If you have an iPhone, the flurry of recent development for the new Apps Store produced a nice, cheap photography tool for the novice- to intermediate-level photographer.  Meet Photocalc, an app that gives you an easy way to calculate some of the more complicated variables involved in taking a photograph.

The app, which costs $2.99, comes with three different calculators - an exposure, depth-of-field and flash calculator.  The exposure calculator isn’t the most useful thing in the world - most digital cameras can do the same thing with metering, obviously - but if you’re trying to teach yourself to be a full manual shooter and to recognize the light conditions quickly, it can be helpful.  Of greater use is the depth-of-field calculator, which combines focal length, distance and aperture to tell you how much of your photograph will be in focus.  It’s a handy way of making sure your photo is as sharp as you want, and depth-of-field is difficult to gauge when looking at images on a camera’s tiny LCD screen.

There’s also a handy reference mode with a glossary of common photographic terms and rules.  But the coolest feature is the sunrise/sunset mode.  Photocalc uses the iPod’s autolocation feature to automatically determine your location and give the sunrise and sunset for a given day.  If you’re trying get that perfect “golden hour” of light, this is a great feature to have.

It also works with the iPod touch, though you lose the autolocate feature.  Check out more at the Photocalc site.  For less than a price of a cup of coffee, it’s definitely a good add to your toolbox.

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