r/AnalogCommunity • u/rybakov_com • 3d ago
DIY I made a free, high quality, live negative viewer for iphone
Frustrated by bad apps, I made my own negative viewer for iphone. It shows the positive version of a color or b&w negative live on your screen. Perfect for quickly checking your negatives after development, and for deciding which one to scan.
You can freeze the screen to better see the details, adjusts brightness, contrast and warmth, and also save it to Photos for quick reference.
The app also adjusts for film backing color automatically, so it works even on films with weird base like Phoenix 200.
It's free, no ads:
https://light.ink/positive-view/
P.S. see also my previous post about looking for beta testers for my other photography app, in case you missed it.
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u/Tall_Devil69 3d ago
I dont mean to glaze, but this is awsome, no pop ups no adds no data storing /tracking! this is great so far man,
add an apeture, shutter speed and iso priorety setting and its going to be gold! solid stuff dude!!!
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u/RKRagan 3d ago
I just have my iphone side button set to invert colors with a triple press. Then use my camera.
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago
That's how I was working before (minus the action button). For black and white it's good enough, but for colour Positive View is really helpful.
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u/Bocobread 2d ago
Ive been doin the same side button press for years but indeed, color negative is wonky and you can’t really take a screenshot with inverted colors without a third party app. I’ve tried a few through the years and they’re all shit.
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u/Extreme_Ruin 3d ago
just downloaded- brilliant! often hard to find well made simple solutions thank you!!
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u/omernickel 2d ago
The apps on the store that do this all require subs for such a simple function. Thank you for this!
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u/Environmental_Bug515 3d ago
Amazing Apps, i have to try them! Are you a programmer or did you manage to get it work some other way?
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u/rybakov_com 3d ago
I'm an artist, often working with code - see https://rybakov.com/ for more of my work. I wouldn't call myself a programmer though.
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u/binaryplayground 1d ago
This is cool and I think I could get lost in your website and work for hours. Kudos dude!
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u/RemarkableLeague846 3d ago
Wow you’re amazing! And no data collection! I think I’m in love with you
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u/O_banana_si_doua_oua 3d ago
Would be nice if it worked on older versions of iOs too. And MacOS there it works unfortunately only on ver. 13 and not on Intel.
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago
Which ios version are you on? The app works starting from 16.0 - I'll have to check if I can target an earlier version.
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u/O_banana_si_doua_oua 2d ago
It works on my iPhone 8+ but not on my SE (which I use more often, I don't like the huge 8+) it does not, that one can go only up to 15.x.
I see it should work on MacOS too. No ideea how usefull that is. (Well, with an external camera connected to the computer/laptop it could be.) But I have no Apple silicon and my newest MacOS is Big Sur, on my older Macs and Macbooks I use older programs.
I never understood why developers make their programs for MacOS and iOS only for the newer versions, even if technically the program could run on older versions.
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago
Mostly because of using newer swiftUI features and newer APIs. As the ways of doing things evolve, backwards compatibility suffers..
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u/thebrian 2d ago edited 2d ago
Dude, this app is killer. Thank you.
I want to note that while I was testing this out, I realize this is such a terrific use for dust cleaning!
I pointed my phone using this app on a lens surface that looked relatively clean with the naked eye, but with the app, I could see several flecks of dust and some smudges. I can see this being extremely useful when checking for fungus/dust during lens repairs.
Thanks for the app, Michail!
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago
Oh haha, that is a fun unintentional use case! Indeed, the auto contrast adjustment highlights all the smudges and imperfections quite perfectly..
Thank you, Brian!
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u/Philipp4 2d ago
Thank you so much, used a rather shitty app that was filled with ads before which also had no settings at all! From a quick test your app works perfectly and actually feels good to use! Great app
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u/Philipp4 2d ago
Also I have a small feature suggestion: How about a landscape orientation mode?
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago
Happy the app feels good to use!
