# FilmLab: Negative Film Scanner — user reviews > 135 indexed App Store user reviews of FilmLab by Develop and Fix, Inc., rated 2.80/5 from 32 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/filmlab-negative-film-scanner/id1215777349/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/filmlab-negative-film-scanner/id1215777349.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 10 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 3 · 1★ 13 ## What do users think of FilmLab? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - ⭐ Excellent for previewing negatives - 👍 Easy to use - 🎨 Good color conversion - 💡 Helpful for digitizing old photos **Cons** - 🐛 Crashes frequently - 🔍 Poor image quality/resolution - 🔧 Difficult to focus/capture clear images - 💸 Expensive subscription model **Commonly reported bugs** - Camera focus issues - Inconsistent exposure/color rendering - Login/account problems - Compatibility issues with newer devices **Most requested features** - Ability to import existing scanned negatives - Batch processing and editing tools - More advanced color/exposure controls - Integration with external light boxes ## Newest reviews (13 of 135) ### 3/5 — Scans great, but no export function *2026-06-06* I got this to go with my scanning rig. The rig has a Backlight holds the negatives and the phone and just click to take a picture. With this software, it actually works great. The problem is that all the photos are on my phone and I need them on my laptop and there’s no export functionality even on the paid version. The only way I can get my Photos is to painfully mail them to myself one by one. ### 2/5 — Crashing *2025-09-19, version 2.5.3* It’s not best as it continues to crash. iPhone 15promax. All updated yet it crashes. ### 3/5 — Decent but missing major features *2024-05-03* Does a decent job with black-and-white negatives. But it’s missing some major features, including the ability to select a bunch of scans and upload them at one time rather than individually. Also, I don’t see why cannot have manually adjustable exposure. Even better would be if it used the HDR feature on the camera to capture a wide dynamic range so negatives are a slightly under exposed and slightly overexposed all capture perfectly and separated out. Add all these features and it’s worth $25. ### 4/5 — Quite good, could use a few more features 🎞️ *2024-02-17, version 2.5.3* Great for editing film scans :) Bring along a good light box / scanning method and you’ll be good. Some more settings would be great: sharpening is a must for complete scans. Having a way to save a preset bunch of settings to batch apply would be great also for roll consistency. This applies to the Mac desktop version also! Thanks! ### 1/5 — Inutile *2023-02-06* J’ai payé un abonnement un mois. Rien ne s’enregistre dans le folder. Complètement inutile. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2023-01-28* I downloaded this app and paid for the monthly subscription. It keeps telling me to login but it never gave me the opportunity to set up a login and password. It won’t let me do anything at this point. **Developer response:** Hi, If you purchased the app through the Apple App Store, you shouldn't need to login. You can confirm this by opening the FilmLab app and under the little hamburger icon (the three horizontal lines) click on settings and under subscription it will show you your active account. If you need further assistance please reach out to us via email at support@filmlabapp.com we are here to help. ### 1/5 — AWFUL *2023-01-22* Wow this app was awful before but now it’s telling me I need to pay for a subscription to scan photos after my 11 “free” scans. I PAID MONEY for this app a few years ago. This company should be prosecuted for THEFT. Worst app ever. **Developer response:** Hi there, If you already purchased the app you do not need to buy a subscription, you just need to hit the "restore purchases" button when you first try to use FilmLab on a new phone. It will check your Apple purchase history and should show that you have a lifetime subscription. If for some reason you have any issues, you may need to restart FilmLab before the lifetime subscription shows up. Please reach out to us if you have any further issues. ### 2/5 — New version is meh! *2022-11-09, version 2.5.2* The older version was better because it was way simpler then the current one. Most people just need a film conversion on the phone and that’s it. There really isn’t any need for all the other extra aspects. ### 1/5 — Do NOT buy!!!! *2022-10-14, version 2.5* I just bought this app and it DOES NOT work. I’m super disappointed and can’t reach them for a refund ### 1/5 — Grey screen! *2022-10-09, version 2.0.1* This app worked quite well when I first downloaded it. I’ve just updated it and tried again: and all it displays is a grey screen and no image. I’ve even deleted the app and re-installed it with the same result. ### 1/5 — Terrible *2022-10-04, version 2.0.1* Can’t focus the camera, app freezes up, can’t even take better pictures to import them cause it’s locked behind a pay wall ### 4/5 — Does a great job converting without much effort *2022-08-29, version 2.0.1* My workflow consists of scanning a TIFF file with Epson Scan and the Epson V550. I import the negatives into iCloud and then access them through Film Lab Pro. My only grip is that there is no way to export the files as TIFF for further uncompressed editing in Lightroom. Film Lab Pro solved my cheap computer problem. My computer will run Epson scan but it is not capable of running Lightroom. ### 1/5 — Used to be great, now it’s useless for me *2022-08-06, version 2.0.1* It used to work great in the old version and I always used it to have a quick preview of the negative before printing it on an enlarger or scanning. I would be happy to pay for the old version. