Fotor and Photo Effect Studio apps join forces for a free and powerful combo

In the past, I've reviewed apps from Fotor, and also Photo Effect Studio. Now the companies have combined to produce Fotor - Photo Effects Studio, a powerful and free camera and image editor for the iPhone.

On the picture-taking end, the app includes features to provide a grid for composition, a timer and an image stabilizer. On the editing side, you get auto-enhance, brightness, contrast, saturation and a variety of color controls. There is also a tilt-shift filter, and a variety of frames to finish off your photo. Once editing of your photo is complete it can be shared via email, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.

This new app is a very nice combo of two advanced apps. Not all of the features from both original apps made it into Fotor - Photo Effects Studio. Most notably, Fotor did not include the excellent HDR photo-taking feature, which is still available in Fotor's US$2.99 app.

Reviews from users for Fotor - Photo Effects Studio are generally positive, and I found the app worked as expected without any glitches. The app requires iOS5 and is not universal. It has been optimized for the iPhone 5. For a couple of bucks, a lot of people would grab it. For free -- well, why not pick it up right now?