Comparison

Long Exposure Toolkit vs Video Buffer Pre

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

Head to head
About

Long Exposure Toolkit

This app provides DSLR photographers with a suite of tools for creating long exposure photographs. It includes calculators for ND filters, light metering, time-lapses, and exposure values, along with tips and a photo feed for inspiration.

Highlights
  • ND Calculator
  • Light Meter
  • Timelapse Calculator
  • Exposure Value (EV) Calculator
  • Star Trail Calculator
  • Exposure Timer
  • Flickr Photo Feed
Features
Read full description

Beautiful light doesn’t happen by accident. Long Exposure Toolkit gives creative photographers the tools to plan the light, find the moon and stars, calculate long exposures, and get the shot right — from golden hour to deep into the night. PLAN THE LIGHT, NOT JUST THE SHOT Track every phase of natural light throughout the day, including civil and nautical dawn, blue hour, golden hour, solar noon, sunset and dusk. Follow the live sun-path arc, see exact times for every transition, and get a live countdown to your next photographic window. MOON, STARS, AND THE NIGHT SKY Point your iPhone at the sky and the Moon Finder guides you towards the moon using the live camera and a precision compass rose. Follow the moon’s path through the night, check moonrise and moonset for your location, and plan for upcoming lunar eclipses. For star-trail photography, choose any star or constellation from the built-in catalogue and view its declination arc — ideal for planning and compositing very long star-trail exposures. LONG EXPOSURES, MADE PRECISE Use the built-in light meter to measure the scene, select your ND filter strength, and quickly calculate the corrected shutter speed. When exposures run into minutes or hours, the built-in timer counts them for you and chimes when they’re complete. THE COMPLETE TOOLKIT • Golden Hour — a light planner for golden hour, blue hour, dawn, dusk, solar noon and live sun-path tracking • Moon Finder — locate the moon, follow its path, and check moonrise, moonset, eclipse and other information • Star Trails — view declination arcs for stars and constellations to help plan long star-trail exposures • Light Meter — live camera metering with ISO, aperture and shutter-speed readout • ND Calculator — calculate corrected exposure times for ND filters • Timelapse — calculate the interval and number of shots required for your chosen movie length • Stops — calculate the exposure difference between any two f-stops, shutter speeds or ISO values • EV Calculator — calculate exposure value from camera settings or measure the EV of the current scene • Timer — time long exposures with an audible alert when the exposure is complete • Torch — adjustable LED torch plus a screen light with a full colour picker for light painting; save your favourite colours for quick access • Inspiration — browse long-exposure photography from the Flickr community and see the camera settings used to create each image • Technique — more than 70 tips covering long-exposure technique, ND filters, subjects, camera settings, focusing and field craft Whether you’re photographing silky water, moving clouds, city lights, the moon, blue hour or star trails, Long Exposure Toolkit gives you the essential planning and exposure tools all in one place.

About

Video Buffer Pre

Capture moments that have already happened with a pre-recording buffer. Save device storage and avoid tedious editing by recording only the highlights. Ideal for sports, events, or unexpected occurrences.

Highlights
  • Buffered video recording
  • Up to 100 seconds buffer time
  • DualCam Mode
  • 4K video quality
  • Apple Watch remote support
  • Slow-motion support
Features
Read full description

Record the action that happened before the shutter! Save your device storage and skip the tedious post-game editing! Never miss a moment again! Yes, it really records in 4K: up to 4K at 120 fps on recent iPhones (e.g. iPhone 17) and 4K at 60 fps on older models (e.g. iPhone 12), with your Apple Watch as a remote. We're all used to pressing the record button and capturing life as it happens. But what if you could record things that already happened, pressing the button to catch the last few seconds? That's what makes Video Buffer so unique — you set the buffer time and hit the record when something interesting happens. You haven't missed a thing and saved your time and device storage! Video Buffer can be vital in all kinds of ways: Sports coaches and parents can use the app to record in-game highlight moments as they happen. Physical Education teachers could use buffered video footage to analyze performance and settle disputes between players. Sports officials and referees can review their decisions using a Buffer Camera as a video assistant. Drivers can use Video Buffer as a Dashcam, recording unexpected events on the road without overloading device memory storage. Skateboarders can capture only good lands and save time scrolling through many similar frames on the camera roll. Parents can catch their kids playing, making it easy to record that funny interaction that might otherwise be lost. Nature lovers can save time and storage while filming astonishing lightning flashes or waiting for the animal to appear or strike a funny pose. Video Buffer features include: - buffered video recording that ensures you'll never miss a moment - long buffer time, up to 100 seconds - 3 recording buttons, each with adjustable buffer time - DualCam Mode - record front and back camera footage simultaneously - option to capture only the buffer - the recording will end & save automatically - 4K video quality: up to 4K 120 fps on recent iPhones, 4K 60 fps on older models such as iPhone 12 - custom video resolution and FPS (30-240) - portrait or landscape orientation - saving to iCloud or device folders with a custom prefix for the filenames - Apple Watch support — a remote on your wrist to make it easier than ever to hit that record button - Slow-motion support - gives sports and fitness trainers the best look at swing, ball movement, or technique. Note: Works only with some back cameras - set 240 FPS in Settings. If you've ever missed something because you couldn't hit a record in time, Video Buffer is the answer! Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Long Exposure Toolkit4 screens
Video Buffer Pre4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Video Buffer Pre at Free against Long Exposure Toolkit's $5.99. Video Buffer Pre also leads on ratings volume (46 vs 4) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). Long Exposure Toolkit's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 61%) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On rating 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Video Buffer Pre is free to download; Long Exposure Toolkit costs $5.99 up front. Video Buffer Pre sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Long Exposure Toolkit asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Long Exposure Toolkit against 4.5 for Video Buffer Pre. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Video Buffer Pre has 46 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Long Exposure Toolkit's written reviews are positive against 61% of Video Buffer Pre's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Long Exposure Toolkit ships an update every 3 months, Video Buffer Pre every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Long Exposure Toolkit versus Video Buffer Pre: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLong Exposure ToolkitVideo Buffer Pre
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (4 ratings)4.5 (46 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better60.7% of reviews
Number of ratings446 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew Offieldmichal bojanowicz

Customer experience

Long Exposure Toolkit

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Video Buffer Pre

All ratings45 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive60.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

None

Long Exposure Toolkit

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Video Buffer Pre

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Yearly$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Long Exposure Toolkit free?
Long Exposure Toolkit costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Video Buffer Pre free?
Video Buffer Pre is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Long Exposure Toolkit or Video Buffer Pre?
Video Buffer Pre is rated higher. Long Exposure Toolkit averages 4.5 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Video Buffer Pre averages 4.5 from 46 ratings.
Do Long Exposure Toolkit or Video Buffer Pre have ads?
Neither Long Exposure Toolkit nor Video Buffer Pre shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Long Exposure Toolkit or Video Buffer Pre?
Long Exposure Toolkit ships an update every 3 months, and Video Buffer Pre every 6 weeks. Most recently, Long Exposure Toolkit was updated on October 19, 2026 and Video Buffer Pre on October 24, 2026.

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