Adobe has launched a new camera app named Project Indigo, featuring computational photography tools.

Released last week by Adobe Labs, the app is available for free on select iPhone models, including the iPhone 12 Pro, Pro Max, 13 Pro, Pro Max, and all iPhone 14 and newer models.

The company recommends using an iPhone 15 Pro or later for optimal performance.

Project Indigo captures a series of images, combining them to create high-quality photos with reduced noise and enhanced dynamic range.

The app provides manual controls for focus, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance to give photos a natural, SLR-like appearance.

Users can access the app without logging into an Adobe account, enhancing accessibility for photographers. Adobe intends to incorporate insights from Project Indigo into its main products over time.

🔗 Source: The Verge

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The evolution of computational photography is changing the camera industry

Computational photography has evolved from academic research into a mainstream technology that’s redefining photography’s boundaries since the early 2010s.

What makes Project Indigo significant is its pedigree. Marc Levoy pioneered many computational techniques at Google that transformed smartphone photography, particularly with the Pixel series 1.

The multi-exposure technique that Indigo uses, capturing and combining several images, follows the established pattern seen in features like HDR and Night Mode that have become standard across the industry 1.

This approach solves fundamental physical limitations of small smartphone sensors by using software to achieve results previously possible only with larger camera hardware 2.

The photography industry has undergone a fundamental shift where software innovation now drives camera capability advancements more than hardware improvements alone.

2️⃣ The democratization of professional-quality imaging

Project Indigo represents the ongoing trend of making professional-quality photography accessible to anyone with a smartphone, continuing the democratization that began with the first computational photography features.