Comparison

Pinhole Assist vs Codecam

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

Head to head
About

Pinhole Assist

This app acts as a light meter and exposure calculator for various photographic techniques, including pinhole, view camera, and wet-plate. It offers features like reciprocity compensation, built-in timers, and the ability to save camera and film settings.

Highlights
  • Light meter with spot and incident metering
  • Exposure calculation with reciprocity compensation
  • Built-in exposition timer and bubble level
  • Save and recall camera and film settings
  • Extensive library of pinhole cameras and films
  • Log shot information and export data
Read full description

*** Feb 8, 2019 "My favorite pinhole app!! "This is my go to app for pinhole photography…this has made getting good results much easier…" bizzy *** Dec 16, 2016. "Wow. This app blew me away with its features and calculations (especially reciprocity fail). - Horacekenneth *** Feb 19, 2014 Wonderful!! "This app is perfect for the pinhole photographer in the field. I love that I can save settings for all my cameras and recall them instantly in the moment. - Papskier" *** So useful! May 26, 2013 "This takes the guesswork out of exposure calculation, since it turns your iPhone into a light meter and suggests the correct exposure! Works like a charm. Great app for pinhole photographers." *** May 16, 2012 : "Pretty much the perfect app for pinhole", Gavin Lucas *** March 26, 2012 "Pinhole photography - Great app! This will make pinhole photography much simpler to do", Zone v *** November 28, 2011 "Great solution !! - Thank you for this Pinhole timing app. I have many different pinhole cameras and this will help me figure timing on all of them. Thank you !!Greg." Pinhole Assist will be your companion to argentic and numeric pinhole, as well as view camera photography and wet-plate . The range of aperture and sensitivity (starting at 0.05 ASA ) allows for film, photo paper, wet-plate and as well as pinhole. * Built-in camera computes exposure; * alternatively enter EV reading for any lightmeter * or enter time metering to compute reciprocity effect. * Use built-in exposition timer and bubble level for optimal shot; * The light meter has a spot-meter feature and allows for incident metering; * Enter your camera aperture from the predefined list (170+ pinhole cameras) or compute it; * Let the assistant automatically compensate for reciprocity of film (correction for long exposures, 60+ different curves included), or use your own curves. * Save, restore and presets (combos) : aperture, predefined cameras, ASA and reciprocity settings • 30+ builtin filters (red, ND…), add your own, mafast acess your favorites , * Log shot information : preview, exposure, metering, location, interactive map , date and a shot. Export as picture, CSV or JSON file. You can create film and set reciprocity curve from within Pinhole Assist. Crete new ones, or tweak existing ones. Use iTunes (on Mac/PC) to import/export access the films you created, or exchange them via email m curves (Go to the app Web Site for instructions) * timer usability : now tapping the chrono icon directly starts the timer starting the chronometer automatically create a log. * Combos : edit for your camera+ film combination (combo) the aperture or the predefined camera, as well as film speed and reciprocity. * Choosing a film reciprocity now sets the film speed. * 119 different films, including Multigrade paper and Harman positive paper * 300+ different pinhole and zone plate cameras : Ondu, Diana, Holga, Sténoflex, Reality soSubtle, Lensless, Ilford, Stenopéika, Vermeer, 8banners, ZeroImage, Leonardo, Carlos, Nopo, Spiral, Sharan… Any other camera can be accommodated. Go to the Settings to : * adjust scales can be by ½ EV or ⅓ EV, * enable bellow correction: a button will appear on the main screen to allow bellow adjustment, allowing to use view cameras; * adjust the cell and incident metering constant; * start the timer automatically or not; * adjust log behavior. Please note: this is not a camera app: it does not take picture. This is a sophisticated exposure calculator to take argentic (ou DSLR) shots with an pinhole camera.

About

Codecam

Unlock the full potential of your iPhone camera with advanced manual controls for both photos and videos. Adjust settings like shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus for professional-quality results. Explore various compression and frame rate options for video recording.

