Classic Camera by Hipstamatic vs Viewfinder Preview
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Classic Camera by Hipstamatic
This app offers a unique analog-style photography experience on mobile devices. It provides a variety of vintage camera simulations, advanced editing tools, and the ability to create and share custom presets. Users can capture and edit photos with a focus on artistic expression and authentic visual aesthetics.
- Analog-style camera simulations
- Manual camera controls
- Extensive editing suite
- Customizable presets
- Multiple exposure feature
- RAW format capture and editing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Hipstamatic is a world-class photography app and Apple’s original App of the Year! Shoot beautiful authentic photography and become part of the world’s most creative community, exclusively on iPhone. • Apple’s very first App of the Year • The original photo filter app • The inventor of square filtered mobile photos • Plus, all of the features below :-) — CLASSIC CAMERA Digital photography has never looked so analog. Shooting Classic provides beautifully rendered skeuomorphic cameras that transform your experience as you swipe through lenses, flashes, and films. ■ Use Multiple Exposure to shoot multiple images in one shot and get amazing artistic results ■ — PRO CAMERA For the mobile photographer looking for a minimal capture interface with maximum control, shooting Pro gives you ultimate creative control. ■ Manually control focus, white balance, exposure, shutter speed, ISO, and aspect ratio ■ — DARKROOM EDITING SUITE A full editing suite including over 20 professional adjustment tools and 12 signature presets. • Classic Lens, Film, and Flash • Crop • Straighten & Rotate • Skew • Exposure • Clarity • Definition • Exposure • Clarity • Definition • Highlights • Shadows • Vibrancy • Fade • Curves (RGB + Red + Green + Blue) • Temperature • Tint • Depth of field • Texture • Grain • Vignette • Before & After view by holding down image in edit view • Undo & Redo by swiping left and right ■ Choose the overall mood of your image with Hipstamatic's signature Lenses, Films, and Flashes, then fine tune with extensive editing tools ■ — FAVORITE PRESETS Create your own Favorite Presets and even share your signature look with others. If you are looking for inspiration hit the shuffle button and explore a world of serendipitous beauty. • 12 World-class presets • Customize and edit presets • Save new presets • Presets are synchronized across your devices with iCloud • Share any favorite preset with other photographers ■ Define your signature looks, then quickly apply them to your photos with Copy/Paste support ■ — NATIVE WORKFLOW Hipstamatic is fully synchronized with your photo library. Tap on any photo to instantly edit it, and see and organize your photos in either Hipstamatic or Apple Photos. • Runs natively on iPhone and iPad • No need to import, just tap and edit • Quickly Favorite or Delete photos • Always full resolution • Save as Separate Files (default) and keep your originals untouched • Save as non-destructive Versions and streamline your photos with the original safely embedded within the Hipstamatic version (works best with iCloud Photo Library) • Browse folders created in the Photos app • Fully synchronized with Photos app and iCloud Photo Library • View detailed metadata • View shared image details across social networks (likes, comments, etc.) • Capture and edit in RAW format ■ Shoot on iPhone and edit on iPad with fully native support and synchronized Favorite Presets via iCloud ■ — HipstaMart™ Shop Browse amazing filter packs available for purchase via the In-App store created by the world’s most talented photo makers. Collaborations from top fashion and street photographers to famous artists like Salvador Dali with new packs available monthly. PrintLab™ Get real physical prints delivered straight to your door. We built this service in 2010 because no service would print square photos, and today PrintLab is still the best square format printing service in the world. Shipping to over 200 countries! • Print Prints (4”, 7”, 10”) • 30” Gallery Prints • Aluminum Prints (10” or 20”) • Birch Wood Prints (10” or 20”) — LET'S MAKE BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS TOGETHER Help us make Hipstamatic the best app ever. Send your thoughts & comments to feedback@hipstamatic.com or message us anywhere @Hipstamatic Thanks and welcome to the HipstaFamily!
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Viewfinder Preview at none against Classic Camera by Hipstamatic's 10. Viewfinder Preview also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 63%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Classic Camera by Hipstamatic's advantage is ratings volume (4.6K vs 301). On price, rating, 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
Classic Camera by Hipstamatic costs $4.99 and Viewfinder Preview $4.99 up front. Classic Camera by Hipstamatic sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Viewfinder Preview asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Classic Camera by Hipstamatic against 4.7 for Viewfinder Preview. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Classic Camera by Hipstamatic has 4.6K ratings behind it against 301, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Classic Camera by Hipstamatic's written reviews are positive against 86% of Viewfinder Preview's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Classic Camera by Hipstamatic | Viewfinder Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (4.6K ratings) | 4.7 (301 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.1% of reviews | 86.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4.6K — better | 301 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #122 | #65 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 90 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hipstamatic, LLC | Adam Fowler |
Customer experience
Classic Camera by Hipstamatic
Viewfinder Preview
User reviews
Classic Camera by Hipstamatic
From 4.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful creative tool
- 👍 Versatile lens/film combinations
- 🎨 Unique vintage-style photography
- 💡 Ability to edit existing photos
- 👍 Reliable and consistent performance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
- 🤔 Confusing interface changes
- 🙁 Inability to restore purchases
Viewfinder Preview
From 301 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📸 Excellent film emulation and visualization
- 💡 Comprehensive light meter functionality
- 📝 Useful note-taking and shot logging features
- 🎯 Customizable camera formats and focal lengths
- 👍 Intuitive interface and easy to use
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes and white screen issues
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 📱 Poor image resolution and quality
- ⚠️ Limited focal length range (35mm minimum)
- 🎬 Focal length accuracy issues on newer iPhones
Bugs and requests
Classic Camera by Hipstamatic
Reported bugs
5 issues- Photos not saving properly
- Viewfinder not aligning correctly
- Inability to change ISO settings without crashing
- Purchased items disappearing from the app
- Syncing issues between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for iPhone 14 Pro camera
- Improve RAW file handling
- Implement batch photo editing
- Provide better organization for purchased items
- Introduce an undo/redo function
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
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- 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)
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- 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
In-app purchases
Classic Camera by Hipstamatic
- Williamsburg Starter HipstaPak$0.99
- Portland HipstaPak$0.99
- Shibuya HipstaPak$0.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Camden HipstaPak$0.99
- Mission Hipstapak$0.99
- Dali GoodPak$0.99
- Soho HipstaPak$0.99
- Bondi HipstaPak$0.99
- Wicker Park HipstaPak$0.99
- RetroPak One$1.99
Viewfinder Preview
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Classic Camera by Hipstamatic free?
Is Viewfinder Preview free?
Which has better reviews, Classic Camera by Hipstamatic or Viewfinder Preview?
Do Classic Camera by Hipstamatic or Viewfinder Preview have ads?
Which is updated more often, Classic Camera by Hipstamatic or Viewfinder Preview?
Which is more popular, Classic Camera by Hipstamatic or Viewfinder Preview?
Other comparisons















