Mattebox 2

I encourage all of you to check out the new update to the Mattebox app. For those of you who never used the original Mattebox app, it's a truly remarkable camera replacement that lets you lock exposure and shoot all with one hand. You just tap to lock in the exposure and slide the shutter button down once you have your focus point setup and bam, your result is perfection. This app has been literally a year in the making. I've hassled Ben on Twitter about it and missed the signup for the beta, but it's definitely worth the year wait. Unfortunately I'm not Ben and I can't run down in detail all the features of the app, but some interesting stuff that you'll want to know about this app is the new filters system which lets your create filters with real RGB curves (check the site for more clarification) and the ability to export the filters to Photoshop or Lightroom. You can also upload them to a community built into the app and download some other filters people have made. Also there's an exposure compensation dial that is literally the closest thing to controlling shutter speed in a camera replacement app. It literally lets you compensate for 1/3 increment stops. There's a ton of others features as well such as one touch white balance. The price is pretty steep ($4.99), but I can assure you it's worth every penny, especially if you purchased the original Mattebox app and have it sitting in your purchases, then this new update is completely free.

http://mattebox.com

 

May have to purchase this beaut

 

So excited for this. i've been waiting forever for an update. I threw the app up in the cloud for a while, so I didn't automatically get notified of the update. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. It's now updated and waiting for my experimentation. Love this camera.

 

What does this app offer that's different from others on the market??

 

I use ProCamera often as it has ISO readings, white balance lock, light correction and the invaluable torch. So something like Procamera but with added bonus of being operated one handed sounds wonderful. Do you think it's as good as ProCamera in quality of the snaps?

 

i personally think the quality of pictures will be better because of the intuitive one handed controls. it's simple to steady the phone and the sliding motion doesn't create camera shake like reaching to tap on the screen in ProCamera would. I love ProCamera too, but my biggest gripe with that app is the lack of volume shutter, which makes steadying my phone much easier when shooting as opposed to holding with one hand and tapping with another or holding with both hands and stretching my index to tap the camera. Also, Mattebox outputs to a lossless TIFF, which i believe ProCamera cant do in it's current form. I think ProCamera only does High Quality JPEGs. Also the exposure compensation in the moment will help save post shot editing time, as you can spin the exposure compensation wheel to get a near perfect exposure before your shot, and then lock the exposure with a tap after you've pointed around to find it. I'll have some photos up shortly of me using the app.

 

If I'm wrong, somebody educate me. I am missing having zoom on this app. If it's there, let me know how to access it. It doesn't seem to have volume shutter, either - similar to ProCamera. With ProCamera I have the screen tap for shutter which (for me) causes less movement than the mattebox shutter - and is just easier. I don't really miss the lack of volume shutter with ProCamera because of the screen shutter. With the camera apps I have that DO sport a volume shutter, I use it. I have a bluetooth remote control shutter release that I use quite frequently. Procamera's Night mode rocks hard. I'm not sure I have the ability to change the shutter time with MB? MB does offer the TIFF and PC doesn't. For me, high quality JPEG is what I need, as TIFFs are just too freaking large. I definitely understand the reasons why some folks are very pro-TIFF, though. It's not in my list of wants/needs/desires. I didn't try to do the one handed thing with MB. My hands shake like I'm 98 with Parkinson's, so I always need two hands, and a stabilization device (iStabilizer with Flex and Monopod work great!).
I found "Mattebox in 60 seconds", "the camera in 60 sec" and "editing in....yeah", as well as the marketing video and I have to say it is kind of difficult to find things on there (as opposed to a standard user's manual). For instance, It mentions about being able to use gestures in full screen mode, which can be accessed with a single tap. "Gestures" is hyperlinked, and you can tap on it to find out how to edit using different touch combinations. So at this point I am having trouble knowing where in the 60 seconds of what I am. Nearly everything has a hyperlink to further describe it, and it just seems a little bit circular and confusing. I've used Mattebox before, but the user interface is not the same. I would love to just read through a manual that flows from section to section and learn how to better use this app. There are many features I really love. I just am not certain I know how to access them.
I definitely can't replace ProCamera with anything - It's a stellar camera replacement app.
If I've outed myself as an idiot, then so be it. Like I said in the first statement, teach me.
Thanks! Mattebox image from this morning

 

That's a great photo. What remote control snap do you use with ProCamera btw? I know that the button on the iPhone only seems to work with iPhone's own camera, or am I missing something?
Also what's the 'night mode' in Procamera? Do you mean flash/torch? Thanx

 

Thanks for the compliment on the photo. The remote control that I use is put out by Satechi http://www.ishotmounts.com/Camera-Shutter-Release-Wireless - but I don't use that with ProCamera. I use it with any of my other apps that support the hardware volume shutter (645, Hipstamatic, Camera+, Hueless, Huemore...). Night mode is when the shutter stays open longer - in Procamera this can be customized to 1/8s, 1/4s, 1/2s or 1s. The longer it stays open, the bigger the possibility of developing movement artifact. Another reason I use the stabilizing devices I do. But I usually run it on 1/8s. Many other camera replacement apps have the same feature these days.

