Obscura 4 Is Out Now ⇥ benricemccarthy.com

Ben McCarthy launched Obscura 4 today, a much-anticipated — well, with at least a sample size of me — update to their excellent manual camera app.

Ivan Mehta reviewed it for TechCrunch:

Obscura, the iPhone camera app for pro users, has released a new major version called Obscura 4 with support for the iPad. It also brings new features, such as dual reticule mode to have different points on the viewfinder for focus and exposure.

Obscura has long been a neat dual-purpose app. While Mehta calls out its pro features, it also has plenty of stuff for a less technically invested user like tasteful filters and video capabilities.

I have been using Obscura 4 for a few months and the little design touches have consistently impressed me. McCarthy highlights a few, like the exposure dial and image detail card, but I want to point you to the smooth transitions between screens and modes. These animations never get in the way, and they make the whole app feel fluid and lively.

Also, a tiny new thing I love: you can now set a default exposure compensation. My iPhone 12 Pro consistently produces RAW images that are much too bright for my liking, but it is easy enough to set Obscura to launch with exposure set one-and-one-thirds’ stop down.