This is a photo from the Cortex Camera app on my iPhone. I was using it exclusively until a few months ago to take pictures of the food dishes. Then they “improved” it so that it no longer would function with my ancient iPhone4, so I moved to ProCamera7 – see image below for example.
Now that Cortex Camera works with my iPhone, I am asking your opinion as to which app to use for displaying the deliciousness of the food that passes through our kitchen. Interestingly, both photos were taken at the same distance from the food. Cortex Camera always shows less of the scene. I don’t know why.
Number One picture above is the new version of Cortex Camera, and
Number Two picture above is ProCamera 7.
Would you be kind enough, please, to leave a comment with your opinion? I would be most appreciative. Sorry to inundate you with yet more poached eggs, but it is our weekend treat, and I thought nicely representative of colors and texture. And by the way, using half whole wheat flour makes really good cinnamon bread! Nice substance without being too chewy! ;->
Adventures of Dorrie Anne 
I like the first set as it presents the colors and textures much more vividly.
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Yay! Your comment did NOT go to the Spam folder this time! I have been keeping a watch on that folder so that your kind answers are not hidden, so maybe that was the lucky charm! Thank you for indulging me with my question! ;->
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I like cortex. The photos seem to be clearer. Cortex seems to get better reviews than the other one. Can’t you hold the camera higher from the food with Cortex and get a more complete picture? I wasn’t aware of these apps but may buy Cortex. Do you use a tripod or handhold the camera when taking photos?
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Thanks for the feedback, Chris. Yes I could hold the camera higher, but that would require that I remember to actually do it! This new version of Cortex is completely different from the old one. There is nothing to fiddle with on this new one. Just take the picture. That’s it. The old one had a lot of different things to do before the picture was actually usable. I plan to spend some time Googling opinions later – thanks for reminding me to do that.
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Top photo shows more detail, and the colors appear to be more accurate. If you would ask me which one I would prefer to eat, then no question — the top one is much more appetizing!
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Thanks, Dale. C’mon down, and I’ll make you a plate just like that! ;->
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I prefer the ”close-up” photos! The colors and details make my mouth water!! Perhaps another couple of inches away to show the entire area of food, but I would still prefer it if only getting the photos above! Thanks!!
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Thanks for weighing in, Beck! Good info!
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I agree with the others, the first (top) photo is my favorite. I love cinnamon toast and poached eggs and they both look delicious. Geez, you did it again – I’m going to have soft boiled eggs and cut up pieces of toast for lunch – right now. You always get my appetite going. 🙂
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Thanks for your opinion, Barb. I like to make poached eggs instead of soft boiled because I can see what they are doing. With the shell on . . . well, I always seem to get the yolk too hard – and then – eggs for breakfast are no fun if they have hard yolks. Good only for deviled eggs at that point. Purchased cinnamon bread always has a peculiar flavor to me. They must put some sort of artificial flavoring in it to make it seem more cinnamon-y or something. It’s easy to make, but doesn’t last very long around here! One recipe of dough makes six seedy buns and either a pizza, a focaccia, or cinnamon bread/rolls.
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To me, the Cortex has cooler whites and more saturated warm colors, which is slightly more appealing because of the contrast.
However, if the whites look too cool to you, you might want to use the ProCamera and add a touch saturation with something like Snapseed.
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Thanks for the pointers – from a real photographer! Both of those pictures were straight out of the camera . . . er . . . iPhone. I do usually jazz them up a bit in Photoshop once I get them over to my computer because I like bright colors, but find I need to do less to the Cortex versions. I need to practice up with Snapseed because my efforts to date have looked good on the iPhone screen, but not so hot on the computer screen.
I was sorry when Cortex stopped working with my iPhone because it was an easier “take” for food pictures. Also, the finished product is about one-half to one-third the size of the ProCamera shots, which is nice when consumed space is an issue. (And when is it not?)
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Cortex, hands down. . .
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Thanks for the vote!
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Another vote for the top photo. Also, for some reason, when I click on the second photo to view it larger, it gets rotated and squished.
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Yes, I noticed that, too. Another good reason to use Cortex! ;-> I have no idea why it did that.
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Definitely the top one. Although the view is more cropped. I have the same problem with my Android phone. I have to be very far back to get all I want into the frame. Whereas Fred’s iphone gets a much wider shot.
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Fred’s iPhone is probably newer than my iPhone4. The camera is better in the iPhone5 and 5s. Lust, lust! ;->
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The top photo looks a little better and more detaily. But the bottom shows more of the pic. Maybe the top one but stand back a tad more.
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I did that on purpose to show the difference between the two when taken from the same distance. I don’t know why it is like that. Doesn’t seem reasonable to me. But, yes, I can move the camera up a bit. I usually do it on the kitchen island where we eat, which is higher than a table. I guess I’ll need to put the plate closer to the ground, or stand on a stool.
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I think you should just send me the meal so I can compare the photos to real life…… It would be even better if you would send me a meal every day so I can help you decide if it should be recommended or not ;c)
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Sho ‘nuf, Honey Chile. Jes’ send me your address – or you can come live next door – that would be easier! ;->
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The first set of pictures are bigger and clearer. BOTH ARE YUMMY!!!!!!
Have fun experimenting ! I haven’t made raisin bread in years maybe I should get my bread machine out my storage cabinet?? ????
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Gary sez: “Go for it, Shirley!
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That’s a mighty fine camera on your phone. Better than my 200.00 camera, actually.
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It seems to do a good job for only 5 MP.
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As others have said, the Cortex Camera image looks better, although it contains only two megapixels, while the ProCamera photo has five megapixels–the full resolution of your iPhone 4’s camera.
However, if you examine the ProCamera image at 100%, you’ll see that it contains significant motion blur, which makes it look worse than it otherwise would. This is a result of its being shot at 1/25 of a second, a shutter speed that’s too slow for handheld photography with the iPhone’s 35mm (equiv.) focal length lens. In short, if the camera had been steady, the ProCamera image would have looked better than it does.
Unfortunately, Cortex Camera failed to include the camera’s exposure data when saving its image, but it’s a safe guess that it was also working at 1/25th. So why does its image look better?
Cortex Camera takes scores of photos and merges them together into one image, aligning them with each other in the process. It’s primarily intended for low-light situations, where a single exposure would contain unsightly pixel noise. By “stacking” many images, Cortex Camera eliminates most of the noise (which differs from one frame to the next). The tradeoff is that it operates at less than half the 5-megapixel resolution of which your iPhone’s camera is capable.
Since Cortex Camera appears to yield better results, your best bet is to stick with it and accept the lower resolution it provides… and if possible, find a way to stabilize your camera so that camera motion, which can be a problem even for Cortex Camera, won’t be a factor.
For more on how Cortex Camera works, see this article:
http://lifeinlofi.com/2013/02/06/what-does-cortex-camera-do/
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Thank you for the insight, Andy. I had read the quoted article a few days ago. It was written before the latest update showed up. For now, I will continue to use the Cortex camera for my food shots because I am just too lazy to make any kind of a set up that would stabilize the camera on a regular basis. I fix the meal, grab a quick picture, and then gobble it down before it gets any colder. The ProCamera7 will probably continue in use for other-than-food photos because it does a pretty good job, too.
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This is the very first time that I heard about Cortex Camera! I found the app, but before I download it, will I have difficulty using my regular iPhone camera. I agree with everyone else that the first one is the best. 🙂
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You choose a camera just like any other app. It is fun to try out many different apps, and that includes cameras. ;->
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