 

Thanx @bethbikes. Is there a universal remote shutter release that can be used with as many other apps like VividHDR? At the mo I have 4s phone and the headphone remote seems to only work with the naked camera. Just checked the link you posted about the Bluetooth shutter release, so that works with all apps, yes? It's just a bit too pricy

 

ONLY apps that support the volume shutter release. So that discounts VividHDR - unless they've added that I didn't notice. The bluetooth shutter releases on the market work much the same as the headphone volume up button - neither will snap a picture in an app that doesn't support the hardware volume shutter release. One cool thing you might not know about the headphone method - If you ever have issues with it all getting tangled up... you can modify an old set of headphones and they continue to work perfectly for shutter release purposes - see pic

 

currently, there's no zoom in Mattebox. personally, I don't zoom any because an easy way to remedy zooming with the shots that I take is to just move forward. i understand what you're saying about the volume shutter and ProCamera. for me, I love the volume shutter option and would love it to be in ProCamera, but it's not. that doesn't mean that I won't use the app, but now that Mattebox 2 is out, I have no use anymore for ProCamera. For night shots, I'd use 645 anyway because it's interface gives me a colored histogram and I can precisely make sure i'm shooting to the right. while I can do that with ProCamera, it's more of an on-the-fly type of histogram that gives you a preview of what it would look like overall. I guess it's because i'm more technical in a way that I like everything laid out in plain view so I can get the shot technically and compositionally. Mattebox's shutter to me makes sense for all types of uses. one click to lock exposure, then slide once you've got the focus, it's just so simple and easy to shoot. I use it one handed mostly with my phone sitting between my index and pinky and I let my thumb glide down for the shutter. I just find it way easier that way to shoot and compose. Plus the compensation dial is a life saver for trying to get a live view of the correct exposure I want without having to get it right during editing. while a histogram in the bottom right would be amazing, the editing features of Mattebox make up for that which real curves and RGB editing. i don't find anything wrong with Mattebox University in the way it gives instructions, but the only thing i could say is to give it another go and click around. also, you could send Ben a tweet as well. he responds very quickly. as far as JPEGs vs TIFFs, the difference in quality is very obvious. while the file size might be larger, i'd rather not have my images compressed and sharpened unless i do it myself. TIFFs give you the freedom of working with raw colors and have more information in the file, which is why its so large. like I said before, i guess it's because i'm more of a technical guy who wants more freedom when editing. i thrive on Lightroom and RAW files for my DSLR work, so I expect similar quality of files when shooting with my iPhone. lovely shot btw beth. here's one I just took and edited with the Mattebox editing tools:



"foglight-sea"

 

beautiful image. I think we give two sides to a story that are both "true" for what we do. As for the zoom, i had to laugh. if I move closer my subject runs/flies away.

 

Just wanted to point out, the only reason ProCamera doesn't have a volume shutter anymore (as it used to) is because Apple told them to remove the functionality.

Then why, you must wonder, are others allowed to use it?

You'd have more luck getting the secret on how they get the caramel in the caramilk bar than a plausible reason from Apple on that.
They are funny that way.

Noel

 

Oh that's a shame, it shouldn't really be up to Apple to decide how other apps try to make their features compatible. That's annoying coz ProCamera is my most favourite snapping app, but the lack of volume shutter stops me using it more often. Thanx for the explanations everyone

 

I like to take tiffs, is there an app that lets you edit and then save in tiff or do you haveto go to acomputer

 

How do you save to tiffs? Can you explain the concept? Thanx

 

On a computer, if you are using photoshop or lightroom , you get a choice how you want to save a file. If you use tiff or Psd ,it is lossless, or you don't lose any data. If you save as a jpeg, each time you edit ,you lose some data. Most of the apps save as a jpeg. If you use Leonardo, you can email the file to yourself as a psd,which you can then edit in Photoshop or lightroom. On an ipad or iphone you can hardly tell the difference. Tiff or Psd files contain much more data(loseless). I hope this helps
mike

 

Greetings folks, this is my first post here. Been lurking for a while, but decided to join up to share some information regarding the release of Mattebox 2.0, which I’ve been eagerly awaiting for some time.

First off, docsimsim, TIFFs can be saved from a few different camera apps (Pureshot, 645 Pro, Mattebox, Hueless). It is in the settings for each app that you can choose to save TIFF, instead of JPEG.

I’ve done a fair bit of testing with the new Mattebox and am overall very impressed. It’s a little crashy now and then but generally stable. I took about 10 test shots with Mattebox, Pureshot, and Clearcam on my 4s. What I found surprised me.

Overall, the quality of shot I’m getting with Mattebox is far superior to Pureshot (and by extension 645 Pro, since they are the same on the backend). I really like the interface of Mattebox, and the results can be stunning, especially when shooting TIFF. But, only about 75% of the pics from Mattebox looked ‘really good’. Only 50% looked ‘really good’ from Pureshot . I’m not sure if camera shake is to blame or what. I was using a 1 second timer with Pureshot to keep the camera a still as possible, but even so it couldn’t compete.

Interstingly, Clearcam is the most reliable for me to get a nice clean crisp shot. 100% of the photos from Clearcam looked ‘really good’. Now, the very best shot from Mattebox trumped the best shot from Clearcam, but not by much. Also, I found that a TIFF from Mattebox and an Enhanced high rez JPEG from Clearcam are very close in terms of quality.

Here are some photos that typify the results from each app, cropped to 100%

Mattebox:


Pureshot:


Clearcam:

 

Forgive my lack of knowledge, but what is volume shutter?

 

The volume button used to snap the photos ( the iPhone volume button can be used to snap the images also with headphones )

 

Hello @B Shep, welcome here. Tx for your comment above and the very useful image comparison. I agree with you that the Clearcam image is the sharpest. Is Clearcam easy to master? I'm only halfway through very slowly learning all the features on Procamera after installing it last month!! Should I get Clearcam as well? How does it compare to Procamera, do you know?

 

Docsimsim, Clearcam is pretty simple to use, but the interface is annoying: you have to tap on the screen 1, 2, or 3 times to activate certain features. Also, if you want to use the 'enhanced hi-rez' mode, that involves several extra steps to process the captured images, which are also rather annoying.

In short, I prefer the consistent results of Clearcam, but like the interface of Mattebox much more.