The pCAM (by David Eubanks) for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch is likely one of the most comprehensive and useful tools for anyone working with film and video cameras – whether you are the DP, VFX Supervisor, or anyone in between, pCAM is a must.

Basically this app does all the math that we all would love to be able to do on the fly – but who amongst us carries a scientific calculator – or wants to?  This tool eliminates your need to know and understand complex mathematical formulas and/or your need to carry around a cinematographer’s manuals, focus charts, etc.

What do I mean?  Have you ever wondered what aperture you should set your lens to in order to get the correct depth of field so that everyone is in focus in your shot  (or just two rows out of four?)  Have you wondered how much more depth of field you could get by choosing one lens down (i.e. choosing a 24mm instead of a 28mm)?  Do you know and fully understand the term “hyperfocal” and how to apply it?  Basically you don’t need to, just use pCAM – It will do everything for you.

So if you don’t have a 1st A.C. on speed dial, or at your hip at all times, this app will not only provide solutions to the standard photographic calculations (such as depth of field, field of view, and exposure), but also to more advanced ones (such as timelapse, mired shifts, and underwater distance).

A good example of how to use this – using the “Depth of Field” panel – I was able to answer a friend’s question just now.  The question was:  is it true that if you shoot at f 5.6 on a 5D MKII  – that you would need to shoot at f 2.8 to get a similar shallow depth of field with the same lens equivalent on a 7D?

I went ahead and calculated that a 5D MKII w/ a 32mm lens at f 5.6 yields a similar depth of field to a 7D with a 20mm at f 2.8 +1/3  (with the 1.6x crop factor of the 7D the 20mm effectively gives you the field of view of a 32mm lens (1.6 X 20mm = 32mm))   Therefore it’s almost true – a Canon 5D MKII at f 5.6 on a 32mm yields a comparable depth of field to a 7D at f 2.8 + 1/3  (or f 3.5)

pCAM is incredibly useful (and a huge stress relief) for any DP, photographer, or crew member that has to work on small to large productions and can’t afford to guess – and for only $29.99, it’s a bargain.

If you are interested in this app, go to the following link on iTunes by CLICKING HERE.

I mentioned the term “augmented reality” in my Sun Seeker post last week – and today I saw a pretty incredible (or “Brilliant” as the Brits are accustomed to saying) use of it by the Museum of London. When I see technology do things like this – I get incredibly excited about the possibilities (as opposed to the more creepy Minority Report Advertisements that know who you are and send specific advertising your way).  Check out the Gizmodo article here.

This is the first of many upcoming posts on some of my favorite iPhone apps (hopefully every Friday) – something I’ve wanted to do for awhile. I have found that there are some terrific tools out there on the iPhone and iPad for both filmmakers and photographers, and I want to share some of the ones that I use frequently.

SUN SEEKER (by ozPDA) is likely one of those “go to” apps that just about every photographer, DP, director, and/or location scout should have. Like many other apps it can tell you where the sun will rise and set today, tomorrow, or at anytime in the future – and it can do so in a number of ways.

Perhaps the coolest implementation of this app is what they call the 3D View (which is in effect an augmented reality mode). This function uses your iPhone 3GS, its built in GPS system, and camera to allow you to physically point the phone in any direction and see the sun’s path drawn and overlaid on top of your camera image (see picture). In other words, you can be inside a building, pick up your phone, launch it into 3D View, and instantly be able to tell at what time the sun will cross the path of the window in front of you – even though you have no physical view of the sky. It will also tell you of course exactly where the sun will be, by drawing the sun’s path hour by hour and laying it over your iPhone camera’s live video image.   Not only is this useful indoors of course, or when you need to figure out where the sun will be in 5 hours and how to prepare for it – it can also be a life saver if you’re scouting at night, or on an overcast day… I find this incredibly useful, and quite accurate – not to mention amazing.

You can pretty much forget the special software, compasses, and other tools – this $2.99 app replaces them all in a millisecond and one-ups them. And if that’s not enough, it offers two other views: an overhead map view connected to Google Maps that will show you the angle of the sun from overhead – anywhere in the world, at any time of the year – and of course a details page, which shows you sunrise and sunset times, elevation angles, etc.

If you are interested in this app, go to the following link on iTunes by CLICKING HERE.