Why You Can Trust CNET Fast Camera for iOS review: Fast Camera for iOS
If you want to take pictures like a real photographer on your iPhone, the Fast Camera app offers some neat tools to make it easy. Once you get used to taking numerous photos, you may never go back to the point-and-shoot method.
Fast Camera for iOS gives you another way to take the perfect picture, by snapping tons of shots quickly and letting you pick the best one. But you can also turn your photos into a stop-motion video, or tinker with the settings to take burst shots or timed group photos.
Fast Camera for iOS
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
It's important to note right away: when you launch this app for the first time it starts taking pictures in rapid-fire. The app defaults to autotaking shots so you can be ready for anything, but if you don't know that the first time you use the app, you'll suddenly realize you've taken 30 pictures or more before pressing the stop button. Go to the settings by pressing the gear icon in the upper left to turn off the Auto-on switch while you get used to using Fast Camera (you can always switch it back later).
When you use Fast Camera, all of your resulting photos are gathered in a folder and you can view every shot the app took to pick the best of the lot -- great for trying to get a perfect picture in just about any setting.
Fast Camera doesn't come with complicated interface elements or other onscreen options to distract you from the camera view, but in the settings you'll find a wealth of options for making the app behave like you want it to. You can choose to have the app default to your front- or rear-facing camera; choose your resolution settings; set a delay between shots to slow down the rapid-fire effect; start a timer for group photos; manually control locking of focus, exposure, and white balance; and control other settings. Most importantly, you have the option to set Fast Camera to take continuous photos (default), a burst of photos, or manual. I like the Burst option the best, because it lets you touch and hold a button to take continuous shots, and when you let go it stops. One more particularly useful feature is the option to show larger thumbnails when reviewing photos -- the default size is a bit too small to make decisions about best photos, and browsing through them full-screen can get time-consuming.
Fast Camera has one more cool feature for taking action shots. For an in-app purchase of 99 cents, the app will let you export your shots to create a stop-motion video. Initially I wasn't satisfied with the results, but with some experimenting within the app settings I was able to create a pretty good-looking stop-motion video. Depending on how much time you want to spend on it, your mileage may vary.
One more note: when I decided to review this app it was 99 cents, but it has since jumped up to $2.99, a price I think is a little steep for what you get. If you want Fast Camera, three bucks is not a huge amount to pay, but you might try waiting a bit to see if the price drops again before pulling the trigger.
You may already have a lot of photo apps on your iPhone, but Fast Camera offers a great way to find the perfect picture among many. If you want to take the perfect pic, set up group photos on a timer, or make stop-motion videos, this app keeps the interface simple, but offers the tools to make it happen.