Wise features, cumbersome interface – 645 PRO Mk III Review

The greater control over focus, exposure, and image quality are, of course, quite welcome, but the film/grain emulation as well as color filtration for greyscale images are alone worth the price of the app. Someday Instagram will catch on to these tweaks. The interface, however, inexplicably emulates that of a physical point and shoot camera, instead of using the possibilities of the iPhone's hi-res touchscreen. The simulated three dimensional is is a distraction, and the interface simply can't rotate properly for square/portrait orientation (shooting square is most natural in the vertical). An actual camera has limited surface area and thus has to cram minimal symbols into circular buttons. No need for that here. Tapping for a pop up menu and sliding for selections would ease the photographic process. Right now, valuable features are buried four screens deep in a menu that acts exactly like it only has the directional arrows of a hardware camera. The filter menu brings up a needless 3D carousel when a two-d layout with fixed locations would be faster. A slider would be vastly preferable to tapping tiny increments. Saving favorite filters would be perfect. HDR would be a godsend but I imagine it's expensive to develop. Still, I keep coming back to this app because of the film and grain emulation. I hope the interface is eventually streamlined.
Review by Mills Center Contemporary Music on 645 PRO Mk III.