Capture Pilot vs Helicon Remote
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
Helicon Remote
Control your Nikon or Canon DSLR remotely for tethered shooting. Features include automated focus and exposure bracketing, time-lapse, and extra-long exposures. Supports Wi-Fi and USB connections for advanced photography workflows.
- Tethered shooting
- Camera remote control
- Automated focus bracketing
- Exposure bracketing
- Time lapse shooting
- Extra long exposures
- Live View
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Helicon Remote is a utility for tethered shooting and camera remote control compatible with all recent Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras. USB connection is supported on iOS 13.0 and newer. Only Wi-Fi connection is possible on iOS 12! Key features: - Wi-Fi support (for cameras with built-in Wi-Fi unit, as well as external Nikon WT and Canon WFT units) - Automated focus bracketing (focus bracketing, exposure bracketing and time lapse shooting can be combined in any way possible) - Extra long exposures - up to 32 minutes (all Canon cameras, Nikon D750 / Df / D600 / D610 / D800 / D810 / D4 / D4s / D7100 / D5200 / D5300) - Advanced exposure bracketing - Image review - Full screen Live View - Focus peaking (areas in sharp focus can be highlighted) - Live View noise averaging - Time lapse shooting - Video recording - Hyper focal distance and DOF calculator - Live histogram (gray/RGB) Compatible cameras Canon: - EOS R, Rp, R5, R6 - M6 Mk II, M50, M50 Mk II - 1D Mark III, 1D X Mark III, 1Ds Mark III, 1D Mark IV, 1D C, 1D X, 1D X Mark II; - 5D Mark II, 5D Mark III, 5D Mark IV, 5DS, 5DS R (5DSR); - 6D, 6D Mark II; - 7D, 7D Mark II; - 40D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 77D / 9000D, 80D, 90D; - 100D / SL1 / Kiss X7, 200D / SL2 / Kiss X8, 250D; - 450D / Rebel XSi / Kiss X2, 500D / Rebel T1i / Kiss X3, 550D / Rebel T2i / Kiss X4, 600D / Rebel T3i / Kiss X5, 650D / Rebel T4i / Kiss X6, 700D / T5i / Kiss X7i, 750D / Rebel T6i / Kiss x8i, 760D / Rebel T6s / EOS 8000D, 800D / Rebel T7i / Kiss X9i, 1000D / Rebel XS / Kiss F, 1100D / Rebel T3 / Kiss X50, 1200D / T5 / Kiss X70, 1300D / Rebel T6 / Kiss X80; - 2000D / Kiss X90 / T7 / 1500D; - 4000D / 3000D. Nikon: - Z5, Z6, Z6 II, Z7, Z7 II, Z50 - D3, D3s, D3x, D4, D4s, D5, Df, D90, D300/D300s, D500, D600, D610, D700, D750, D780, D800/D800e, D810, D810A, D850, D5000, D5100, D5200, D5300, D5500, D5600, D7000, D7100, D7200, D7500. Sony: A7 III, A7 RIII Compatible Wi-Fi cameras Canon: Cameras with built-in Wi-Fi unit: - EOS R, Rp, R5, R6, M6 Mk II, M50, M50 Mk II - 1D X Mark III, 5D Mark IV, 6D, 6D Mark II, 70D, 750D, 760D, 80D, 90D, 800D, 77D, 1300D, 200D, 2000D / Kiss X90 / T7 / 1500D. Cameras that support an external wireless adapter: 5D Mark II + WFT-4A, 7D + WFT-5A, 1D C / 1D X + WFT-6A/B, 5D Mark III + WFT-E7A, 1 DX Mark II + WFT-E8A, 5DS / 5DS R + WFT-E7A, 7D Mark II + WFT-E7A (ver. 2). Nikon: Cameras with built-in Wi-Fi unit: - Z5, Z6, Z6 II, Z7, Z7 II, Z50 - D5300, D5500, D7200, D780. Wi-fi connection requiring latest firmware: D500, D750, D850, D5600, D7500. Cameras that support an external wireless adapter: D5200 / D7100 + Wu-1a, D600 / D610 + Wu-1b, D4S / D800 / D800E / D4 / D7000 / D3X / D300 / D300S / D3S / D3 / D700 + WT-4A; D810 / D810A / D7200 / D750 / D4S / D800 / D800E / D7100 / D7000 / D4 + WT-5A, Df + WU-1a.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Capture Pilot at 11.0 against Helicon Remote's 13.0. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Capture Pilot sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Helicon Remote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 2.5 for Capture Pilot against 2.4 for Helicon Remote. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 96 and 38 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 31% of Capture Pilot's written reviews are positive against 29% of Helicon Remote's.
Capture Pilot ships an update every 4 months, Helicon Remote every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Capture Pilot | Helicon Remote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (96 ratings) — better | 2.4 (38 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.1% of reviews — better | 29.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 96 — better | 38 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Capture One A/S | Helicon Soft s.r.o. |
Customer experience
Capture Pilot
Helicon Remote
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
Helicon Remote
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Capture Pilot
- Camera Control$14.99
Helicon Remote
- Lifetime license$47.99
Questions
Is Capture Pilot free?
Is Helicon Remote free?
Which has better reviews, Capture Pilot or Helicon Remote?
Do Capture Pilot or Helicon Remote have ads?
Which is updated more often, Capture Pilot or Helicon Remote?
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