There’s a new camera app in town and it is making some pretty bold claims. While some camera apps on the App Store trade on being able to add filters and all kinds of tweaks to images, others go for all-out quality, trying to bring some of the DSLR magic to the iPhone. Hydra, by Creaceed, goes the way of quality but takes it a step further by claiming to be able to create 32-megapixel images using just the iPhone’s 8-megapixel camera.
Before we get into that though, there are plenty of other ways to take photos using Hydra. While still trying to produce the best image possible, Hydra has modes that are designed for taking images in low-light, zoomed images and HDR in both photo and video form.
The HDR feature is pretty much the same as the HDR options already available with countless camera apps although the ability to take HDR video is a rarity , but the low-light capabilities are where things really start to get interesting. According to Creaceed, the way the app creates its exceptionally grain-free low-light images is to take multiple shots at a time, amplifying light as it goes. The end result is an image that looks suspiciously clean, and look even better than the already brilliant images created by Camera+. That’s impressive to say the least.
The high-resolution option works in a similar way. By taking anything up to 50 different shots during our testing, Hydra uses the slight movement of the camera to stitch together a super high-resolution image. While not strictly 32-megapixel, the final image can have anything up to 4x the pixels of a standard iPhone image. In our testing we found that while images did indeed look good, iOS apps such as Metapho were inconsistent in reporting exactly what resolution the photos were. Some reported as 32-megapixel in one app, while still showed as 8-megapixel in others. We suspect that’s more of a floor in the apps we used to check the images over, but it’s an oddity nonetheless.
Regardless of what the numbers show though, Hydra can kick out some nice images if our testing is anything to go by. The low-light abilities are excellent alone, and we can’t wait to see what the high-resolution option can do when out and about with something more than artificial light to work with.
Right now Hydra is available for $4.99 but that’s with an introductory 40% off its normal price. Get it now if you think you might make use of it. It’s well worth adding to your camera bag. Err, we mean folder.
(Download: Hydra for iOS on the App Store)
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