Obscura 2
Slick, customizable camera app
$4.99 From Ben McCarthy, obscura.camera Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch Needs iOS 11
There are quite a few “pro” camera apps that leverage iPhone hardware in ways Apple’s own Camera app doesn’t allow, but not many approach iPhone photography from the same angle as Obscura 2. Specifically, it has been designed to be easy to use while holding the phone in one hand. This is more of an issue than you might think — the Plus-series iPhones and the X are tall phones. Reachability helps, but it’s a workaround.
Obscura 2 presents its controls in a straightforward way. The main screen shows you a semicircle of tools and options which 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 Obscura 2 makes Plus and X-series iPhones easy to use single-handed.
area, placing the key controls right where you need them.
Obscura 2 can capture images in several formats from JPEG through HEIC, Live Photo, Depth capture and RAW capture. Older phones are excluded from some of these due to hardware limitations, but an iPhone 7 or newer can do almost all, with the Plus and X-series’ dual cameras also allowing depth mode. Most regular users will likely stick with JPEG or HEIC, though it’s nice for pros to be able to capture RAW format for maximum editing options.
The design is slick and straightforward, with even the settings presented using a simple iOS structure. Extensive customization of the app is possible — everything from showing different controls in the viewfinder, creating 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 the phone’s gyroscope. There’s also flash control and a self-timer, as well as the option to switch between cameras — wide, user-facing and telephoto, where available.
With a photo taken you can view extensive metadata in the Library section, copy images and edit them, although editing is limited to applying presets. There are no cropping or granular edit tools available, not even exposure or rotation. Nor can you natively edit pictures that include a depth map. What you do get are some pleasing presets, with Sepia, B&W and Analog packs available as in-app purchases. The option to save copies of original and edited pictures is useful though, and something that Apple’s own Camera app doesn’t make particularly easy. Images are saved to your Camera Roll, where they can be shared and managed as usual.
the bottom line. A slick and straightforward camera app, which makes usercontrolled shooting very easy, but it currently lacks editing features.