Artist’s Viewfinder 6.5 Released with iPhone 11 Ultra Wide Camera Support

November 2, 2019 by

Version 6.5 of the Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder is now available on the App Store. This release brings long-awaited iPhone 11 ultra wide camera support.

We did face two serious challenges with the new phones.

First, despite being ordered on September 13, our iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max was delivered only on October 16. At first, the estimated delivery date was October 1, which had suddenly slipped to October 25.

After a series of rather angry phone calls, we finally got the devices on the 16th. As I mentioned earlier, Apple doesn’t treat developers equally in each country, putting us at serious competitive disadvantage, and causing excess costs. This is an ongoing issue since we started this business a decade ago, and I’m not going to dissemble it any more.

Second, the ultra wide camera “out of the box” turned out to be grossly inadequate for the task. To begin with, its angle of view differs between live view and taken pictures. And to add insult to injury, Apple’s distortion correction leaves heavy barrel distortion. Unacceptable things for a precision instrument like Artist’s Viewfinder.

Fortunately we have proven, mature distortion correction technology since 2013, so disabling Apple’s stuff and rolling out our own resolved the issue. But at this point we had to buy an iPhone 11 too, just to profile the ultra wide camera…

So after two and a half weeks of hard work the app is ready, and I’m pleased with the results. The ultra wide camera works like a 0.5x-class converter lens and can simulate a 15mm lens on the 35mm format (a 14mm is slightly clipped), or the Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 23mm f/5.6 with a 40x54mm back.

Marketing folks tend to live in an alternate universe where math is distorted. Apple markets the iPhone 11 as having a 13mm and 26mm equivalent (in 35mm terms) camera. The reality is that in 35mm terms, the horizontal (longer side) angles are equivalent to 14.5mm and 28mm lenses. Maybe they are comparing the diagonal angles, which although let them show shorter focal lengths because of the aspect ratio difference (2:3 vs 3:4), is misleading. It’s just like when Canon marketed a 6000×4000 pixel camera having 24.3 megapixels… Where the hell that 0.3 megapixels are coming from? (Well, maybe from the inactive sensor area being included in the megapixels number, but its still cheesy.)

Sorry, I had to vent… Now back on track.

Just like a regular wide converter, the ultra wide camera can be activated with the WIDE icon on the Quick Control Screen or via the Toggle Wide Mode function assigned to a Smart Function Key.

RAW capture, optical image stabilization and focusing is not available with the ultra wide camera due to hardware limitations.

Using external accessory lenses with iPhone 11 models is not supported. You don’t need one, just mention it for the sake of completeness.

The Viewfinder Handbook was also updated to reflect the new features.

This update is free for existing users. New users can purchase the app in the App Store.

Filed Under: My Apps, Photo Software Tagged With: , , , ,

Viewfinder iPhone 11 Support Coming

October 18, 2019 by

The release of the iPhone 11 series marks the end of an era for me. Six years ago we’ve released the Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder, a new incarnation of our successful Viewfinder Pro app. The Mark II brought first class wide angle conversion lens support, complete with real-time distortion correction. A world’s first tech at that time, and still unmatched.

This opened up a whole new world for landscape and architecture photographers, allowing them to simulate ultra wide shots and stitched panoramas.

But the converter lenses were bulky, expensive, and sourcing them early was a huge problem. We have a big box of lenses for every imaginable phone that are nothing but worthless junk now. So I don’t feel sorry that this is history and that some converter lens manufacturers will go out of business. With the exception of ALPA, they were all a pain to deal with.

We’ve received our 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max two days ago (more than a month after placing the order – sadly Apple doesn’t provide an equal playing field for developers in some European countries). And now I’m happy to report that ultra wide angle camera support is almost complete. Yes, I wrote most of the code in advance.

A screen shot showing the ultra wide camera in action

During the last month we had been asked frequently whether the new ultra wide camera will be able to simulate a Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 23mm f/5.6 on a 40×56 mm sensor, such as the Phase One IQ4 150. Although precise bench measurements still have to be done, based on iOS provided angle of view information the answer is a resounding yes. Just take a look at the screen shot above. For 35mm cameras, this is roughly 15mm equivalent. Sides of a 14mm are slightly clipped, so the 13mm in Apple’s materials seems to be marketing exaggeration. But we’ll see after the measurements.

The ultra wide camera is treated as a permanently present wide converter. That is, activating Wide Mode will switch to the ultra wide camera. There’s nothing else to configure. And there are no workflow changes. The updated app will also provide a separate Frame Size Adjustment slider for the ultra wide camera.

We still have about a week’s worth of work ahead, and thus I expect the updated version to be available by the end of October. The update will be free for existing Mark II users.

Filed Under: My Apps, Photo Software Tagged With: , , , ,

Tech Camera and Artist’s Viewfinder Updates

October 2, 2019 by

Technical Camera 1.5 and Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder 6.4 are now available on the App Store.

Both apps add support for the new 10.2″ iPad screen size, and resolve a bunch of issues on iOS 13. Artist’s Viewfinder also gains support for a few new cameras.

Technical Camera sports a new feature that didn’t make into the previous version: the exposure simulation warning. Since it belongs to exposure simulation, I’ve described it in that post.

These updates are free for existing users.

Filed Under: My Apps, Photo Software Tagged With: , , , ,

Artist’s Viewfinder 6.3 Released

September 18, 2019 by

Continuing today’s iOS 13 compatibility updates, version 6.3 of the Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder is now available on the App Store. It brings full iOS 13 support (again, you must update to this version if you are using iOS 13). Dark Mode is supported in the menu, but the main screen’s color theme is still controlled with the Toolbar Theme preference in the menu.

Along a few new cameras, there’s a notable new feature: Zoom to Active Frame.

Once it’s turned on in the menu, double or triple tapping a frame will not just set the mask or highlight, but will also zoom to the active frame so that it fits the screen (that is, the whole active frame becomes visible, at the largest possible size where the whole frame is on the screen). Clearing the mask or highlight will change the zoom level back to where it was before activating the frame (the original zoom level). There are a few things to keep in mind, though.

If the active frame is too small (it would need a higher zoom level than the maximum possible) or too large (smaller zoom level than possible), then it may not fit the whole screen. This may happen with long telephoto or ultra wide lenses.


Viewfinder forgets the original zoom level (and will not revert to it when the mask or highlight is cleared) if you:

  • 
manually change the zoom level after the app zoomed into the active frame;
  • switch between the wide and tele cameras on the phone; or
  • toggle Wide Mode.

When you activate another frame while still in a previously activated one, the display will change to reflect your new activation. The original zoom level will not change in this case, so clearing the active frame will bring you back to the zoom level used before the first frame activation.

Optical image stabilization and exposure simulation described in my previous posts for Technical Camera are also present in this app (since they share the underlying capture engine).

The Viewfinder Handbook was also updated to reflect the new features.

This update is free for existing users. New users can purchase the app in the App Store.

Filed Under: My Apps, Photo Software Tagged With: , , , ,
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