Lighting Designer vs f8 Lens Toolkit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lighting Designer
Create professional overhead lighting plots for film, TV, theater, and events. Quickly illustrate and communicate lighting setups with a vast library of equipment and intuitive tools. Sync your work across all Apple devices.
- Create overhead lighting plots
- Extensive equipment library (2000+ items)
- Organize setups into Shows
- Custom fixture creation with own images
- Detailed light specifications
- Floor plan drawing tools
- Email editable Plots
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Never draw a lighting setup on a scrap of paper again. Lighting Designer is a quick and intuitive way to create overhead lighting plots for film, theater, television, concerts, and anything else you can light. The wide selection of equipment and simple yet powerful interface makes it easier than ever to illustrate and communicate your lighting setups, from most Apple devices. Your Silicon Mac is powerful and gives you the most screen to work with; your iPad is large and versatile; your iPhone will go with you anywhere. And if you like, your work can sync among all your Apple devices using iCloud, so you can start plotting on one and finish on another. LD is perfect for tech scouts, working while traveling, or just choosing the couch over your desk chair. While expensive drafting programs can take hours to use and years to master, Lighting Designer is an accessible way to plan your next show! Features: • Organize your setups into Shows, with details like shooting dates and crew members • Choose from over 2000 built-in types of lights, grip equipment, camera gear, actors, and objects like furniture and musical instruments • With a Crescit Premium account, you can have access to an additional 25,000+ pieces of lighting equipment, gels, and gobo templates • Use your own images to create custom fixtures on your Plots (read the User Guide for image specs) • For each light, specify wattage, beam spread, light output, DMX address, color, and many other details • Certain fixtures include info for exposure approximation; all can be user-configured and have their exposure reverse-calculated from real-world readings • Use Groups to create flexible collections of lights • Notes allow you to describe every detail of your setup • Pack your Truck to share gear among multiple Plots • Draw a Floor Plan using basic shapes, and images from your device • Lights can target other objects, and objects can rig onto each other for easy adjustments • Email editable Plots to the crew, with images, equipment, and crew lists • Undo/Redo functionality • Dark Mode presents a dark workspace to reduce eyestrain and minimize your device's light in a dark environment
f8 Lens Toolkit
This app provides photographers and cinematographers with essential tools for optical calculations. It offers features like depth of field calculation, field of view determination, and lens matching for various camera formats. It's designed to be an indispensable reference tool for professionals and students alike.
- Depth of Field & Hyperfocal Distance Calculator
- Field of View Calculator
- Lens Matcher: Equivalent Focal Length & F-Stop
- Camera Sensor Comparison Tool
- Lens Coverage Tool
- Extensive camera and lens database
- Supports anamorphic shooting and Speedboosters
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f8 is the fastest and easiest tool for all photographic calculations: Effortlessly find corresponding focal lengths & apertures for different formats, calculate depth of field (DOF), and find field of view for any camera and lens. The sensor comparison and lens coverage tool make this app complete. ◈◈◈ Get professional-grade features & the most intuitive user-interface in its class ◈◈◈ No matter if you are a seasoned pro or a film/photography student, f8 has got you covered. It’s packed with the tools you need and highly customizable to deliver precise calculations for any setup imaginable. It has been proven to be an indispensable tool on any shoot. f8 comes with: • Depth of Field & Hyperfocal Distance Calculator • Field of View Calculator • Lens Matcher: Equivalent Focal Length & F-Stop • Camera Sensor Comparison Tool • Lens Coverage Tool • Thousands of cameras & lenses included • Close Focus & Aperture data for most lenses • Supports anamorphic shooting & Metabones Speedboosters f8 is the perfect companion app and reference tool for Photographers, Cinematographers, Camera Operators, Camera Assistants (1.AC) & VFX