, impressive or generally noteworthy. It’s not secret that I like photography, it should therefore not be surprising to some of you that I will start with a camera application. Retro Camera by Urbian follows a recent trend in photography. Modern cameras, including entry-level point and shoot cameras, produce gorgeous and near perfect photos. Unfortunately, these pictures are often boring. That’s why more and more photographers use processing techniques to make their photos appear as if they had been taken with crappy cameras, often referred to as “toy cameras.” Retro Camera lets you take crappy yet artsy/interesting photos right away and saves you time in Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture… The application sports a very realistic user interface centered around film photography. When you launch it, you almost feel like you are actually using a camera, and not a cell phone: The tiny viewfinder is an especially nice touch and I appreciate the level at the bottom of the screen in the commercial version (replaced by ads in the free version.) Retro Camera is very easy to use, mostly because you do not have to fiddle with settings, knobs and sliders. Instead, the application offers you four virtual cameras, each with its own look and unique results. Of course, choosing a camera is as enjoyable as using them (don’t miss the very useful information panel of each camera): When you take a picture, it is sent to the dark room for processing and finally saved on your SD card. You can browse the photos using Android’s built-in Gallery application or simply do it from the application itself. The visuals are once again pleasing but the application will only show you photos taken with Retro Camera Read More
