Capture Pilot vs Photo Studio Light Setup
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Capture Pilot
This app allows photographers to remotely view, zoom, rate, and tag high-resolution images during a shoot. It can also transform your device into a virtual camera display for remote camera control and capture parameter adjustments.
- Remote image viewing, zooming, and panning
- Image rating and tagging
- Live view with compatible digital backs
- Geotagging of images
- Remote camera firing and parameter control
- Virtual camera display
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Use your iOS device to remotely view, zoom, rate, and tag high-resolution images during a photography shoot. Plus, combine Capture Pilot with the additional “Camera Control” in-app purchase to transform your iOS device into a virtual camera display, so you can remotely fire your camera and control essential capture parameters from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. For use with photo editing software Capture One Pro, Capture Pilot is the perfect tool for teams and multi-user shoots, while clients can use it to review shots in real-time and better communicate with photographers. “Whether it is clients, make-up artists, wardrobe stylists or photographers, or anyone who needs to keep an eye on the shoot, Capture Pilot allows them to see every detail of what is being shot. Most importantly, it successfully engages the entire team in the photographic process." - Daryn Labier, Blast Digital Studio “In all, I’m extremely impressed with Phase One’s iOS application Capture Pilot. It enhances the creative process in ways that you won’t be able to predict.” - Mike Hagen, Nikonians --------------- KEY FEATURES --------------- VIEW AND BROWSE - Wirelessly view, zoom and pan high-resolution DSLR and medium format RAW, JPEG and TIFF images during a shoot. - Unique and easy-to-use rating and tagging feature enables clients or staff in the studio or on remote locations to participate in the shoot and to provide instant feedback. LIVE VIEW WITH PHASE ONE IQ250 and IQ3 (CMOS) DIGITAL BACKS - Work wirelessly with remote live viewing functionality with a Phase One IQ250 and IQ3 50MP camera system, turning your mobile device into an electronic viewfinder. GEOTAGGING OF IMAGES WITH PHASE ONE IQ CAMERA SYSTEMS - Record location data and geotag your images 'CAMERA CONTROL' IN-APP PURCHASE - Connect directly to a Phase One IQ2 or IQ3 series digital back to remotely fire and control your camera and check capture previews directly on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Free for Phase One Digital Back users. - Connect your camera to a Mac or Windows computer running Capture One Pro and use your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to remotely fire and control your Canon, Nikon, Sony, Phase One, Leaf or Mamiya camera. - Control your camera’s most important capture parameters on a virtual camera display: ISO sensitivity, exposure mode, shutter speed, aperture, and exposure compensation. ------- NOTES ------- To check for supported cameras and tethering support visit: https://www.captureone.com/features/supported-cameras Capture One Pro (11.1 or later) with supported camera tethered connection is required when pairing the camera control app with a Sony camera. Capture Pilot can connect directly over Wi-Fi to a Phase One IQ2 or IQ3 Digital back. Focus controls is currently only supported when used directly with a Wi-Fi capable IQ Digital Back running Feature Update 4. Capture Pilot can also connect over Wi-Fi to Capture One Pro (versions 20, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6) for browsing Capture One collections, or for control of supported cameras tethered to Capture One. Capture Pilot can use the GPS unit in your device to access and record location data. Synchronization of the recorded location data with images can happen either simultaneously when Capture Pilot is connected to a Phase One IQ2 or IQ3 digital back, or when the Capture Pilot connection is re-established later. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life, therefore a “Turn Geo tagging Off” timer option is available in the Capture Pilot preferences. You can download a trial version of Capture One Pro from www.captureone.com/en/download-trial
Photo Studio Light Setup
Easily document and create studio lighting diagrams with an intuitive interface. Save, modify, and share your setups across devices and with friends. Access a library of professional setups and equipment for enhanced creativity.
- Intuitive interface for light documenting
- Create and modify lighting diagrams
- Share setups across devices and with friends
- Library of professional lighting setups
- Document setups with precision and detail
- Includes professional equipment and props
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Photo Studio Light Setup app is designed for professional and amateur photographers, photography students and educators. The application provides users with an intuitive interface and fluid workflow for quick and easy studio light documenting and creation of lighting diagrams that can be modified on your devices any time in the future and shared between devices and friends. The app features a growing library of professional lighting setups with reference photos and detailed equipment settings available for In-App purchase. Photo Studio Light Setup includes a wide variety of professional photography lighting equipment, studio props and photography subjects and allows users to document their lighting setups with high precision and all necessary details. Studio setups are shared among your devices via iCloud and can be shared among other users as captured images.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Capture Pilot at Free against Photo Studio Light Setup's $12.99. Capture Pilot also leads on ratings volume (96 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.6). Photo Studio Light Setup's advantage is rating (3.0 vs 2.5) and review sentiment (58% vs 31%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Capture Pilot is free to download; Photo Studio Light Setup costs $12.99 up front. Capture Pilot sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Photo Studio Light Setup sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Photo Studio Light Setup holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Capture Pilot has 96 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 31% of Capture Pilot's written reviews are positive against 58% of Photo Studio Light Setup's.
Capture Pilot ships an update every 4 months, Photo Studio Light Setup every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Capture Pilot | Photo Studio Light Setup |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $12.99 |
| Rating | 2.5 (96 ratings) | 3.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 31.1% of reviews | 57.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 96 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Capture One A/S | Alex Maxim |
Customer experience
Capture Pilot
Photo Studio Light Setup
Bugs and requests
Capture Pilot
Reported bugs
15 issues- App crashes every 10-15 minutes
- Server connection failures
- Camera controls not functioning
- Focus button greyed out despite camera capability
- Photos fail to load from large libraries
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- Adjustment application causes crashes
- Force quit on M1 iPad Pro with larger files
- Freezing when swiping through images during import
- In-app purchase not syncing across devices
- Restore purchase button non-functional
- App crashes after a few minutes on older iOS
- Pixelated image rendering
- Connection drops during fast shooting
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Camera not recognized despite being connected
Requested features
13 requests- Live view compatibility for remote shooting
- Full Capture One editing tools on mobile
- Camera control without additional purchase
- AppleTV wireless display support
- Bluetooth connectivity without WiFi
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- Image tagging and commenting features
- Print functionality
- Download to device option
- Cross-device purchase sharing
- Histogram display
- Shutter mode and timer controls
- Improved UI with dropdown menus instead of dial controls
- Retina display optimization
Photo Studio Light Setup
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Capture Pilot
- Camera Control$14.99
Photo Studio Light Setup
- Feast, fashion setup with four lights$2.99
- Beauty portrait, 4 colored lights setup$2.99
- Fashion at the beach, sunlight + octa$2.99
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- Night beach setup with one light$2.99
- Glamour 6-light setup$3.99
Questions
Is Capture Pilot free?
Is Photo Studio Light Setup free?
Which has better reviews, Capture Pilot or Photo Studio Light Setup?
Do Capture Pilot or Photo Studio Light Setup have ads?
Which is updated more often, Capture Pilot or Photo Studio Light Setup?
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