Supervisors. ◈◈◈ Download f8 now and have a precise optical toolkit at your fingertips ◈◈◈ ◆ CINE CAMERAS ◆ AJA Cion ARRI Alexa 35, Alexa 65, Alexa Classic, Alexa LF, Alexa Mini, Alexa Mini LF, Alexa SXT, Alexa XT, Amira, D-21 Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Micro Cinema Camera, Micro Studio Camera 4K, Pocket Cinema Camera, Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, Production Camera 4K, Studio Camera 4K, Studio Camera HD, URSA, URSA (Broadcast), URSA 4.6K, URSA Mini 4.6K, URSA Mini 4K, URSA Mini Pro, URSA Mini Pro 12K, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 Canon C100, C100 Mark II, C200, C300, C300 Mark II, C300 Mark III, C500, C500 Mark II, C70, C700 DJI Zenmuse X7 Film 16mm, 35mm, 65mm/70mm, 8mm Freefly Systems Wave Generic Broadcast Ikonoskop A-cam dII Kinefinity KineMAX, KineMini, Mavo, Mavo Edge, Mavo LF, TERRA Panasonic AF101, BGH1, EVA1, HDX 900, VariCam 35, VariCam LT Panavision DXL, DXL2, Genesis Phantom 65, Flex, Flex4K, HD GOLD, Miro LC321S, v2640 ONYX, VEO4K-PL PS-CAM X35 RED Dragon-X, Epic Dragon, Epic-W (Helium), Epic-X, Gemini, Komodo, Monstro-VV, One, Ranger (Gemini), Ranger (Helium), Ranger (Monstro), Raven, Scarlet-W (Dragon), Scarlet-X, Weapon (Dragon-VV), Weapon (Helium) Silicon Imaging SI-2K Sony F23, F3, F35, F5, F55, F65, F900, FS100, FS5, FS5 Mark II, FS7, FS7 Mark II, FS700, FX3, FX6, FX9, HDC-1500R, Venice Weisscam HS-2 Z CAM E2, E2-F6, E2-F8, E2-M4, E2-S6, E2G ◆ PHOTO CAMERAS ◆ Canon 1000D/XS, 100D, 10D, 1100D/T3, 1200D/T5, 1300D/T6, 1D, 1D C, 1D Mark II, 1D Mark III, 1D Mark IV, 1D X, 1D X Mark II, 1D X Mark III, 1Ds, 1Ds Mark II, 1Ds Mark III, 200D/SL2, 20D, 30D, 350D/XT, 400D/XTi, 40D, 450D/XSi, 500D/T1i, 50D, 550D/T2i, 5D, 5D Mark II, 5D Mark III, 5D Mark IV, 5DS, 600D/T3i, 60D, 650D/T4i, 6D, 6D Mark II, 700D/T5i, 70D, 750D/T6i, 760D/T6s, 77D, 7D, 7D Mark II, 800D/T7i, 80D, 850D/T8i, 90D, M50, R, R5, R6, Ra, RP Film (Still) 35mm (135), APS, Large Format, Medium Format, XPan Fujifilm GFX 100, GFX 100S, GFX 50R, GFX 50S, X-A7, X-H1, X-Pro2, X-Pro3, X-S10, X-T2, X-T200, X-T3, X-T4, X100V Hasselblad Digital Medium Format Leica CL, M10/M10-R, M8/M8.2, M9/M9-P, S, S2, SL, SL2, SL2-S Mamiya Leaf Credo Series Nikon D1, D100, D1H, D1x, D200, D2H, D2Hs, D2x, D3, D300, D3000, D300s, D3100, D3200, D3300, D3400, D3s, D3x, D4, D40, D40X, D4s, D50, D500, D5000, D5100, D5300, D5500, D5600, D60, D600, D610, D70, D700, D7000, D70s, D7100, D7200, D750, D7500, D80, D800, D810, D850, D90, DF, Z50, Z6, Z7 Olympus E Series Panasonic GH1, GH2, GH3, GH4, GH5, GH5S, S1, S1H, S1R, S5 Pentax 645D, 645Z, K Series Phase One Achromatic+, IQ Series, P 30+, P 40+, P 45+, P 65+ Sigma fp, fp L, SD1, SD15 Sony A290, A390, A450, A580, A6000, A6300, A6500, A6600, A7 III, A7C, A7r II, A7r III, A7r IV, A7s, A7s II, A7s III, A850, A9, A9 II, A900, A99, SLT-A37K, SLT-A57, SLT-A65, SLT-A77
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: f8 Lens Toolkit at $9.99 against Lighting Designer's $24.99. f8 Lens Toolkit also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (80% vs 46%). Lighting Designer's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (145 vs 26). On 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
Lighting Designer costs $24.99 and f8 Lens Toolkit $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
f8 Lens Toolkit holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lighting Designer has 145 ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Lighting Designer's written reviews are positive against 80% of f8 Lens Toolkit's.
Lighting Designer ships an update every 3 weeks, f8 Lens Toolkit every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lighting Designer | f8 Lens Toolkit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24.99 | $9.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (145 ratings) | 4.9 (26 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 46.3% of reviews | 79.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 145 — better | 26 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Scenario Software LLC | Cadrage GmbH |
Customer experience
Lighting Designer
f8 Lens Toolkit
In-app purchases
Lighting Designer
No in-app purchases
f8 Lens Toolkit
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Lighting Designer free?
Is f8 Lens Toolkit free?
Which has better reviews, Lighting Designer or f8 Lens Toolkit?
Do Lighting Designer or f8 Lens Toolkit have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lighting Designer or f8 Lens Toolkit?
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