Highlights
  • Manual shutter speed and ISO
  • Manual white balance (temperature, tint)
  • Manual focus control
  • Adjustable video compression and frame rates
  • Video zoom with focal length display
  • Video stabilization options
Features
Read full description

All the power of the iPhone camera at your fingertips! With the incredibly capable camera that is your iPhone, and Codecam, the most simple, easy to use, yet very powerful app, you can enjoy the unlimited possiblities that the complete control over your iPhone's camera can provide! Photo features: - shoot in JPEG, like the stock camera app, or shoot JPEG+RAW, which also records a DNG file next to your jpeg (it will still look like a single photo in the photos app). You can import the DNG to you computer, or edit it on your iPhone with an app that supports DNG raw files. - manual shutter speed, ISO. Lock your exposure by picking a new value, or by long pressing the automatically selected one. Long press again to go back to auto. You can also swipe up and down on the screen to apply an exposure compensation while in automatic exposure mode. - manual white balance: temperature and tint. You can lock the current value just like the exposure, or pick the exact values. White balance presets are also available: Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, plus two Incandescent and Fluorescent presets. - manual focus: switch between auto an manual focus by tapping the button, or by tapping an area on the image to focus on it. A slider to manually focus is also available. Video features: - video zoom: you can zoom by pinching the image, up until the point where upscaling would occur. For 4K, you can override this behaviour to allow zooming until the 1080p crop. The approximate focal length for the given zoom is also shown on the screen (converted to the equivalent focal length of a Super 35 or Full Frame sensor). - the same manual controls for shutter speed, ISO, white balance and focus as in photo mode. Smooth autofocus using Focus Pixels on the iPhone 6 or newer is available. - compressions supported: 15 Mbit, 25 Mbit, 50 Mbit, 75 Mbit, 100 Mbit, 200 Mbit, 400 Mbit in H.264 (or H.265 in newer devices) with selectable IPB or ALL-I modes, and MPJEG compression with either optimal (9/10 or 8/10 for 4K) or full quality (10/10) setting (note: the displayed bitrate in MJPEG mode is an estimation of the maximum possible bitrate) - frame rates supported: 1080p24, 1080p25, 1080p30 - additional frame rates supported by iPhone 5s: 720p50, 720p60 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6: 720p120 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 6: 1080p50, 1080p60, 720p240 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 6s and 7: 1080p120, 2160p30, 2160p25, 2160p24 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 8, X, 11, 11 Pro: 1080p240, 2160p50, 2160p60 - video stabilization is supported, you can toggle between on, off or cinematic, depending on availability on your device - show shutter angle instead of shutter speed - cinematic 1:2.35 overlay: crop mark option is available in the settings menu to switch between 16:9 and cinemascope. This feature is for composition only, the image that will be recorded is the full 16:9 frame. Additional features: - automatic save to camera roll: all images and supported videos are saved to the camera roll - gallery: You can see the images and videos you took in a grid or loupe view, with full metadata. You can also share them, or delete them right in the app.

Screenshots

Pinhole Assist4 screens
Codecam2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pinhole Assist at 98% against Codecam's 50%. Pinhole Assist also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.0) and chart position (#76 vs unranked). Codecam's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Codecam is free to download; Pinhole Assist costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pinhole Assist holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 24 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 98% of Pinhole Assist's written reviews are positive against 50% of Codecam's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pinhole Assist ships an update every 3 months, Codecam monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Pinhole Assist versus Codecam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPinhole AssistCodecam
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (19 ratings) — better4.0 (24 ratings)
Positive reviews97.8% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1924 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#76 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLe bord de la piscineLaszlo Varadi

Customer experience

Pinhole Assist

All ratings19 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.2%

Codecam

All ratings24 ratings
Positive70.8%
Neutral8.3%
Negative20.8%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative40.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pinhole Assist

No in-app purchases

None

Codecam

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pinhole Assist free?
Pinhole Assist costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Codecam free?
Codecam is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pinhole Assist or Codecam?
Pinhole Assist is rated higher. Pinhole Assist averages 4.9 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Codecam averages 4.0 from 24 ratings.
Do Pinhole Assist or Codecam have ads?
Neither Pinhole Assist nor Codecam shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pinhole Assist or Codecam?
Pinhole Assist ships an update every 3 months, and Codecam monthly. Most recently, Pinhole Assist was updated on September 25, 2026 and Codecam on September 9, 2026.

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