Filter Simulation vs ProFilm Meter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Filter Simulation
Simulate the effects of real optical filters for black and white photography. This app accurately mimics the luminance modulation of red, yellow, green, blue, and orange filters. It also includes an automatic shutter speed calculator for ND filters and a pinhole photography simulator.
- Simulate optical filters for B&W
- Mimics red, yellow, green, blue, orange filters
- Custom CIColorKernel shaders
- Automatic shutter speed calculator for ND filters
- Pinhole photograph simulation
Read full descriptionHide full description
Simulate real optical filters in black & white. This app uses custom CIColorKernel shaders to modulate grayscale luminance based on color vector similarity—accurately mimicking red, yellow, green, blue, and orange filters as used in film photography. Then, if needed, save the filtered image with filter information. Then, swipe left and find an automatic shutter speed calculator for applying various ND filters And that's not all; keep on swiping and you can simulate pinhole photographs before shooting!
ProFilm Meter
This app acts as a comprehensive light meter and exposure toolkit for film photographers. It supports various film formats and calculates complex exposure adjustments like reciprocity failure and bellows compensation. Features include real-time metering, film stock libraries, and flash metering.
- Precision reflected-light meter
- On-device film stock library
- Reciprocity failure correction
- Bellows compensation calculation
- RA4 Color Reversal estimates
- Flash metering and trigger
- Lens-independent viewfinder zoom
Read full descriptionHide full description
ProFilm Meter is the most complete light meter and exposure toolkit for film photographers. From 35mm to 8×10 large format, dry plates to tintypes, it handles every calculation you'd normally reach for three separate tools to solve — all offline, all in real time. LIGHT METERING Your phone's camera becomes a precision reflected-light meter. Choose spot, center-weighted, or average metering and dial in exposure with ⅓-stop, full-stop, or any combination of increment sets running simultaneously. A live RGB histogram keeps highlight and shadow zones in view at all times. Native per-frame ISO, shutter, and aperture capture at ~10 fps Multi-point metering: average 2–4 scene readings into one exposure value Tap-to-focus and multi-lens camera selection Adaptive EV smoothing adjusts for scene changes automatically Screen stays awake during active metering sessions CALIBRATION Two-point guided calibration locks each camera to a trusted reference. After calibration, a fine-tune step lets you match any external meter in ⅓-stop increments. Uncalibrated cameras are gated with a full-screen prompt so you never shoot on an unmeasured body. FILM STOCKS & RECIPROCITY An on-device film stock library covers 35mm, 120, and large format emulsions — including the full Zebra Dry Plate collection. Every stock carries its own reciprocity profile. Eight built-in profiles (Acros II, T-Max, HP5+, Portra, Fomapan, Zebra, and more) plus full custom profile creation, including Schwarzschild p-factor and optional threshold. Add custom film formats and reciprocity profiles inline, without leaving the film stock screen. COMPENSATIONS Reciprocity failure — corrected automatically for exposures beyond threshold Bellows compensation — calculated stop-for-stop from draw and focal length RA4 Color Reversal — estimates scene color temperature and gives you Mired-shift filter corrections for color positives; works in both ambient and flash mode Spectral sensitivity — metering coefficients adjusted for panchromatic, orthochromatic, and blue-sensitive emulsions Lens filters — ND (1–10 stops), polarizer, yellow/orange/red/green contrast filters, R72 and deep IR, plus custom filters Positive/reversal process — +0.5 stop compensation, auto-enabled for tintype stocks UV/environmental compensation — adjustable for altitude and atmospheric conditions IR Light Estimator — dedicated tool for infrared exposure estimation FLASH Flash metering detects incident flash via fast polling with peak-hold and sticky arming. A built-in flash trigger supports Optical Slave (fires the LED torch to trip slaved units) and Cable Sync (audio click for USB-C to PC-sync adapters). VIEWFINDER A lens-independent viewfinder zoom gives consistent framing regardless of which physical lens the phone uses. Overlay your chosen film format frame lines and compose like you're looking through a director's viewfinder. FIELD JOURNAL Save any exposure to the journal with one tap. Each entry records ISO, aperture, shutter speed, EV, reciprocity correction, RA4 and spectral corrections, GPS coordinates, and a cropped preview photo. Entries are exportable and shareable. EXTRA TOOLS Depth of Field Calculator — for any format and focal length Zebra Exposure Guide — zone-system reference for dry plate work Alternative Processes Meter — cyanotype, platinum, salt print, and more Step Wedge Tool — exposure planning for contact printing Rolling Shutter Calculator — flash sync safety for focal-plane shutters 20 FILM FORMATS 35mm · 6×4.5 · 6×6 · 6×7 · 6×9 · 4×5 · 5×7 · 8×10 · 9×12cm · 10×10 · 10×12 · 11×14 · 12×12 · 13×18cm · 20×24 · Sixth Plate · Quarter Plate · Half Plate · Whole Plate · custom dimensions 7 LANGUAGES English · Slovenian · Spanish · French · German · Japanese · Simplified Chinese PRIVACY All metering and calculation runs entirely on-device. No account required. No data leaves your phone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Filter Simulation at Free against ProFilm Meter's $14.99. Filter Simulation also leads on ratings volume (3 vs 1). ProFilm Meter's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and device support (3 vs 1). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
Filter Simulation is free to download; ProFilm Meter costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Filter Simulation against 5.0 for ProFilm Meter. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Filter Simulation ships an update monthly, ProFilm Meter weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Filter Simulation | ProFilm Meter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 57 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ari Jaaksi | Scott Henderson |
Customer experience
Filter Simulation
ProFilm Meter
In-app purchases
Filter Simulation
No in-app purchases
ProFilm Meter
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Filter Simulation free?
Is ProFilm Meter free?
Which has better reviews, Filter Simulation or ProFilm Meter?
Do Filter Simulation or ProFilm Meter have ads?
Which is updated more often, Filter Simulation or ProFilm Meter?
Other comparisons