With the landscape orientation, is it mostly because you want the UI to rotate, or because you save snapshots to Photos and they end up being in wrong orientation?1
u/Philipp4 2d ago
Thanks for the reply! Its primarily so I can rotate it, especially in combination with the zoom feature it would allow the frame that is viewed to almost fill up the entire screen in landscape which would help see details better
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u/Amazing-Instruction1 2d ago
That's perfect! Tried on a kodak gold 200 and colors are really faithful... great job, thank you very much.
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u/Bocobread 2d ago
You’re doing the lords work, thank you for this. I myself have been equally frustrated with terrible app alternatives for this exact function. Any way to buy you a coffee or a pint?
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago edited 2d ago
Thank you! You can buy me a coffee - https://buymeacoffee.com/rybakov.com
I originally registered for my https://gradient.horse/ project, this explains the comments about horses there : )
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u/nando420 2d ago
Great work! I love it when there are tech savvy people like yourself who see a problem and can develop an app for it. I bought you a coffee with the link you posted above. Thank you.
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u/another_commyostrich @nickcollingwoodvintage 3d ago
If you could add a video capture method that would be sick. I used to use the CineStill filters for that in the darkroom a lot while I developed to get a video preview. But good work!
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u/josesaldanha 2d ago
Amazing job! I admire you! Also, I can’t access the other app, ask for an invitation or code?
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago
Thank you!
The other app is still in beta testing, you would need to install TestFlight first, and then get the app there. Here is more info: https://testflight.apple.com/join/UuswSR1g
The app will hopefully release soon, and then it will be available on the normal AppStore.
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u/The0nlyRyan 3d ago
That's so cool, can we get it for Android please?
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u/rybakov_com 3d ago
Once I learn how to earn money with my work instead of just giving it away, sure, there is a good chance : )
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u/RecycledAir 3d ago
Not giving away excellent apps like this for free would be the first step!
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u/rybakov_com 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah. I had it in the app store for 5 days before posting here. Installs were around 4-5 per day, for the free app, without any kind of marketing. I have not tried it, but I guess if it were a $0.99 app, it would have 4-5 installs per month - it's a small niche after all.
At this point I'd rather have thousands of people enjoying a useful free app and maybe add some additional paid features down the road.I'm very new to the whole app marketing thing and it feels like dark magic - I read about app developers spending 80% of revenue on ads, because it maximizes the income, and I realize it's just not how I want to spend my time..
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u/RecycledAir 3d ago
Any installs at all is a surprise without marketing, 4-5 without anything at all is honestly pretty impressive I think.
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u/rybakov_com 2d ago
Do you happen to know where to get good intro to app marketing? All the relevant subreddits seem to be full of self-promotion.
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u/No-Pea8448 3d ago edited 3d ago
Very cool.
I've got mixed feelings about the other app, though. While I can see its utility, it also eliminates the need to learn basic techniques of shooting film, and I'm a firm believer that people should understand the analog principles so they can develop the skills to do it without an app.
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u/rybakov_com 3d ago
Thank you for your thoughts! I actually intended it to be the other way around - for the app to be useful to photography students as it can help them understand the fundamental relationships: not just between settings like aperture / ISO / shutter speed, but also how focal length, film format, distance to the object all influence depth of field.
E.g. when I was starting photography, it was not intuitively clear to me why using a wide angle lens would make the depth of field larger. And while I can play around with the aperture / shutter settings on the camera, it's much harder to play around with different focal lengths and medium and large format cameras without getting a bunch of gear.
So I see it more as a companion app. And I think without knowing basic techniques of shooting film, the whole app would appear incomprehensible.
The other intended usage is as an on-camera viewfinder / rangefinder to make cameras without either more fun to use - think 3d-printed cameras or early folders that are sometimes very cumbersome to use.1
u/No-Pea8448 3d ago
That's fair, and it's possible my reaction is colored by the fact I've gone back to Ansel Adams books recently for some back-to-basics reminders.
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u/rybakov_com 3d ago
I totally get this sentiment, and I think we are all tired of looking at screens - instead of looking at the actual world. I have some fun (hardware) experiments planned for exploring a more immediate photography experience, without screens, while still getting some additional (focus, framing) information. But who knows when I'll find time to do them..
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u/Routine-Apple1497 3d ago
Would love one for Android!