Anybody have any experience with taking ICM photos with an iPhone? I downloaded two apps onto my iPhone (ProCamera and the new Adobe Indigo). But neither of them is giving me acceptable results. Am not sure whether these are the wrong apps, or whether I just don’t have their settings properly set.
Cheers,
Franz
I don’t use an iphone, Franz, but I believe there are some specific slow shutter speed apps out there for them.
Dennis;
Both of the apps I downloaded (ProCamera and Adobe Indigo) allow shutter speeds down to 1 sec. But as near as I can tell, there’s something in the base iPhone camera software (not the iPhone camera app) that attempts to force IBIS on the iPhone’s motion. I looked around in the settings, but so far have not found anything definitive. [Maybe I should post this same question on an ICM-centric website…]
If you have Lightroom, then I would try Lightroom Mobile, as you can have full control in PRO mode. You’re limited to 1 second, but that’s more than enough for ICM. Otherwise, I’d take a look at ReeXpose if want raw files or Reeflex if you don’t need raw.
I have used an app called “Slow Shutter.” It’s icon is like aperture blades. It will do up to 60 sec. and bulb mode. It has a light trails mode, a motion blur mode, and a light sensitivity and shutter speed settings. It shows you what is resolving during the exposure, which is helpful for increasing or slowing shutter for next attempt.
I haven’t used it much (more impromptu than dedicated creative time), but you can shoot jpeg, tiff, video formats. Lots of settings to play with, but I use “light trails” or “motion blur” modes for ICM, and I’ve just done jpeg.
ML
Marylynne;
[Sorry about the delayed response, but I got kind of carried away with scheduling too many activities over the Christmas/New Year holidays.]
One quick question: I assume some kind of ND (neutral density) filter is also required, in addition to the slow shutter speed iPhone app?
Cheers,
Franz
David;
[Sorry about the delayed response, but I got kind of carried away with scheduling too many activities over the Christmas/New Year holidays.]
One quick question: I assume some kind of ND (neutral density) filter is also required, in addition to the slow shutter speed iPhone app?
Cheers,
Franz
No apologies necessary. Actually, no filter required. I don’t know how Apple or the app do it, but I assume there’s a tiny aperture or some kind of software magic, maybe closing aperture and filling with AI? No clue, but the app lets you choose long shutters like 30sec with no physical attachment to the camera,
ML
This gets a little complicated, Franz. Apps like Slow Shutter Cam can create long-exposure effects without any ND filter by capturing many short exposures and blending them together. This isn’t a single continuous long exposure, but the results can look very similar.
If you want a true 1-second shutter in Lightroom Mobile’s Pro mode in bright light, you’ll need ND filters. This is because the iPhone’s aperture is fixed and ISO only goes so low. In low light, you usually don’t need ND filters. Companies like Moment, Neewer, and NiSi make ND systems that work with iPhones.
Lightroom Mobile’s manual shutter tops out at 1 second, so ND filters help you use that full 1-second exposure without overexposing. However, they cannot extend the shutter beyond 1 second in that app. For longer “exposures,” you need stacking or computational methods like Slow Shutter Cam.
I have Slow Shutter Cam and it does work if you want really long exposures. You can vary the “strength” of the movement and do light trails, too. Two problems, though, are the small file size and the way the app creates the final image. Because it combines a sequence of individual images, the final image looks rather choppy - not smooth as it would be with a regular DSLR that can keep the shutter open for the entire exposure.
I’ve been using Project Indigo and haven’t gotten it to work for ICMs.
Thanks for the info, David!