Best of Mobile Photography

Camera +
Camera + is ranked #11 in the top 25 all paid  iPhone applications categories (paid) and is the Top one in the paid  photo category (paid) - price $1.99.

Camera + is a popular application that offers additional controls to the iPhone 4 camera including a 6x digital zoom, burst mode, image stabilizer and a timer. The grid helps users shoot leveled pictures and they can fine tune the exposure using their finger to drag the exposure icon across the screen.

After taking the picture it is easy to share it on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, or via email. There are a broad range of editing features to choose from as well: 17 different scene modes, 36 special color and texture effects, 18 different framing styles and the usual cropping and rotation features.

Camera + is number one  in the Apple App store's photo category because it is on of the few powerful  "all-in-one" application, it combines advanced shooting features with a broad choice of editing and sharing capabilities.


Camera Genius
Camera Genius is similar to Camera + and ranks at #9 in the paid photography category and cost half the price: $0.99.

The shooting features are the same, except that Genius offers a "Big Button" that allows to trigger the shutter by tapping anywhere on the screen instead on the shutter button. The burst mode shoots 3 pictures automatically, whereas in Camera + there is no limit but you have to operate manually and tap the shutter button super fast to get multiple shots done.

Once done with shooting you can select one picture from the camera roll and share it on Facebook, Flicker, Picasa, Twitter, Tumblr, email or mobileme. The editing tools offer 24 different color and exposure effects, 21 image adjustment features that you can tweak with a slider, the usual cropping options and 15 framing style. Unlike Camera + you cannot rotate the photo.

Photo Applications with Special Effects and Advanced Sharing
Last year's success story of the consumer software industry was the rise of social photography application Instagram: according to this article in Fast Company, the iPhone application reached its first million users in 3 months and it took another month to get its second million!

Instagram

Basically, Instagram is Twitter for photography and its success lies in a simple value proposition: it enables people to broadcast to their friends and community what they do by instantly expressing themselves artistically. Additionally, producing the content is easier and faster than Twitter (for the majority of people who are slow typing on an iPhone keyboard). If we refer to the famous adage "a picture is worth a thousand words", it may outperform Twitter and its 140 characters limitation when it comes to transferring maximum information in the shortest amount of time possible, both on the broadcasting and the receiving sides.
The app is very simple to use, after taking a picture you can apply an effect, add a comment and geotag it, then you can select different sharing options, to post on Facebook and Twitter. from the app you have access to your friends photos and you can comment or like them.

Hipstamatic

Hipstamatic ranks #3 in the paid photography category in iTunes, it mimics the vintage plastic cameras - you get a set of "films" "lenses" and "flashes"  and you can buy additional ones directly from the app. The user interface is fun, you switch lenses by dragging them off the front of camera represented on the display, and you can choose from several flashes and film by clicking on the icons to access the corresponding sections.

To shoot a picture, you need to turn the camera using the arrow, to access the virtual shutter-release button. Then you can share pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr.
Hipstamatic produces square photos with highly colored effects that looks a bit like the ones made with Instagram. Although the interface is more fun to use than Instagram, it is also more complex to operate and you have to buy extra "equipment" to create additional effects. Each month users can enter a photo contest to win various prizes. You cannot see very well the effect that you are applying to the picture while shooting, so you really see the end results after it is done. I personally prefer the Instagram process: you can very quickly browse through all the filters and see the result after the picture is taken, then select the one you prefer.

Unlike Instagram, there is no social networking component, so there is no feed section where you can see your friends' pictures.

Camera Bag

Camera bag is a very easy to use application that provides 15 different photography effects somewhat similar to Instagram and Hipstamatic. The user interface is very simple, not highly attractive but efficient. It is faster to use than Hipstamatic and like Instagram, you can see the filter that you are applying to your picture before saving the file to the camera roll and you can only share it via email from the app. I would recommend to only use Camerabag if you do not find the particular effects it provides in other photo applications that offer more features because of the lack of sharing options.

Photo Editing Applications

PhotoForge2

PhotoForge2 is my favorite photo editing application because it offers a broad range of features and effects packed into an efficient user interface. Additionally, you can create multiple layers, just like in Photoshop, and apply various effects on each of them, and it is possible to blend them by tuning the opacity level and the blending mode - that's great! The sharing feature is great, it is presented a s a carousel of icons of the major social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox, Picasa, Tumblr. You can even upload to a FTP server right from the application. PhotoForge2 costs $2.99 and ranks #6 in the App store, and for the mobile photographers, it is worth the money!

Photoshop Express

Photoshop Express for iPhone is a pretty good mobile photo editing application that ranks at #3 in the free photography category of the App store. However, I was expecting better from Adobe, the developer of the leading desktop professional photo editing application aka Photoshop. One can argue that Photoshop Express mobile is free, but it is not even possible to create layers, a feature that Adobe invented over 15 years ago for its Photoshop 3.0 version!

Additionally the sharing choices are surprisingly poor compared to most of the best mobile photo applications out there: you can only upload on Photoshop.com, Facebook and Twitpic.
I could not find a paid version, I bet that people would pay a buck or two to get more of the amazing features that Adobe offers in the desktop version.


Photogene

Photogene offers regular editing options, it has a more limited choice of effects and image adjustments options than Photoforge2 and Photoshop Express, but the user interface is intuitive and easy to operate. Like the Adobe app, it offers an undo feature, I wish PhotoForge2 had it as well.

Photo Fx

I like Photo FX mainly because you can see the end results of most effects right away in the numerous thumbnails displayed at once in one screen. It allows a greater productivity, especially when you are in the exploring phase of the application. Photo Fx costs $2.99.



ColorSplash

Unlike the other apps, Colorsplash only provides one feature; the ability to keep one area of the image colored and the rest in black and white (or vice versa). You need to use your finger to "color" the area you want, prepare to use the zoom a lot in the process, it is the only way to "paint" precisely the edges of the colored zone.

Panorama Applications

There are a few applications that allows you to create panoramic pictures, I have tested quickly 4 of them and they all do the job pretty well: Pano ($1.99), AutoStitch ($2.99), 360 Panorama ($0.99), and Photosynth (free - Microsoft app). All are fun to use, with AutoStitch yoi cannot take picture within the application, you have to take them with the iPhone camera then stich them together, if the pictures you selected do not overlap the app will not be able to make a panoramic. Photosynth produces a still picture accessible from the camera roll and when you are in the application you can navigate in 3D inside the panorama! Then you can share your panoramas on the Photosynth website and browse other people photos, you will just need to download Silverlight to experience the 3D navigation.