Carousel Camera vs Obscura
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Carousel Camera
This app offers a unique circular video recording format that adapts to any screen orientation. Capture footage in high resolution and easily switch between full frame views with a simple double tap.
- Circular video recording
- Adapts to any screen orientation
- High-resolution capture (4K compatible)
- Double-tap for full frame view
- Ratioless video format
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Designed by wearedot.agency, Carousel Camera is a beautifully designed, innovative camera solution that gets rid of an old problem: aspect ratio. By using a circular video (ratioless), it can be adapted to any screen! Using a 4K-compatible phone is yields a better than HD image*, that is vertical, horizontal, any angle you want... Double tap to see a complete view of the frame, both horizontal and vertical! *Final image is "1215p" (2160x1215) in 4K phones. 607.5p in 1080p phones.
Obscura
This camera app offers advanced manual controls and professional formats like ProRAW for enhanced photo and video capture. Its intuitive design and tactile interface allow for precise adjustments, while features like focus peaking and histograms aid in achieving stunning results.
- Manual exposure, focus, and white balance controls
- ProRAW, RAW, HEIC, and JPEG capture formats
- Live filters and multiple aspect ratios
- Histogram, focus peaking, and exposure clipping highlights
- Integrated photo library with editing and sharing
- Video and Live Photo capture
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Obscura V is a camera app packed full of features to help you take incredible photos. Obscura pairs a stunning design with intuitive controls that make taking photos a delight. — Over its 10+ years on the App Store, Obscura has been featured numerous times around the world, including as Editors’ Choice and App of the Day. — Design Obscura squeezes a bunch of powerful features into simple controls anyone can master. The interface balances aesthetics, ergonomics, and intuitiveness. You won’t want to use anything else. Controls can be reached with one thumb, and gestures and haptics combine to create a tactile experience that lets you stay focused on your subject. — Capture Modes & Formats Obscura captures photos, videos, Live Photos, and portraits. Photos can be captured in RAW, ProRAW, HEIC, and JPEG (on supported devices, see http://obscura.camera/compatibility). Capture images in multiple different aspect ratios, or apply filters live in camera for a wide variety of styles. — Camera Settings Obscura gives you control over exposure, focus, white balance, ISO, shutter speed, and flash, with intuitive controls that make you feel in control of your device’s camera. — Live Filters Obscura includes a bunch of great filters to give your photos instant style but you can also create your own and use them live in-camera. It’s very cool and very powerful. — View Options Obscura lets you display a grid, a spirit level, a histogram, focus peaking, a focus loupe, and exposure clipping highlights to help you understand every detail of what you’re shooting. — Photo Library Obscura has its own interface for browsing, rating, editing, and sharing images, but it’s fully integrated with your system photo library, so images captured with Obscura are available everywhere. — Obscura Ultra Obscura is free to use, with an annual subscription for premium features. See http://obscura.camera/ultra for full details. — I hope you love using Obscura as much as I’ve loved designing and building it. If you do, please consider subscribing to Ultra, leaving a review, or just sharing with a friend. All the best, Ben ———— Privacy Policy: http://obscura.camera/privacy Terms of use: http://obscura.camera/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Obscura at 4.0 against Carousel Camera's 2.7. Obscura also leads on ratings volume (274 vs 3). Carousel Camera's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 18). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. Carousel Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Obscura sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Obscura holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Obscura has 274 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Carousel Camera's written reviews are positive against 52% of Obscura's.
Carousel Camera ships an update every 10 days, Obscura every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Carousel Camera | Obscura |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.7 (3 ratings) | 4.0 (274 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 52.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 274 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 18 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 174 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rafael Costa | Ben McCarthy |
Customer experience
Carousel Camera
Obscura
Bugs and requests
Carousel Camera
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Obscura
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes when trying to use Pro Raw mode
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between lenses
- Manual settings randomly resetting
- Photos not saving properly
- Freezing and black screen issues
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to save custom camera settings
- Variable zoom function in pro mode
- Separate manual control for exposure and ISO
- Dedicated selfie button
- Live audio capture for Live Photos
In-app purchases
Carousel Camera
- Carousel Camera Pro$0.99
Obscura
- Obscura Ultra - Weekly$1.497 Days
- Obscura Ultra - Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Obscura Ultra7 Days trial$24.991 Year
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- Obscura Ultra Upgrade1 Year trial$24.991 Year
- Obscura Ultra - One Time$74.99









