HelloPhoto App Reviews

This app will not replace a $100 slide scanner but it did not cost me $100. I tried it with 2 iPhones and it worked well but, it worked better when I used my DSLR and an iPhone.

Great way to discover whats on my old negatives. Viva la film! :)

This app works in a very limited sense: it turns your iPad into a light table and you can adjust the temperature of the backlight. That can be handy. The rest of the package is gimmicky, although creatively and cleverly executed. To use the app as designed, you actually need both an iPad and an iPhone (for the camera) or better yet, an iPad and a digital camera of some sort. Theres a video demonstration on the developer’s site (that, amusingly, requires a Flash player to watch). The reality is that to get any remotely good results with this tool: 1) you need a plate of very clean glass to flatten out the film strips you lay on the iPad 2) you need a copy stand or tripod to hold everything rigidly still and position the iPhone (or camera) perpendicular to the iPad Of course, if you do have all those things and use a high resolution camera with good optics and perfect focus, you’re likely to actually resolve the LCD grid of the iPad display and get some vicious moire through the transparency. Maybe if you placed a diffuser beneath the strip? This is getting complicated. Its a toy. Its very cute and nicely executed, but not very useful.

Not sure if I misunderstood or not doing something right. I thought I would be able to actually see a picture that I could make out who was who.... Like when you put it thru a scanner. All I see is the image you would see if you held negative up to a lite... Which is not much. Can somebody set me straight?

You cant really get anything hi-res with it due to the camera not being able to focus on it up close, but its pretty good for Instagram and Twitpic, etc. Its only reasonable for black and white photos. So, when you scan your negative, you might want to take it into Photoshop Express to fix it for now. Otherwise, very good! Will be writing up a review on my personal blog tonight after I play with it some more. Promoted it on Instagram already.

Its a great idea, pretty well pulled off, especially knowing the limitations of the hardware. It wont replace my Ion slide and negative scanner, nor my Pandigital photo and negative scanner, but its OK. The negatives have to be perfectly flat and if you have any older 35mm negs, you know they are not perfectly flat anymore. The negatives have a tendency to move around on my ipad and Ill be using a tripod on my iPhone 4 to help keep it steady.

HelloPhoto works well for doing quick conversions to digital. It is not a scanner replacement but it does work if you need the job done and fast. 4 Stars ...

Incredible, and works great so far.

This app has such great potential, but it is missing one very important feature...the ability to load a photo from your albums! Without this, you are limited by the macro focusing abilities of your device. On my iPhone 4, I couldnt get detailed photos of my negatives at all, since you have to be at least 3-5 inches away for it to even start focusing, which is a shame. If the developers would add this feature, we would have the ability to use our scanners to great a high resolution and detailed negative, upload it to our phones, and then import it into the app. If they kept the ability to change the color temperature even with imported photos, that would be phenomenal. This app could be amazing...but its just not there yet. And one simple feature could change that! I really hope the developers read this. Thank you.

My dad has tons of 120 negatives that he wants to turn into photographs. Precious memories of family members and my great grandfather and grandparents. I suggested we look for a local photography shop that could help us in this but I thought about it for a bit and decided to search the app store. Came across this. It may not be perfect for professionals who should have their own studios anyway, but for us it has worked wonders. Using the iPad version and the iPhone version (didnt even have to buy each separately!) I took a few of those negatives and made perfect pictures of them. From there, I can upload them to Facebook or send them via email. I opted to send to email and print them from my computer. The only thing that I believe its lacking and would be excellent would be the ability to print directly from the app, but that would also have to include minor touch up software in the app. Looking forward to any updates that come our way, fun to experiment with old photos without the need to buy expensive equipment or send the negatives out for weeks not knowing what will return.

I found 4x6 glass slides that my grandmother took with a box camera in about 1910. This turned them into incredible pictures!

This is a great app idea, and the execution of the app itself is very well done. Kudos to the developer! But unfortunately neither the iPad nor the iPhone can get bright enough to be a good light table. The iPad screen resolution is too low to avoid a grid effect. An iPhone cant focus closely enough to make a good image. It would help if the app could crop the image before saving. Overall, its a fun and easy tool to use in an emergency. Just dont expect picture-perfect conversions.

If you only have an iphone or an iPad it wont work. You need to have TWO iPhones or an iPhone AND an iPad!

I bought this app specifically for a large 4" x 5" b&w negative that I needed to print. It worked beautifully! I used my iPad for the light table and my iPhone 4 to take the photo. I havent tried color yet, but Im quite pleased with the results thus far.

Will it work with iPad and iPod???

Not sure what the favorable reviewers are smoking but this app was a waste of $2. I have a ton of old slides. The only use for this app is to provide a pseudo light table on which to place the slides and quickly determine their content. If you take a photo of a slide the result is dreadful, only suitable for thumbnail images.

I just bought this app and it wont open! Every time I try to open it, it crashes!! Needs fixed...

Not very practical at all. Luckily I got this as a free download.

First app load goes to black screen. Stopped app. Next invocations just instantly crash and exit. Failure.

Good apps for getting photos of your negs. You do need a iPad and an iPhone.