RNI Aero App Review

[myphotoyear]

RNI Aero brings the distinctive Kodak Aerochrome infrared film look to your photos in an easy to use app with lots of editing possibilities. While it’s not an app you’ll use all the time, with the right photo it can produce stunning results. Available for iPhone and iPad, paid version required for best results.

What is RNI Aero?

From Really Nice Images, this app simulates the Aerochrome film which was a specialist film, now discontinued, used originally by the military’s or other agencies to reveal things of interest in landscapes and so forth. The history of Aerochrome is a story in itself, I’ll put a few links at the end but basically expect deep reds or purples for trees, grass and landscapes etc.

Is it any good?

It’s not an app for everyone, some may think it’s a gimmick or will be of limited use but I happen to love the effect, if used creatively, I get good results with it that really pop and people seem to respond to. You’ll learn what photos work best with Aero as you go along and if you take photos with Aero in mind, it can turn into a fun project.

What else?

The app comes with some free filters but the rest require either a subscription or buying the app outright. Photos have a watermark unless using a paid version, where you can then turn this off. The editing experience is the same as RNI Films and is very flexible including RAW support, as well as a good iPad experience. There are 18 filters in the paid version, but you may only use a few of them as many of them are quite similar.

Is it worth it?

As a free download, yes it is, to try out and see if it’s for you, if you like the effect, it’s possible worth investing in, I went with the £0.99 monthly subscription and use it here and there when I’m looking for something different.

Samples

A couple of photos from today, these are just to give you an idea of what it can do, check out the examples on RNI’s website for more variety of shots.

Aerochrome History

The Surprising True Story of Kodak Aerochrome

Conflict recorded on the infrared spectrum

Shooting Kodak Aerochrome In The Yucatan

 

[terse]

I have this one, too, and I agree with you that the free filters are mostly very similar, so you don't have as many free options as it first appears. I also wonder why RNI didn't release this as a pack for RNI Films rather than as a separate app.

I'll admit I had a personal agenda when I downloaded this: I was trying to find a way to emulate b/w infrared photos, and I was hoping that I'd be able to get there by converting RNI Aero pix into b/w. That didn't work out the way I'd planned, unfortunately -- the b/w conversions just didn't have the right look -- so I don't use the app much.

(I recently got an actual 720nm infrared filter to use on my iPhone XS via a Moment adapter, and conversions to b/w from those photos worked better. But the filter blocks so much light that I either have to shoot from a tripod or put up with a high ISO setting and the resulting noise.)

 

[myphotoyear]

It does seem strange like you say that they just didn’t extend RNI Films adding a new pack, I wonder if it’s because they want to start pushing subscriptions and Films is currently just one-off IAPs.

The infrared filter sounds neat! On a side note, I came across the Lomography Purple film which by the samples seemed to have a somewhat similar effect to Aerochrome.

 

[ImageArt]

I have this one, too, and I agree with you that the free filters are mostly very similar, so you don't have as many free options as it first appears. I also wonder why RNI didn't release this as a pack for RNI Films rather than as a separate app.

I'll admit I had a personal agenda when I downloaded this: I was trying to find a way to emulate b/w infrared photos, and I was hoping that I'd be able to get there by converting RNI Aero pix into b/w. That didn't work out the way I'd planned, unfortunately -- the b/w conversions just didn't have the right look -- so I don't use the app much.

(I recently got an actual 720nm infrared filter to use on my iPhone XS via a Moment adapter, and conversions to b/w from those photos worked better. But the filter blocks so much light that I either have to shoot from a tripod or put up with a high ISO setting and the resulting noise.)

I bought an infrared filter too for my Moment adapter some time back and never got around to testing it so was interested to read your experience with it. I will get around to trying it out sometime!

 

[Starzee]

I have this one, too, and I agree with you that the free filters are mostly very similar, so you don't have as many free options as it first appears. I also wonder why RNI didn't release this as a pack for RNI Films rather than as a separate app.

I'll admit I had a personal agenda when I downloaded this: I was trying to find a way to emulate b/w infrared photos, and I was hoping that I'd be able to get there by converting RNI Aero pix into b/w. That didn't work out the way I'd planned, unfortunately -- the b/w conversions just didn't have the right look -- so I don't use the app much.

(I recently got an actual 720nm infrared filter to use on my iPhone XS via a Moment adapter, and conversions to b/w from those photos worked better. But the filter blocks so much light that I either have to shoot from a tripod or put up with a high ISO setting and the resulting noise.)

I’ve been looking for my filter ring to see if it will fit on the iPhone 12. I loved the images you posted.