Top Camera 1.1 For iOS

Lucky Clan has announced Top Camera 1.1 for iOS, an update to their versatile Photography app that adds more than 25 features to the standard iOS Camera app. An excellent HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature, an artistic Slow Shutter Mode with Light Trail effects, and the use of Folders for file management make it unique among camera apps. Additional features include: 4 Picture Quality settings, Burst Mode, 4 Camera Timer settings, Virtual Horizon, Exposure Box, Focus Box, Geotagging, picture alignment Grid, White Balance, Stabilizer, and Digital Zoom. Top Camera also supports operation in both portrait and landscape orientations, includes iTunes File Sharing, and saves images to its internal Gallery, the iOS Photo Library, or both.

Top Camera incorporates a highly sophisticated, user-selectable focus zone feature, as well as user-selectable exposure zone. This means that iPhone photographers can optimize focus for any part of the photo, and set the exposure by locating that zone that produces the best results. Users just drag the purple box on the screen to the area they would like to have in the sharpest focus. Then they grab the green box and move it around in the frame to find the optimal exposure setting for the scene.

Top Camera's advanced HDR capabilities extend this feature to a range of iOS devices (any device with a built-in camera), overcoming Apple's limited support for only iPhone 4. According to Apple, "Now you can take great photos that capture a wider range of light intensity using the new high dynamic range (HDR) setting. After selecting HDR, just point iPhone 4 at your subject and shoot. iPhone 4 automatically captures three photos of the scene - each with different exposure levels. Then iPhone 4 layers the shots together to create a single photo that combines the best elements of each shot and more accurately represents the wide range of light in the scene. Both the regular shot and the HDR photo appear in the Camera Roll."


The app also incorporates a new Slow Shutter Mode that brings the compact iPhone even closer to the capabilities of a DSLR camera. Set to Automatic, Slow Shutter Mode produces a blur around moving objects, while maintaining a perfect exposure. Set to Manual, it allows shooting in extremely low light without a flash. And using the Light Trail setting produces pictures where moving lights, such as cars at night, produce time-lapse, trails of light.

General:
The app was designed in cooperation with Artist / Photographer David Scott Leibowitz to incorporate the highest quality in every detail. An extraordinary amount of time was spent designing the interface, to make it as beautiful and intuitive as possible:

* Both portrait and landscape orientation are supported
* File sharing integration
* Save images to the internal gallery, the iOS Photo Library, or both

Camera:
In shooting mode, the app provides a host of visual aids to help users take the best photograph possible. Controls are quick and intuitive: one indicator for focus, and a second indicator for exposure. The photographer now has the fine adjustment camera controls missing from the iPhone's camera:


* Shot stabilizer
* Timer mode
* Burst mode
* HDR (High Dynamic Range) - Auto and Manual mode available, it uses the align algorithm
* Slow Shutter - Auto, Manual, and Light Trail Modes
* Digital zoom slider
* AWB - Auto White Balance with optional lock
* Screen Button
* Picture alignment grid
* Virtual Horizon - provides a visual leveling bar to keep images perfectly straight
* Exposure box
* Focus Box
* New Slow Shutter mode, with Auto/Manual Light-trail options

Photo Gallery:
Clicking the picture icon in the lower left corner brings the user into the world of Folders, Viewing, Editing, and Sharing. Entering this function of the app, photographers can see the contents of selected folder. Selecting an image in the Main folder reveals a pop-up window with options to view, edit, change folder, export, delete, or email the image:

* Folders - organize photos into folders. Create new folders, delete, reorder, export, change names, and move photos from one folder to another
* Export - paste image to clipboard, export to photos or send by e-mail
* Share - send one or more images to Facebook, Twitter, or Flicker
* Add new photos - import from the Photo Library, paste from the clipboard or duplicate a selected image
* Select mode - Switching to select mode allows the user to quickly select many images, and then delete them, change folder, send by e-mail, share on Facebook/Twitter/Flickr, export to the Photo Library and copy to clipboard

Viewer:
Tapping the View button, or double tapping on a thumbnail will bring up the folder's images for fullscreen viewing and also give users info options to see the photo's metadata including a GPS map view. Clicking the action icon in the top right corner displays a pop-up with e-mail/edit/change folder/export buttons:

* Full resolution preview
* Slideshow display
* Display image info and metadata
* Display GPS location in Maps

Photo Editor:
Tap on the Edit button to open the app's powerful photo editor. Here, users can crop an image, fix common photo problems like bad lighting, low contrast, or fuzzy colors, and apply special effects, or add a frame. Users not pleased with the results can easily revert to the original image:

* Crop - free mode, keep ratio, square, 2x3, 3x4, 9x16, golden proportions
* Rotate - rotate 90 degrees left/right, flip horizontal/vertical
* Adjust - use sliders to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, improve (definition, sharpen), color temperature, tint, shadows, and highlights
* Effect - choose one of 36 amazing effects like pencil drawing, auto contrast, sepia, grayscale, retro, grunge, lomo, and many more
* Borders - add a simple border, vignette, or edge blur

Language Support:
* US English, Japanese, Chinese, and Polish

Pricing and Availability:
Top Camera 1.1 is available at the special introductory price of $0.99 (USD) exclusively through the App Store in the Photography category. Following the introductory period, the app will return to it normal price of $2.99. Review copies are available upon request.

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