Moment
Cool photo features for those who go pro
Free From Moment Inc., shopmoment.com Made for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Needs iOS 10.0 or later
After taking Kickstarter by storm in recent years with iPhone cases tailor– made to mobile shutterbugs, the folks at Moment have been quietly refining the smartphone app that helps power their products. Now in version 3.0, Moment promises “big camera controls” that produce better photos — even if you don’t own one of the company’s accessories.
Featuring the kind of DSLR–style controls professionals crave, the creators of Moment 3.0 claim to use their own brand of under the hood sorcery to produce images “sharper, smoother, crispier” than other camera apps. At first glance, the UI looks like many other third–party pro camera apps, with split focus/ exposure, live histograms, auto video stabilization, and manual exposure included with the free version.
All the really good stuff is locked behind a $2.99 in– app Pro upgrade: RAW or TIFF shooting (in addition to built–in HEIF/HEVC and JPEG), a shutter that takes unique advantage of 3D Touch, plus full manual control over exposure, ISO, shutter speed, focus, and white balance. Naturally, dual lens control is also supported with the company’s expanding line of iPhone camera lenses.
Based on informal tests shot on iPhone X without a Moment case, the free version doesn’t offer any significant benefits compared to the stock iOS Camera app. In some respects, Moment is actually a step back, since there’s no Portrait mode, filters or image editing capabilities; however, it’s nice to swipe up to see more detailed metadata while viewing photos.
After upgrading to the Pro version, we can’t say Moment magically improved our picture–taking, but the additional features are worthy of the three bucks you have to pay. 3D Touch Shutter does take a little getting used to — a feather–light touch on the shutter button is required — but was helpful when we were snapping photos under challenging conditions.
There are more robust third–party camera apps around, but Moment strikes a decent balance between pro features and too many buttons. It’s not enough for us to abandon the built–in Camera app, but try it if you want tweak–free manual control.
the bottom line. Worth a try if you’re prepared to go Pro.