LightPlan vs Second View
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LightPlan
Visualize the sun and moon's path in 3D on real-world terrain to plan outdoor photography. See golden hour, blue hour, and shadows with precision. Save locations and camera angles for perfect shots.
- Photorealistic 3D sun and moon visualization
- Interactive timeline for golden hour and blue hour
- 3D building shadow visualization
- Smart location library with custom camera angles
- Syncs locations across devices
- Elevation charts and compass
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Know exactly when the sun will light the façade, before you book the shoot. LightPlan shows where the sun will be and where the shadows will fall at any address, on any date, at any time. Find the building, slide the timeline, and see the light. That's it. Made for real estate and architecture photographers who would rather be shooting than learning an app. BOOK THE RIGHT HOUR, NOT A GUESS Your client wants the front elevation in full sun and the lobby glass without glare. Drop a pin on the property, scrub through the day and watch the sun swing across the building. You'll know which morning or afternoon gives you the light you need, and you can give the agent a time with confidence. SEE THE SHADOWS BEFORE THEY RUIN THE SHOT Neighbouring towers, trees and parking structures cast shadows you only discover on site. LightPlan's 3D shadow map shows how shadows move across the property through the day, so you can avoid the hour when half the façade goes dark. SCOUT WITHOUT DRIVING THERE Photorealistic 3D maps let you look at the building from the street or from above, the way your camera or drone will see it. Work out your angles at your desk and arrive knowing exactly where to set up. NAIL THE TWILIGHT EXTERIOR Twilight shoots are won or lost in a few minutes. LightPlan gives you sunset, golden hour, blue hour and twilight times for the exact location, so you're set up and lit before the sky turns. SHARE THE PLAN, SKIP THE BACK-AND-FORTH Send the agent, architect or your second shooter a link to the exact place, time and view. It opens in LightPlan or in any web browser, so nobody needs the app to see the plan. SIMPLE BY DESIGN No dashboards. Nothing to set up. One clean map and one timeline. If you can use Maps, you can use LightPlan, and you'll have your answer in seconds. ON EVERY DEVICE YOU WORK FROM Plan on your Mac at the office, walk the client through it on iPad, and check it on your iPhone on site. Saved locations sync through iCloud. Stop guessing at the light. Plan it. Privacy‑focused design · No ads, ever · Works worldwide Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://lightplan.app/privacy.html
Second View
This tool assists photographers in planning shots by simulating their actual camera's field of view and aspect ratio. It includes a light meter, filter logging, and reciprocity correction for film stocks. Features like LiDAR distance measurement and composition guides help refine framing and exposure before taking the shot.
- Precise field-of-view matching
- Real-time light meter with spot metering
- ND, polarizer, and color filter logging
- Reciprocity failure correction for 60 film stocks
- LiDAR distance measurement
- Composition and grid tools
- Panorama simulation
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PLEASE READ FIRST Second View is not a camera app and does not take photos for you. It helps you frame, meter, and plan shots before you press the shutter on your own camera. The photos it saves are framing aids, not final images. --- Second View turns your iPhone into a precision field toolkit for analog photographers. Set your lens and format, and it crops the iPhone camera to match what your film camera will capture: same field of view, aspect ratio, and framing. Supports 35mm, medium format (6x4.5 through 6x17), large format (4x5, 5x7, 8x10), digital sensors, and custom sizes. VIEWFINDER Precise field-of-view matching for any focal length and format. Portrait or landscape, control side of your choice, preview rotation per kit. AUTOMATIC LENS SELECTION Frames through the sharpest back camera that holds your crop (ultra-wide, wide or tele), so long lenses look crisp. Calibrate each lens with a sheet of paper. FRAMES MODE Rangefinder-style bright lines for every lens in your kit at once. WORKSPACES Design your own control panel and switch layouts with a swipe. FREEZE MODE Hold a full-resolution still to compose rise and shift, spot-meter, and measure distance without the scene moving. LIGHT METER Pick your aperture and get the shutter speed. EV compensation, hyperfocal distance, auto/manual modes, and whole/half/third stops. SPOT METERING Meter the whole frame or a spot down to 1° through the telephoto. METER CALIBRATION Calibrate against your reference meter at several light levels, per lens. BELLOWS COMPENSATION Folds close-focus light loss into the reading, set manually or by LiDAR. LENS FILTERS Log ND, polarizer, and color filters. The meter compensates and every capture records them. RECIPROCITY CORRECTION 60 film stocks with accurate reciprocity curves, plus your own: Portra, CineStill, Tri-X, Velvia, ECN-2 and more. Exposures over one second are corrected automatically. FILM PREVIEW Simulate B&W film with color filters, and preview color-film white balance from the loaded stock. LONG EXPOSURE TIMER Countdown with a full-screen progress ring, on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with an optional end alert. HARDWARE BUTTONS Map the volume buttons, Camera Control, the Action button or a Bluetooth remote to shutter, timer, freeze, lens steps and more. LIDAR DISTANCE AND PARALLAX Measure subject distance with LiDAR (iPhone 12 Pro and later) or enter it manually. Parallax between the iPhone and your lens is corrected automatically. RISE, FALL AND SHIFT Simulate view camera movements in 1mm steps, up to your kit's maximum travel. COMPOSITION TOOLS Rule of thirds, phi grid, golden triangle, square, and custom grids up to 12x12. Bubble level with roll and pitch. PANORAMA SIMULATION Preview a stitched multi-frame panorama and save it as a plan. SHOT CHECKLIST Run a per-kit checklist in the viewfinder. One step can fire the shutter automatically. CAMERA KITS Save complete setups and switch instantly: lenses, format, stocks, workspace, parallax, and checklist. Pick a body and the format picker shows only the masks it can shoot. FILM ROLL TRACKING Know which roll is loaded and when every frame was exposed. CAPTURE AND GALLERY Save a reference photo with the exact framing and full metadata: lens, format, stock, filters, exposure, rise/shift, GPS, and time. Export with a data overlay, add notes, group into rolls, and export a CSV log. --- Terms of Use : https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy : https://secondview.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: LightPlan at 4.6 against Second View's 4.0. LightPlan also leads on ads (none vs shown) and device support (3 vs 1). Second View's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. LightPlan sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Second View sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
LightPlan holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of LightPlan's written reviews are positive against 56% of Second View's.
LightPlan ships an update every 3 weeks, Second View weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LightPlan | Second View |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (10 ratings) — better | 4.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews — better | 55.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 77 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rivolu LLC | Benoit Linard |
Customer experience
LightPlan
Second View
In-app purchases
LightPlan
- Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Lifetime Membership$59.99
Second View
- Second View Basic Yearly7 Days trial$7.991 Year
- Second View Pro Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year









