Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
The iPhone 5s is arguably the most popular camera on a smartphone today and there are various apps and add-ons that enhance its prodigiouos photo and video taking capabilities. Incipio, renowned maker of cases and accessories has created the Focal case which offers superb all around prodtection while giving the iPhone 5s the feel and functionality of an advanced point and shoot camera.
Incipio's been one of my favourite smartphone and tablet case manufacturers for a number of years now and they've expanded their product line successfully by thinking of what users really want and need. The Focal case is a beautiful, precisely made and functional case that's made up of two pieces of tough and rugged polycarbonate and rubber.
The included dedicated shutter and zoom buttons eliminate the need to tap your iPhone’s screen to take a picture which results in reduced shake and blur in your pictures. And the integrated grip, included wrist strap, and repositioned shutter buttons that allow secure hold of your iPhone with two hands without obstructing the camera and flash.
The result is a more natural feel and more intuitive button layout for taking photos plus the addition of physical zoom buttons which eliminate the need to fiddle with the touchscreen, which is key when shooting photos or video under the bright sunlight.
The free The inCAMERA app is available for download and features an optimized user interface design for quick access to all camera options. You need to connect to the case via Bluetooth in order to synch software with the hardware and this is pretty straightforward.
Aside from great physical controls, you also get a variety of intuitive on screen options to improve your chances of taking a great picture.
I've only used the Focal case for about a week and while I default to the stock camera controls or Instagram on the iPhone 5s, I have experienced the advantage of using the inCAMERA app's features together with the case. It has worked so well that I sometimes forget I'm not using a standalone phone.
Ardent shutterbugs who are constantly taking photos on their iPhones will really benefit from looking into a solution like the Focal case and inCAMERA app, it simply feels like a natural add-on to the iPhone 5s and it is also an exemplary case.