Focusing Loupe vs Second View
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Focusing Loupe
This app assists large-format camera users in achieving sharp focus on their ground glass. It offers adjustable magnification and orientation options, with manual distance control to overcome light reflection issues.
- Adjustable magnification
- Ground glass image orientation (natural/flipped)
- Manual distance adjustment
- Optimized for Graflex Speed Graphic
- Overcomes light reflections
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Focusing Loupe is a user-friendly app designed to help you focus your large-format camera with ease. It lets you view the ground glass image either in its natural upside-down orientation or flipped to correct it. You can manually adjust the distance between your phone and the ground glass, which is particularly useful when light reflections interfere with automatic focusing. You also have full control over magnification levels. This app is specifically optimized for Graflex Speed Graphic cameras with the focusing hood attached, where traditional loupes may not be ideal.
Second View
This tool assists photographers in planning shots by simulating their actual camera's field of view and aspect ratio. It includes a light meter, filter logging, and reciprocity correction for film stocks. Features like LiDAR distance measurement and composition guides help refine framing and exposure before taking the shot.
- Precise field-of-view matching
- Real-time light meter with spot metering
- ND, polarizer, and color filter logging
- Reciprocity failure correction for 60 film stocks
- LiDAR distance measurement
- Composition and grid tools
- Panorama simulation
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PLEASE READ FIRST Second View is not a camera app and does not take photos for you. It helps you frame, meter, and plan shots before you press the shutter on your own camera. The photos it saves are framing aids, not final images. --- Second View turns your iPhone into a precision field toolkit for analog photographers. Set your lens and format, and it crops the iPhone camera to match what your film camera will capture: same field of view, aspect ratio, and framing. Supports 35mm, medium format (6x4.5 through 6x17), large format (4x5, 5x7, 8x10), digital sensors, and custom sizes. VIEWFINDER Precise field-of-view matching for any focal length and format. Portrait or landscape, control side of your choice, preview rotation per kit. AUTOMATIC LENS SELECTION Frames through the sharpest back camera that holds your crop (ultra-wide, wide or tele), so long lenses look crisp. Calibrate each lens with a sheet of paper. FRAMES MODE Rangefinder-style bright lines for every lens in your kit at once. WORKSPACES Design your own control panel and switch layouts with a swipe. FREEZE MODE Hold a full-resolution still to compose rise and shift, spot-meter, and measure distance without the scene moving. LIGHT METER Pick your aperture and get the shutter speed. EV compensation, hyperfocal distance, auto/manual modes, and whole/half/third stops. SPOT METERING Meter the whole frame or a spot down to 1° through the telephoto. METER CALIBRATION Calibrate against your reference meter at several light levels, per lens. BELLOWS COMPENSATION Folds close-focus light loss into the reading, set manually or by LiDAR. LENS FILTERS Log ND, polarizer, and color filters. The meter compensates and every capture records them. RECIPROCITY CORRECTION 60 film stocks with accurate reciprocity curves, plus your own: Portra, CineStill, Tri-X, Velvia, ECN-2 and more. Exposures over one second are corrected automatically. FILM PREVIEW Simulate B&W film with color filters, and preview color-film white balance from the loaded stock. LONG EXPOSURE TIMER Countdown with a full-screen progress ring, on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with an optional end alert. HARDWARE BUTTONS Map the volume buttons, Camera Control, the Action button or a Bluetooth remote to shutter, timer, freeze, lens steps and more. LIDAR DISTANCE AND PARALLAX Measure subject distance with LiDAR (iPhone 12 Pro and later) or enter it manually. Parallax between the iPhone and your lens is corrected automatically. RISE, FALL AND SHIFT Simulate view camera movements in 1mm steps, up to your kit's maximum travel. COMPOSITION TOOLS Rule of thirds, phi grid, golden triangle, square, and custom grids up to 12x12. Bubble level with roll and pitch. PANORAMA SIMULATION Preview a stitched multi-frame panorama and save it as a plan. SHOT CHECKLIST Run a per-kit checklist in the viewfinder. One step can fire the shutter automatically. CAMERA KITS Save complete setups and switch instantly: lenses, format, stocks, workspace, parallax, and checklist. Pick a body and the format picker shows only the masks it can shoot. FILM ROLL TRACKING Know which roll is loaded and when every frame was exposed. CAPTURE AND GALLERY Save a reference photo with the exact framing and full metadata: lens, format, stock, filters, exposure, rise/shift, GPS, and time. Export with a data overlay, add notes, group into rolls, and export a CSV log. --- Terms of Use : https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy : https://secondview.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Focusing Loupe at 100% against Second View's 56%. Focusing Loupe also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Second View's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. Second View sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year. Focusing Loupe asks for nothing beyond the download.
Focusing Loupe holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Second View has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Focusing Loupe's written reviews are positive against 56% of Second View's.
Focusing Loupe ships an update daily, Second View weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Focusing Loupe | Second View |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 55.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ari Jaaksi | Benoit Linard |
Customer experience
Focusing Loupe
Second View
In-app purchases
Focusing Loupe
No in-app purchases
Second View
- Second View Basic Yearly7 Days trial$7.991 Year
- Second View Pro Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year
Questions
Is Focusing Loupe free?
Is Second View free?
Which has better reviews, Focusing Loupe or Second View?
Do Focusing Loupe or Second View have ads?
Which is updated more often, Focusing Loupe or Second View?
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