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Useless *2026-06-28, version 2.5.3* App is useless and forces a subscription very hard. Results are also questionable. ### 1/5 — No longer supported *2026-04-15, version 2.5.3* No longer supported ### 1/5 — Arnaque *2026-01-31* Tous mes scand sont bloqués dans l’app. Si je ne paie pas je ne peux rien en faire. Trop Cher ### 1/5 — No Raw Scanning *2025-12-24* Can’t import raw scans shot on iPhone ### 1/5 — App crashes every time i open a photo *2025-06-26, version 2.5.3* Trying to open raw files of scans from a GFX100s, and it crashes every time, tried on iPhone and M1 iPad Pro with same result ### 1/5 — Not user friendly *2025-01-17* I tried to sign up after purchasing a subscription for a month and it won't let me log in. Very hard to navigate. ### 1/5 — 34 dollars a year subscription *2024-11-23* does not deliver 34 dollars a year worth. ### 1/5 — Cannot believe anyone would pay for this *2024-02-11, version 2.5.3* Very few options for colour correction. I really doubt you could get decent results out of this app. ### 1/5 — Can’t do a thing. Can’t create an account to even get started. Seems like a scam. *2023-04-26* Seems like a scam **Developer response:** Hi there, Sorry to hear you had trouble getting started. I can assure you this app is not a scam. If you are still interested please reach out to us and we would be happy to help you get up and running. Our email support is support@filmlabapp.com ### 1/5 — Works well, but is a subscription *2023-04-20, version 2.5.3* If this app was a one time $8-$15 purchase I’d have purchased it and be writing a glowing review. As it is, it costs much more than it would be worth to me. Given that it doesn’t really replace a full editing suite + high res scan, to me this is a good way to preview film. (with a 10x macro, and a nice light)… I can buy a fairly nice used flat bed scanner for $100. I don’t see the value here. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — So far, so good. Prompt, personal support. *2025-02-08* Simple, does what it says it’s going to do. My project was to digitize old 33 mm negatives. I took pictures of the negatives using my iPhone. I couldn’t figure out how to import the photos to this App so I sent an email asking for help. The next day I received an email with a simple explanation. She even sent me a snapshot of her phone showing me where to find the right buttons. It can’t get any better than that! ### 5/5 — Easy *2024-12-16* This is by far the most user friendly tool to use. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the kind words! We're thrilled to hear you're enjoying the app and finding it easy to use. ### 5/5 — 최고입니다 *2023-09-04* 단순히 invert만 하는게 아니라 정확한 색상을 맞춰주는 성능은 매우 탁월하고 만족합니다 그러나 해상도가 너무 낮아요 해상도를 조금 높여주는 기능이 추가된 업데이트가 있었으면 좋겠습니다 ### 5/5 — Love it! *2023-07-18, version 2.5.3* I use this on both my iPad and my Mac Studio. Does a great job of converting DSLR scanned negatives to a positive - and so easy to use! ### 5/5 — Take your time:) *2023-03-25* Please be a little patient and discover an amazing app!! It works great if you put your negative against a light source, you’ll be amazed!!! **Developer response:** Hi there, Thank you so much for your kind words! We continue to work hard on making it even better. ### 5/5 — Excellent app *2023-02-27* Not sure why this app has poor reviews. I have tried the other negative scanning apps in the App Store and FilmLab works the best. It scans negatives with a clean and easy to use interface. It has just the right amount of tools and will save a Tiff file. It doesn’t have the intrusive magic filters or colorizing features that are always in your face. It’s a solid straightforward app. ### 5/5 — Excellent, but takes a while to get used to. *2022-12-12, version 2.5.3* A few weeks ago, I misread the instructions and thought I had been locked out before I had even started. Please, please ignore my cynical one star review if you come across it. This app is actually the one I have been hoping for for years. I have a collection of medium format negatives which are too large to fit in my film scanner which is 35mm. The only option for me would have been to purchase a medium format negative scanner, which are expensive and bulky; plus are difficult to source online these days. This app works almost perfectly, but just takes a bit of getting used to. At the moment I use a plain white laptop screen as a backdrop to taking the photos with an iphone11. This does cause some interference with the screen refresh rate, but moving the phone a little back from the screen does make a difference. It is just a case of trial and error. Also the exposure of the negative can affect the interference. Again, patience will bring rewards. I am going to purchase a negative light box, which I believe will improve the results, but until then 90% of the laptop screen results are quite acceptable. I can see the images at last, many of which are from the 1950s. Wonderful. Thanks to Abe and all at FilmLab for developing this app. I can’t thank you enough, and sorry for my earlier review rant. ### 5/5 — Try this app! *2022-02-10, version 2.0.1* I don’t really understand the reviews for this app or what people expect a phone scan to look like. This app is by far better than any other negative conversion app (if you have good lighting behind the negative). To be fair I am using and enlarger with no lens as my light source but I’ve had some amazing scans for a phone with this app that I don’t even mind posting. Honestly this app worked so well this is the only review I’ve ever left for any app ### 5/5 — Latest version much better *2021-10-10, version 2.0.1* It’s much improved, and has better export options etc . ### 5/5 — Amazing! *2021-09-06, version 1.6.0* This is such a simple idea but with this app and a light box I’ve been able to transform my work as an archivist. Now I can see all the negatives in my collection so easily with the positive colours. So much easier to identify the subject matter 😊 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*