PRO Zoom Camera 5X (Android Review)

RATING:
5 out of 5

PRICE:
$2.99

TASTY:
Brings a suite of much-needed photo tools to your DROID, including deeper zoom (up to 5X), a set of eight filters, and more. Brings many standard features to the main interface, and makes taking pictures with your camera easier, faster, and more fun.

BUMMER:
Some Hero, Galaxy, and Vibrant users report freezes as of August 2010. (The app’s developer has a good track record releasing regular updates to address issues as phones mature and handsets evolve.)

COOL:
Brings things like flash and exposure controls to the fore, eliminating multiple levels of swipes and screen touches to do the same things using the standard Camera app. Adds a blank canvas feature with basic editing, clip art, and font tools to help you ‘get creative’ on the go.

REVIEW:
Pro Zoom Camera 5X ($2.99) is so good, it should replace every DROID’s standard Camera app. (Review written on DROID A855 running OS 2.1.) When you combine the fresh set of tools the app brings to your phone along with its one-press access to the most-accessed settings, you’ve got yourself a killer app that all DROID owners should own right out of the box.

Since picking up my DROID a few months back, I’ve used it as my primary camera. After all, my phone travels with me everywhere I go, its 5MP sensor is up to snuff quality-wise, and the stock Camera app isn’t all that bad (so long as you have a little patience and a steady hand.)

Except, perhaps, when it comes to quickly tweaking image settings. Switching over to low-light night mode (or any other picture setting beyond the default) involves several swipes and screen touches. The same for turning the flash on and off.

Pro Zoom Camera 5X takes away many of the pains you’ve experienced with the stock Camera. First up, the flash and exposure controls are right there on the side of your digital viewfinder. One click changes your flash setting, opens the exposure settings, and more. Easy.

Plus, as its name implies, you can now get closer to the action with a 5X digital zoom. Experienced photographers, don’t snicker just yet. In my tests, moving the zoom slider from 1X across to 5X does introduce some jaggies on the edges of my subjects, but once I take the picture, the app does a more than decent job of cleaning up the result.

Best of all, you can now delete the images you don’t want to keep as you go along. No more worries about filling up your memory with every single shot!

Plus, once an image has been taken, you can jump right into edit mode. Clicking Pic Wiz forces the app to save the image, then presents you with a colossal list of 23 crazy-cool effects, including Toy Camera, Supercolor 1000 Instant (my favorite), Vintage, Fish Eye, Comic Book, and more.

Remove graininess, color tint, brightness and contrast, and other helpful fixes and tweaks are also a finger press away. Some of the tweaks can take 10-20 seconds to apply. Click the back button to remove the most recent change, or click back twice to return to the main menu, select Use Existing Pic, and edit another image.

A blank canvas feature allows you to choose a color, add one of 50+ clip art elements to a photo, apply edits, add text, and more. Throw in a timer, basic geo tagging features, and the ability to share your creations with friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, email, and more, and you’ll be amazed that this useful app costs less than a venti mocha at your favorite coffee shop.

I guarantee that you’ll be using Pro Zoom Camera 5X long after this morning’s caffeine buzz wears off.