Downgraded to zero if possible – 645 PRO Mk III Review

DEVELOPER HAS PROVEN UNRESPONSIVE AND APPEARS TO HAVE ABANDONED APP. APPLE SHOULD DELIST THIS FROM THE STORE Original review: I will start by saying that the features in this application are darned near without equal across all iPhone camera apps. It's truly impressive the functionality that is packed into this app. And no in-app purchases - thank you! Where I find great disappointment is in the implementation, meaning, how one interacts with the app to make use of the features: First, on the surface, the idea of mimicking a DSLR layout sounds pretty good. In use though one is reminded that the DSLR layout works so well due to tactile feedback. You know where a switch/button is by feel. That is not recreated here as the iPhone is a touch screen. What you end up with is a fair clutter of distractingly rendered 3D buttons which make zero use of a touch screen's benefit. For example, hitting the flash "button" to toggle its state would be best implemented through an update of the icon on the button. This does not happen - instead the state is represented by a symbol resident in the viewfinder area, contributing to on-screen clutter. Other icons in the VF include white balance, metering, iso, speed, AF and AE lock, etc. To be fair, there is a button which can toggle all of the indicators off, HOWEVER, it also turns off the ability to see what your speed and iso is in any shooting mode and further disables the ability to adjust exposure in Auto mode (the adjusters disappear). In short, reasonable usability requires one to get used to clutter. Second, a key area where DSLR duplication makes sense is through the use of sliders to control speed, iso, and exposure compensation. This is a good mimicking of DSLR dials. Here is where the application majorly disappoints. Ironically, the choice made here is to use stepper "buttons" (in the viewfinder) instead of sliders - small +/- symbols. They are difficult targets, easy to fat finger and frustratingly slow to use. Third, you cannot use the camera in left hand landscape mode. The app seems to read that orientation as upside down and moves the shutter and associated buttons to the right side, away from the left hand. I happen to be left handed. This takes the rigid DSLR layout analogy a bit too far in my opinion. Perhaps a more positive way to look at it is that this app requires two hands under particular circumstances. In summary, for the slow and methodical shooter I can see the feature richness being something which wins over many and makes up for other shortcomings. However, for a street shooter looking for easily accessible controls with minimal fuss I for one would take a pass. Lastly, for the record, I took the time to share much of this feedback with the developer well in advance of this review - I didn't hear anything back.
Review by dr0berts on 645 PRO Mk III.