Viewfinder Preview vs Positive View
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Viewfinder Preview
Preview camera framing for any camera and lens combination. Select film/sensor size and focal length to visualize framing before setting up your main camera. Ideal for photographers and filmmakers for pre-visualization, location scouting, and storyboarding.
- Camera and lens framing preview
- Customizable film/sensor formats
- Configurable light meter
- Photo capture with metadata
- Photo gallery with data display
- Album and PDF creation
- Film stock emulation
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Viewfinder Preview is an iPhone app for previewing camera framing for any combination of camera and lens. Instead of spending all that time setting up your big camera, just choose your desired film/sensor size and focal length in the app and point the iPhone camera at what you want to photo to verify framing. If you are happy with the framing then you can get the big camera out. The app has a large database of camera sensors details and film formats but if the format you desire isn’t there you can add your own custom format. The app is targeted at stills photographers or film makers working in either film or digital. If you don’t have your big camera with you, Viewfinder Preview is still great for photo sketching, location scouting or story boarding. The app includes - Customisable menus so you can include the film/sensor formats and focal lengths you care about. - A fully configurable light meter. - You can take photos with it, so you have a record of shots you were framing. - Photos taken with the app include additional data that describe the film format, focal length and lighting meter settings at the time the shot was taken - Add notes to your photos - A photo gallery for viewing photos taken with the app which also displays the additional data - Share images in emails, messages - Create albums of photos from the same project, trip etc - Create PDF documents of albums - Film stock emulation - Wide angle lens adapter support
Positive View
Transform your phone into a live viewer for photographic negatives. Instantly see positive images from color or black-and-white film in real time. Ideal for quickly previewing, selecting, and referencing your film scans.
- Live negative viewing (color & B&W)
- Automatic color balancing
- Brightness, contrast, warmth controls
- Freeze, zoom, and pan frame
- Save positive image to Photos
- Calibration for illumination and lens
- Use second device as light panel
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Positive View turns your iPhone camera into a high quality live viewer for photographic negatives. Place a color or black-and-white film over an even light source, point the camera at it, and Positive View displays a positive image in real time. Use it to quickly see the images, select the best ones for scanning, or make a quick reference image. Features: • Live color and black-and-white negative viewing • Automatic color balancing, with a lock for consistent viewing • Brightness, contrast, and warmth controls • Freeze, zoom, and pan a frame for closer inspection • Save the current positive to Photos • Calibrate for even illumination and to counter lens falloff • Turn a second device into a plain white light panel Camera processing happens on your device. Positive View has no ads, accounts, analytics, or tracking. Images are saved only on your device and only when you tap Save. For best results, use an even, diffused light source with low flicker and keep the film flat.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Positive View at Free against Viewfinder Preview's $4.99. Positive View also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Viewfinder Preview's advantage is ratings volume (300 vs 3) and chart position (#139 vs unranked). On ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Positive View is free to download; Viewfinder Preview costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Positive View holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Viewfinder Preview has 300 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Viewfinder Preview ships an update every 3 months, Positive View fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Viewfinder Preview | Positive View |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (300 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 300 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #139 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adam Fowler | Mikhail Rybakov |
Customer experience
Viewfinder Preview
Positive View
Bugs and requests
Viewfinder Preview
Reported bugs
11 issues- White screen on startup
- App crashes repeatedly
- Exposure offset resets when app closes
- Notes and shot data disappear after weeks
- In-app purchase screen loops indefinitely
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- Focal length inaccuracy on iPhone 14 Pro
- Manual metering mode shows darker frame than preview
- Tiny 1px border on cropped images
- Battery drains excessively
- App not loading on iOS 16
- Glitches requiring app restart
Requested features
20 requests- Embed camera/lens metadata directly in saved images
- Save custom film stock names
- Persistent exposure offset settings
- More film stock options (Kodak Gold 200, Fuji 400H, Catlabs 320 Pro, Ilford XP2, etc.)
- Lower ISO settings (support for ISO 0.5 and below)
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- Additional aspect ratios (6x17, 65x24)
- Save images with exposure data as overlay or separate versions
- Grid lines and level indicators
- Focus distance display
- Telephoto lens support (65mm-400mm)
- Wider focal lengths (below 35mm)
- Camera profile presets for quick switching
- Custom aperture values (e.g., f/3.5)
- Shift lens simulation for architectural photography
- Watermark saved photos with camera data
- Toggle HDR on/off for better film simulation
- Video tutorial or in-app help guide
- Ability to disable auto-display of config on images
- Telephoto lens compatibility
- Correct focal length rendering for newer iPhone models
Positive View
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Viewfinder Preview
No in-app purchases
Positive View
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Viewfinder Preview free?
Is Positive View free?
Which has better reviews, Viewfinder Preview or Positive View?
Do Viewfinder Preview or Positive View have ads?
Which is updated more often, Viewfinder Preview or Positive View?
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