Obscura 2
Slick, customisable camera app
£4.99 FROM Ben McCarthy, obscura.camera needs iOS 11 or later You’ll probably stick with JPEG or HEIF, but it’s nice to be able to capture raw snaps for more editing options
Not many ‘pro’ camera apps approach iPhoneography the same way as Obscura 2.
It’s made to be easy to use while holding the phone in one hand, whether you’re left- or right-handed.
Obscura 2 presents its controls in a straightforward way. The main screen shows you a semicircle of tools and options; this can be scrolled easily with your thumb and is ‘infinite’, so when you get to the end it just goes around again. In the settings, you can choose to have each section open automatically when you land on it, and the ‘back’ arrow is always within easy tapping distance. Manual exposure, focus and shutter buttons are located in the same area, placing the key controls right where you need them.
Customised control
Obscura 2 can capture images in several formats, from JPEG through HEIF, Live Photo, depth capture and raw capture. Older phones are excluded from some of these options due to hardware limitations, but an iPhone 7 or newer can do almost all of them, and the dual cameras of the Plus and X models allow for depth mode. You’ll probably stick with JPEG or HEIF, but if you’re a pro it’s nice to be able to capture raw images for more editing options.
The design is slick and straightforward, with even the settings presented in a familiar iOS way. Extensive customisation of the app is possible – everything from showing different controls in the viewfinder, setting screen taps to perform shortcuts, and using the volume keys as exposure, focus or capture controls. It’s easy to set it up as you want it without getting buried in submenus.
Grid overlay options are available to help with composition, as is a spirit level that uses your iPhone’s gyroscope. There’s also flash control and a self-timer, as well as the option to switch between cameras – wide-angle, front-facing and telephoto – where available.
With a photo taken, you can view extensive metadata in the Library, copy images and edit them, although editing is limited to applying presets. There are no cropping or granular edit tools, not even exposure or rotation. Nor can you natively edit pictures that include a depth map. You do get some pleasing presets, with Sepia, Black & White and Analogue packs available. The option to save copies of original and edited pictures is useful, and something that Apple’s own Camera app doesn’t make easy. Images are saved to your Camera Roll, where they can be shared and managed as usual.