- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
There is a lot of debate about the viability of a cell phone camera as a “main driver”. Everyone has their opinions and I’ll share mine. Just know that this more applies to me and what I do, more so than me trying to tell someone how and what they should do.
In this series, we are going to look at the cell phone as a camera. We can also look at one possible future direction that camera manufacturers may decide to or need to take in the future.
I picked “iPhone photography series” because right now I currently own the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Before that I was firmly embedded into the Google Pixel camp with the Pixel 2 XL. It too had a great camera.
The default camera app is great on both iOS and Android, however there are times when you may want something different.
For our first app, we picked to share – it is something unique.
DARKR
First, let me state….this simulates a lot of things about working with a film camera. From the shooting experience itself to the “processing” of the images. If this is of no interest to you, then this might not be the app for you.
You can choose to shoot with any camera app and import the image into DARKR or you can shoot with one of the 3 different camera types within the app.
If you pick the in app camera experience, then the interface will be very similar to a film camera. If you pick large format, the viewfinder will be upside down. Medium format has the left and right reversed. So the shooting experience mimics that of an actual analogue camera.
The above image is what the “medium format” camera interface looks like.
At the top, from left to right, you’ll see some icons.
The lens icon allows you to pick from the iPhones normal or telephoto lens.
The 2nd icon is a film canister, which allows you to pick the film simulation. This can be changed after the images is shot, so not important to have it setup correctly during the shooting process.
The 4th icon is the filter options. You can pick from no filter, red, green and yellow.
Below the icons is the viewfinder, which you’ll notice that the letters on the keyboard are reversed.
Below the viewfinder is the exposure controls as well as the focus control.
The first set of numbers is your ISO setting, second row is your shutter speed.
The row below that is the focusing “ring”. If manual focusing is not your thing, you can click the icon at the bottom right of the screen. This brings up the focusing screen, where you can fine tune the manual focus or tap the “AUTO” option and the app will autofocus for you.
The button in the bottom middle is your shutter release.
The exposure of the image is reflected in the viewfinder in real time.
Once an image is taken, the “negative” is shown at the bottom left of the screen. Tapping that will take you to the processing options.
You can keep shooting images though. Processing can be accessed from the main screen by choosing the “Darkroom” option.
You’ll now be in the “Lightbox”. Here you pick your negative to work on.
Once you select the negative, you’ll be taken to the next screen
You can share the negative, if you want or delete it. You can decide to work on it immediately with no film selected. This is just a desaturated image with no film simulation tone curve.
I like to pick a film simulation. There are 11 total options, 10 actual film simulations and 1 “no film” option.
- Ilford FP4 – ISO 125
- Ilford HP5 Plus – ISO 400
- Ilford HP5 – ISO 800
- Kodak Technical PAN – ISO 25
- Kodak TMAX – ISO 100
- Kodak TMAX 400 – ISO 400
- Kodak Tri-X 400 – ISO 400
- Kodak TMAX 3200 – ISO 3200
- Fuji Acros – ISO 100
- Fuji Neopan 400 Professional – ISO 400
After you pick your film, you get a test strip. Swiping up and down changes your filter, which adjusts the level of contrast. Swiping left and right changes the light exposure time.
If you press and hold the “Preview” icon, it will show you the entire image with the selected exposure time. In this case, the exposure time I selected was 34 seconds.
Above is the image with 34 second exposure applied.
Now, we click done and we are brought to the final stage of the process. Here, you can dodge, burn, crop and tone the final “print”.
Masks are used, similar to a real darkroom experience, to block light from different places on the image.
Here, burn was selected and the red part of the screen is where no light is getting through, so only the 2 rows of keys on the keyboard are going to be affected by the light.
Once you have all that done, it’s time to save. You have options of leaving the negative and print within the app, saving to the camera roll or sharing it immediately from the app.
I chose to save this sample to the camera roll.
Here is the final example “print”.
So, why pick this app. Well, for a few reasons. I really like how the monochrome film emulations look. I think they do a great job of embodying the spirit of the films.
Secondly, it is a different way of working. Sometimes doing things differently bring about a different way of thinking and attitude.
I really just like the whole process, honestly. From the shooting experience to the processing – it’s just fun to get the images you want and then process them later.
This is not an everyday shooting app or even one that I would replace the stock app with. It is a supplemental app, but one I use more than any other.
The app is free to download, and to get all the film simulations, you’ll need to do an in app purchase. I feel the cost is worth it though to the developer.
Here are some examples if images that I processed through DARKR.
These next set of images were taken with Olympus and Nikon mirrorless cameras and the files were processed on the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Olympus EP5 and Olympus 25mm f/1.8. The barn areas took advantage of the dodge tools in DARKR.
This image was taken with the Nikon Z6 and Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.8S
Nikon Z6 and Nikkor Z 24-70 f/4S on a tripod
This next set were taken with the iPhone 11 Pro Max cameras.
