ShakeItPhoto comparison
Longtime fauxlaroid favourite ShakeItPhoto (Nick Campbell, $0.99) enjoyed a major update this past week, with full-resolution support, social sharing, and a revamped image filter being added for no extra charge. It's the last change that has sparked a little controversy in iPhone photography circles, with many users saying they prefer the old look to the new, which is best described as being brighter, bluer, and less colorful – more accurate to the state actual instant photos from the 70s and 80s would be in today.
As previously covered in this post, ShakeItPhoto vs. ShakeIt, I believe the processing of ShakeItPhoto has been broken for awhile anyway; being originally designed for the cameras of the first iPhone and iPhone 3G, it delivered its best photos before the arrival of the iPhone 3GS, which produced darker, over-contrasted results. I had hoped then that the app would be updated to compensate for the different camera module's output, but today we have a brand-new effect designed (presumably) to work best with the iPhone 4.
On the left, photos from the last version of ShakeItPhoto taken with an iPhone 3GS. On the right, the same scenes taken with the latest version running on an iPhone 4. I wish I had access to an iPhone 3G, just to show you how much better it used to be. The iPhone 4 photos were resized to match the 3GS ones.
The old version produced good results in bright daylight, but indoors and in dark places... not so much. You can look at the candy jar in the last photo to see what I mean: virtually no shadow details survive the process. I find the new effect very consistent and pleasing, but many are calling for the developer to consider adding an option to regain the old style.
Side-note: Another similar app, Instant Camera, randomly applies one of several effects when processing its Polaroid-style shots, and I hate that about it. I want consistent results, or completely unique, random results (like you see in Infinicam). I don't want one of three effects without being able to choose. Which is why Nick Campbell's other app, Cross Process, is especially well thought-out by giving users that control, should they want it.
