Instagram finally made its way to Android last week. The much sought after camera app has already been downloaded over 5 million times in only six days, proving how hungry Android users were for its release. Its success has now seen the company being bought by Facebook for $1 billion!
It’s still unsure as to how Facebook intends to use the company, but rest assured we will see some integration between Instagram and the Facebook mobile app making sharing and uploading even easier.
I’ve never used Instagram before, having only owned Android devices, so I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. I was underwhelmed.
Not that there is anything wrong with the app itself. My expectations were so high after all of the talk about “Instagram this” and “Instagram that” over the years I was expecting something life changing.
But then I realised, it’s only a camera app! What was I expecting it to do? Allow me to take professional photographs with a touch of a button? Sure, the retro filters are nice to play about with and it does turn an average photo of a cupcake into something a little more artistic. I suppose the main attraction of Instagram is the social element. While I’m still not sold on the idea, I can see why people would like to follow and engage with other fellow Instagramers.
But if like me, the retro filters and social side of Instagram just aren’t cutting it, I have an alternative camera app I’ve been using for the last couple of months I’d recommend.
It’s called Camera360 Ultimate which is free on the Android Market. Like Instagram, it comes with a ton of retro filters to mess about with. But it also has other enhancements and filters if you like playing with effects. There are useful filters such as ‘Magic Skin’, ‘HDR’ and ‘Enhance’ which subtly change the colours turning dull and gloomy photos into something more pleasing for the eye by adding a punch of colour, without making it look unrealistic of course.
Image via b3d_
There are also fun filters such as ‘Sketch’ and ‘Big Head’ if you’re looking for something different. Tilt Shift is my favourite effect to use. If your shooting from a high angle, you can make life sized objects seem like miniture models. By blurring both the top and bottom of the picture which allows you to point the viewers eye to focus on something you want.
I’ve just found an extra pack for the app too called Camera360: Fantasy Creative which mixes a real photo while sketching a portion of it. The camera also comes with an image stabiliser which is great for those of us who can’t press a button without moving their hand too.
Camera360 Ultimate might not allow you to join a community and share your wonderful photos, but if like me you just want to take better photos using your smartphone, I believe it’s the best on the market.
Do you like Instagram? Have you tried Camera360 Ultimate? Tell us in the comments section below.
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April 11, 2012
Mobile