SlowLightMeter vs Darkroom Studios
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SlowLightMeter
This app provides a simple and accurate light meter for film photographers. It continuously measures light with minimal interaction and includes an ISO lock to prevent accidental changes. EV values are a core feature for ease of use.
- Reflective and incident light metering
- Continuous light measurement
- ISO lock
- EV value display
- Simple interface
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As a film photographer, I wanted an accurate yet simple reflective and incident light meter. After trying several, I decided to build my own. This light meter continuously measures light, so it requires minimal interaction during a shoot. To avoid accidentally changing film ISO, I added an ISO lock. And since I shoot often with my Hasselblad, I made EV values a core feature of the app.
Darkroom Studios
This app helps analog photographers manage their darkroom printing process. It tracks equipment, darkroom setups, and print parameters to ensure repeatable results. Guided sessions with timed stages and live previews aid in achieving desired outcomes.
- Register and track darkroom gear
- Build and save repeatable darkroom setups
- Guided printing sessions with timed stages
- Live print previews with parameter adjustments
- Save and share print results with parameters
- No ads or tracking
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Darkroom Studios is a workbench for analog printing. It keeps track of the gear you own, the darkrooms you build from it, and every print you pull — so a result you liked six months ago is a setup you can repeat tonight. REGISTER YOUR GEAR Add your enlargers, lenses, easels, timers, and chemistry. Each item carries the details that actually matter at the baseboard, so you are not guessing which lens was on the column for a print you made last spring. BUILD REPEATABLE DARKROOMS Group gear into named darkrooms — a full working setup you can select in one tap. Set one as your default and every new session starts from known ground. RUN GUIDED SESSIONS A printing session walks through nine steps, from exposure to wash. Each stage is timed against the wall clock, and the app notifies you when a stage is over, so you can keep both hands on the print instead of watching a timer. DIAL IN THE PRINT Set contrast grade, exposure time, aperture, and darkness before you commit, and see a live preview rendered from your own photograph. Burn and dodge to shape the result. The preview works from the actual image you are printing — it is not a stock simulation. KEEP EVERY RESULT Photograph the negative or the finished print with the camera, or pick an image from your library. Each completed session is saved with a rendered print and the full parameter set that produced it. Save finished prints back to your photo library or share them. NO ADS, NO TRACKING There is no advertising in Darkroom Studios and no analytics or tracking SDK of any kind. Your gear, your sessions, and your images are yours.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: SlowLightMeter at every 4 days against Darkroom Studios's fortnightly. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. 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 SlowLightMeter against 5.0 for Darkroom Studios. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
SlowLightMeter ships an update every 4 days, Darkroom Studios fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SlowLightMeter | Darkroom Studios |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ari Jaaksi | JunziTech Solutions LLC |
Customer experience
SlowLightMeter
Darkroom Studios
In-app purchases
SlowLightMeter
No in-app purchases
Darkroom Studios
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SlowLightMeter free?
Is Darkroom Studios free?
Which has better reviews, SlowLightMeter or Darkroom Studios?
Do SlowLightMeter or Darkroom Studios have ads?
Which is updated more often, SlowLightMeter or Darkroom Studios?
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