Camera Settings App

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NeilReed

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46
Name
Neil
Edit My Images
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Hello All,

I have had an idea that will hopefully help everyone.

I want to create a mobile app / webpage that will allow you to select your camera and then select the lens.

e.g. Canon --> 600D ---> With ----> Canon EF 40mm f2.8 STM

You can then select the type of photo your taking:

  • Portrait,
  • Landscape,
  • Macro
  • etc

Then the light level (as pointed out by JT74):

Day light,
Well Light,
Low Light
Night





This will then list "recommended" manual settings.

The settings will be submitted by users, and people can vote if the setting is any good.

That way the options will be returned in rated order.

The App / Website will be advert funded so no fees for anyone but me to make it.

What you think?

If I make it will people here use it?
 
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Not sure I get it.. The settings are entirely dependent on the available light, no?

I would use an app that can read EXIF data from images displayed in the browser though..
 
NeilReed said:
Its more for guidance, was meant to say that you could choose a lighting level e.g.

Day light,
Well Light,
Low Light
Night
Click to expand...

OK here's a question, a serious one. How would you cope with the fact that daylight here in Alicante is VERY different from daylight in say, High Wycombe?
 
As said, without knowing anything about the scene or light I'm not sure how anything useful could be recommended.

JT74 said:
I would use an app that can read EXIF data from images displayed in the browser though..
Click to expand...
I use this for Chrome. Does the trick for the most part, although it's not perfect.
 
My camera's got an app for that - it's called a meter and works in real time to adapt to prevailing conditions.

Not sure what the use case for this would be I'm afraid.
 
Number45 said:
As said, without knowing anything about the scene or light I'm not sure how anything useful could be recommended.


I use this for Chrome. Does the trick for the most part, although it's not perfect.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I use that Chrome plugin but would like one on mobile too.
 
Krisstiffer said:
My camera's got an app for that - it's called a meter and works in real time to adapt to prevailing conditions.

Not sure what the use case for this would be I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

Me neither.
 
Unless i am reading this wrong, this basically sounds like a sunny 16 app of which there are already plenty.

I'm not sure what entering your specific camera or lens info would really add? I occasionally use a sunny 16 app and it works with all of my film cameras whether it's a rangefinder, SLR, medium format, etc and all if their lenses. No need to enter data for each camera.

Ricardodaforce said:
OK here's a question, a serious one. How would you cope with the fact that daylight here in Alicante is VERY different from daylight in say, High Wycombe?
Click to expand...

In the sunny 16 apps they usually allow you to compensate for this (e.g., change settings for 'sunny 11', etc.), so I wouldn't see this being too big an obstacle.
 
The idea is flawed because of the idea of composition and lighting, it's not always about the time of the day in regard to the light, there's also the colour of that light which affects the meter readings as you'll know that along the Equator the light is warmer aswell as the angle of that light being totally different. You have too many variables to make an app workout, you may aswell write a small book on basic scenarios but that's already been done - Photography for dummies.

What you should do is invest in an Android app that acts as a lightmeter with a plugin module that plugs into the headphone socket - but again, this has been done (although there are a few about)
I don't want to knock you down but at the end of the day, an SLR isn't a toy, people need to learn the ropes for themselves otherwise they will keep taking crap photos and posting them on Facebook :D
 
I say go for it, one more pointless app won't hurt and some might even pay for it :D
 
Well this is why I have aired my idea first. :bonk:

Appears a pointless task. :bang:

The idea was to help out newbies (like me) with a quick reference guide.

But as you lot have pointed out there are far too many problems with the idea.
 
NeilReed said:
The idea was to help out newbies (like me) with a quick reference guide.
Click to expand...
That's your meter! :thumbs:

Learning the metering system is key. Once you know how it "thinks", it's easy to adjust for the exposure, you're after!

Krisstiffer said:
My camera's got an app for that - it's called a meter and works in real time to adapt to prevailing conditions..d.
Click to expand...
:wave:
 
A combination of the in camera meter and/or scene modes already does what the app is intended to do, doesn't it?
 
Bottom line is just put a little bit of effort into getting familiar with with your camera controls and a few of the basic principles of photography. It is not desperately hard. Study pays dividends.
 
arclight said:
Bottom line is just put a little bit of effort into getting familiar with with your camera controls and a few of the basic principles of photography. It is not desperately hard. Study pays dividends.
Click to expand...

hmm to be perfectly honest I found it all a lot harder than your making out when I started...
 
NeilReed said:
The Sunny 16 rule and the camera simulator seem to do what the idea was.

I think this topic can be closed unless anyone else wants to add "Rubbish idea" etc.
Click to expand...

Don't be disheartened, I'm sure there are other apps you could produce that would be used.
 
JT74, its more the fact that everyone feels the need to tell me that its a bad idea.

I'm happy to find out now, then make it and no one use it.

Oh well back to the drawing board.
 
You seem to get this a lot with have a go App desingers rather than using the time honoured tradition of.

Encounter a problem -> create solution.

They seem to.

Create solution - > invent problem.
 
Theres a table in the old ilford manual of photography that does pretty much what your trying to do, from memory it has a list of different places around the world with the settings to suit. Remember though film has better latitude than digital, and that coupled with the cameras screen and histogram make the ap a bit pointless.
IMHO theres to many variables for this to be anything other than a very rough guide.
 
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