CinePro
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CinePro brings a wealth of options to mobile videographers
If you enjoy shooting video with your iPhone and want some creative inspiration, then you should check out CinePro from John Clem. The video recording app hit the app store in mid-May with a bunch of features that'll appeal to the videographer in everyone. CinePro is a marvelous in-betweener app that'll appeal to the novice as well as the prosumer. It has beginner features like filters and auto-focus as well as more advanced controls that let you set the ISO, white balance and exposure. There's also a histogram and a framing grid that'll help you get that perfect shot. When it opens up, CinePro presents you with a video window filled with options to let you adjust the zoom, aspect ratio, FPS, ISO, white balance, exposure, autofocus and turn on the torch. At the bottom are options to change the filter and toggle between the front and rear camera. These above options are the ones that you can change on the fly. There are more options in the settings menu that let you turn on advanced features like the ability to shoot in Best Mode at 1080P. When you are done recording, you can view the video clip in a preview window and add filters during the processing stage. If you recorded with a filter, this post-recording step lets you apply a second filter for a unique effect. You could, for example, record a video with a tilt-shift effect and then add a black & white filter afterwards. If you are happy with your recording, you can save it to your camera roll, export it to another app or upload it to a video service like YouTube. Twitter and Facebook integration also lets you share your creations with your friends. CinePro won't replace your dedicated video camera or even replace the one on your DSLR, but that doesn't mean it's not worth checking out. There are many times I grab my iPhone to shoot a quick clip of my child doing something cute, and I need to tweak the settings to get a better shot. CinePro is just perfect for this scenario. The ISO settings, in particular, did a wonderful job of brightening a dark room. Focusing was also decent. Like many mobile photography apps, CinePro has a handy tap-to-focus feature. The app also lets you lock the focus or have the app auto-adjust it for you. There is no focus tracking so you can't follow a moving object, but this is an iPhone, not a prosumer DSLR. Overall performance is very smooth, with one exception. Occasionally, CinePro would throw up an alert dialog informing me it could not change the frame rate. I had to force-close the app and then re-open it to change the frame rate. The developer is aware of this glitch and promises a fix will be available in the next version, which is slated for a late June release. CinePro is on sale for a limited time for 99-cents. The app ships with 5 free filters and additional filter packs are available for 99-cents each.
