General information

Do you like to take photos not only with a phone but also with a mirror camera or advanced mirrorless camera? Are you eager to make your photos more interesting? Are you often missing the "golden hour"? Or beautiful sunrises and sunsets always passing you by? Are you trying to make a sharp foreground and background of a landscape but fail? And what about a night exposure metering and exposure pairs adjustment - do you have any difficulties? You can solve all your problems by using Photo Tools app for Android as it comprises three convenient tools: DoF calculator, sunrise and sunset calendar, and exposure calculator.

DoF calculator: adjust DoF according to your creative concept. If you want to calculate a hyperfocal distance then for better effect you should use the method described by Lee Frost in his book "The Creative Photography", i. e. make calculations for more open aperture and then shut it by one stop. The depth of field calculation module is based on Vladimir Medvedev's theory (http://goo.gl/FrRooP), i. e. the circle of confusion diameter depends on the pixel size rather than on the sensor size. Numerous experiments with different cameras have proved the efficiency of this calculation method. Photo Tools app allows you to manage your cameras easily: add new cameras and edit the existing ones. If you don't like the idea that the results depend on the pixel size, you may set the desired size for the circle of confusion yourself by simply editing the camera's settings.

Sunrise and sunset calendar: learn the information on the daylight hours. The calendar shows you the sunrise and sunset times today, tomorrow and any other day - you may choose the date according to your plans. Information on civic, nautical and astronomical twilight is useful for those who like taking photos during the "golden hour" and at night. Photo Tools can help you to plan a trip to the shooting location: the app is not limited to your current location and allows to choose any place on the map. Also you don't have to worry about a timezone - the app adjusts the time automatically based on the selected place.

Exposure calculator: forget about those exposure pairs tables! This module would be extremely useful when the embedded camera's exposure meter becomes insufficient for you, especially when shooting at night with long exposure. The algorithm is simple: you should make a test photo to estimate the exposure and composition with parameters that the embedded exposure meter can still handle. Often this means maximum open aperture, shutter speed up to 30 sec and high ISO. After such calibration choose the necessary EV pairs according to your taste and goals. The shutter speed is usually more than 30 sec, and the shot should be made in Bulb-mode with the release cable. This module may also be useful in studio shooting.

Want even more functionality? Take a look at our Azimuth Plugin for Photo Tools. It will help you not only track sunset and sunrise times but also know where the sun rises and sets, and the sunlight direction anywhere in the world at the required time.

Thanks:
Rudy Dordonne (rework EV-pair kernel)