ios get camera input

Question

I'm working on an iPhone app right now and i would like to do the following:

I want to start the camera by code and after that receive the images the camera sees. Then i would like to manipulate these images and push them back to the screen.

So for example; i'd like to grayscale every image the camera captures and display that instead as if the camera is seeing everything in grayscale.

But i have a few questions about this.

1. What is the best way to start the camera?
2. How to receive the images the camera sees and how to push them back to the view?
3. And lastly, how can i manipulate the images? Does iOS have a GD library (like PHP has) or anything like that??

Please note that i don't want to start recording a video or take a photo. I just want the data of the camera, so i can manipulate the images it sees.

I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

Answer 1

You should check that : http://www.benjaminloulier.com/articles/ios4-and-direct-access-to-the-camera

Everything you want to do is related to AVCaptureSession

Answer 2

Even better watch the WWDC 2010 sessions for AVFoundation, like this one