Comparison

Long Exposure Toolkit vs Luxilux Light Meter

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

Luxilux Light Meter

This app functions as a portable light meter for photographers, especially those using film cameras without built-in meters. It allows for precise exposure readings, offers various shooting modes, and lets you save your settings with preview images.

Highlights
  • Average and spot metering
  • Aperture priority mode
  • Shutter priority mode
  • Manual exposure mode
  • Save exposure settings with photos
  • Customizable camera profiles
Read full description

You like using your old film camera but it doesn't have a built-in light meter? The built-in meter is broken or requires special batteries? With Luxilux you always have a light meter in your pocket. --- METERING --- Luxilux will take an average reading of the image you see in the preview. Specify the area for the meter reading even more accurately by zooming in or out. If your device has two or three back cameras, you can switch between them. You can also tap on points of interest to expose correctly for them. --- MODES --- Use Luxilux in aperture priority mode (Av) by choosing the ISO and aperture, and Luxilux will calculate the right shutter speed to get a proper exposure. Use it in shutter priority mode (Tv) by choosing the ISO and the shutter speed, and Luxilux will calculate the right aperture to get a proper exposure. Manual mode (M) lets you change all values and shows you how much they differ from the calculated optimal exposure. --- SAVE EXPOSURES --- Tap "Save" and the currently selected settings are saved alongside a preview image into your photo library. If you give location permission you can also save where the measurement was taken. You can view your saved photos in Luxilux or in the Photos app. --- PROFILES --- You can choose between full stops, half stops or third stops for ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Specify the minimum and maximum values that your combination of camera, lens and film supports. Save these settings in profiles so you can quickly recall them.

Screenshots

Long Exposure Toolkit4 screens
Luxilux Light Meter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Luxilux Light Meter at free against Long Exposure Toolkit's paid. Luxilux Light Meter also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (75 vs 4). Long Exposure Toolkit's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 78%). On price, 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

Long Exposure Toolkit costs $5.99 and Luxilux Light Meter $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Luxilux Light Meter holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Luxilux Light Meter has 75 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Long Exposure Toolkit's written reviews are positive against 78% of Luxilux Light Meter's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Long Exposure Toolkit ships an update every 3 months, Luxilux Light Meter every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Long Exposure Toolkit versus Luxilux Light Meter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLong Exposure ToolkitLuxilux Light Meter
Price$5.99$5.99
Rating4.5 (4 ratings)4.9 (75 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better77.8% of reviews
Number of ratings475 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew OffieldChristian Lobach

Customer experience

Long Exposure Toolkit

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

Luxilux Light Meter

All ratings75 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral2.7%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%

In-app purchases

None

Long Exposure Toolkit

No in-app purchases

None

Luxilux Light Meter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Long Exposure Toolkit free?
Long Exposure Toolkit costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Luxilux Light Meter free?
Luxilux Light Meter costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Long Exposure Toolkit or Luxilux Light Meter?
Luxilux Light Meter is rated higher. Long Exposure Toolkit averages 4.5 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Luxilux Light Meter averages 4.9 from 75 ratings.
Do Long Exposure Toolkit or Luxilux Light Meter have ads?
Neither Long Exposure Toolkit nor Luxilux Light Meter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Long Exposure Toolkit or Luxilux Light Meter?
Long Exposure Toolkit ships an update every 3 months, and Luxilux Light Meter every 6 weeks. Most recently, Long Exposure Toolkit was updated on October 19, 2026 and Luxilux Light Meter on October 29, 2026.

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