Comparison

Long Exposure Buddy vs Zone Meter

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Long Exposure Buddy

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Long Exposure Calculator is the essential companion for photographers who shoot silky waterfalls, creamy oceans, light trails, star trails, and everything in between. Calculate in seconds. Set your base shutter speed, choose your ND filter stops, and instantly see the corrected long exposure time. Exposure triangle mode lets you factor in aperture and ISO for complete creative control. 8 scene presets, ready to shoot. Whether it's a misty ocean at golden hour or spinning steel wool at midnight โ€” tap a preset to load proven settings with expert tips for that specific scenario. Built-in countdown timer. When your calculation is ready, tap Start. A full-screen timer counts down your exposure with Dynamic Island Live Activity support so you can track progress without unlocking your phone. Film reciprocity failure correction. Shooting on film? Choose from 21 classic film stocks โ€” Kodak Portra, Fujifilm Velvia, Ilford HP5, Tri-X, and more โ€” and the app automatically calculates the extra exposure time needed to compensate for reciprocity failure. Golden hour, always on. A location-aware banner on the main screen shows your next golden hour or blue hour countdown, updated in real time. A home screen widget keeps the timing front and center when you're planning a shoot. Shot Log. Every calculated exposure is saved automatically. Search, browse, and export your shots as CSV for post-processing notes or location planning. Filter Collection. Catalog your physical ND filters so the right stops are always one tap away. Learn while you shoot. The built-in Education Mode covers ND filters, the exposure triangle, reciprocity failure, and scene-by-scene technique guides โ€” no internet required. Siri Shortcuts. Ask Siri to open a long exposure calculation and jump straight into the app. Designed for: Landscape photographers, architecture and cityscape shooters, astrophotographers, film photographers, and anyone learning long exposure technique.

About

Zone Meter

Features
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Zone Meter is a professional light meter for photographers who shoot manual - on film, with legacy lenses, or in the studio. Point your iPhone at a scene and Zone Meter instantly reads the light from the camera sensor, calculating exposure values in real time. Scroll the drum wheels to set your aperture, shutter speed, or ISO, and Zone Meter works out the third value for you. LIGHT METER - Live EV reading from the iPhone camera sensor - Four metering modes: Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv), ISO Priority, and Manual (M) - Classic drum-roller wheel pickers for aperture, shutter speed, and ISO - Tap anywhere on the live preview to spot-meter a specific area of the scene - Switch between lenses (0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x) to meter a distant subject with the telephoto - Live colour temperature reading with descriptive label (Tungsten, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade) - EV condition display from Very Dark to Very Bright HISTOGRAM - Live luminance histogram overlaid on the camera preview - tap the chart icon to show or hide - Shadows on the left, highlights on the right - just like every other histogram you know - Colour-coded bars: blue for shadows, white for midtones, amber for highlights - Clip indicators warn when shadows or highlights are being lost - In Manual mode, the histogram shifts left or right to predict how your chosen settings will affect the tonal distribution MANUAL MODE - Set aperture, shutter speed, and ISO independently - nothing is computed or locked - Exposure delta bar shows how far your settings deviate from the metered value - Bar shifts left for underexposure, right for overexposure - consistent with the histogram - Contextual label: Correct exposure, Overexposed by 1.3 stops, Underexposed by 2 stops - Use with the histogram to dial in exposure before you shoot ND FILTER CALCULATOR - Calculates long-exposure shutter speed for any ND filter - Presets for all standard filters: ND2 through ND32000, Little Stopper, Big Stopper, Super Stopper - Custom stop input - Uses the live meter reading or a manually chosen base shutter speed - Warns when exposure exceeds 30 seconds (Bulb mode required) DEPTH OF FIELD CALCULATOR - Hyperfocal distance calculator for any lens and sensor format - 8 sensor formats: Full Frame, APS-C (Canon and Nikon/Sony), Micro 4/3, 1-inch, Medium Format, 4x5, 8x10 - 18 focal length presets from 14mm to 600mm - Shows near focus limit, far focus limit, and total depth of field - Visual range bar showing subject position relative to hyperfocal distance - Contextual advice: tells you exactly how far to refocus to bring infinity sharp STROBE CALCULATOR - Guide number calculator for flash and studio strobes - Presets for speedlights and studio heads from 100Ws to 1200Ws - 8 power settings from Full to 1/128 - Solve for aperture (given distance) or distance (given aperture) - ISO-aware: guide numbers automatically adjust for any ISO - Fill light ratio calculator: instantly shows the aperture difference for 1:1 through 16:1 ratios READING HISTORY - Save and name any meter or strobe reading - Add notes to any saved reading - Share individual readings or export the full history - Organised by name, date, light condition, and exposure values DESIGNED FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS - Clean dark interface designed for use in any light - Metric or imperial measurements (set in Help) - Available in English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Korean - Full help documentation built in: explains EV, hyperfocal distance, guide numbers, and more - No ads. No subscription. No account required. Zone Meter is the meter you always have with you.

Screenshots

Long Exposure Buddy4 screens
Zone Meter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Zone Meter at every 2 months against Long Exposure Buddy's every 96 months. On price, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Long Exposure Buddy ships an update every 96 months, Zone Meter every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Long Exposure Buddy versus Zone Meter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLong Exposure BuddyZone Meter
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 96 monthsEvery 2 months โ€” better
Adsโ€”No
In-app purchasesNoNo
Devicesโ€”iPhone โ€” better
Requires iOS17.016.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size1 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developermitesh soniGreg Anderson

In-app purchases

None

Long Exposure Buddy

No in-app purchases

None

Zone Meter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Long Exposure Buddy free?
Long Exposure Buddy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zone Meter free?
Zone Meter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which is updated more often, Long Exposure Buddy or Zone Meter?
Long Exposure Buddy ships an update every 96 months, and Zone Meter every 2 months. Most recently, Long Exposure Buddy was updated on September 8, 2026 and Zone Meter on September 5, 2026.

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