CineStager vs Lenset
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
CineStager
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Bring your scenes to life with Cinestager โ the ultimate AR previsualization tool for filmmakers, creators and storytellers. Cinestager lets you instantly block, stage, and plan shots using augmented reality. Place 3D Locations, add Mannequins, and explore your scene through a virtual camera that behaves like the real thing. Import your own USDZ sets, position Mannequins with precise height controls, and visualize complex staging with Human Occlusion, which blends real people seamlessly into your AR environment. Then jump into Game Mode to fly through your scene, experiment with lens choices, and scout shots from impossible angles. Capture high-quality stills and screen-recorded camera moves, complete with optional camera and lens metadata. Each image can also generate an automatic Map View, giving you a top-down blueprint of your shot โ perfect for planning and sharing with your team. Whether you're prepping a film, designing a scene, or experimenting with visual storytelling, Cinestager gives you the power of a full previs toolkit right on your device. Plan smarter. Shoot better. Visualize instantly.
Lenset
This app helps filmmakers and location scouts visualize shots by simulating real cinema cameras, lenses, and sensor formats. It offers advanced zoom controls, authentic lens vignettes, and integrated location scouting tools with sun-path analysis.
- Simulate 63 cinema cameras and 300+ sensor formats
- Cinematic zoom control with adjustable curves and speed
- Real lens vignettes from reference captures
- GPS-tagged captures with sun-path overlay
- Organize shoots into projects and scenes
- Import custom LUTs
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Lenset is the Director's Viewfinder reimagined for filmmakers and location scouts. Frame shots through real cinema cameras and lenses, pull cinematic zoom moves, and see authentic lens vignettes from reference captures, every capture tagged with GPS, compass heading, and a sun-path map overlay. DIRECTOR'S VIEWFINDER, REIMAGINED Frame the shot before you set up. Pick a camera, a sensor format, and a lens, and Lenset scales the iPhone preview to match โ with frame lines, focal length, 35mm equivalent, coverage ratio, and a calibration warning if the sensor exceeds the reference data. โข 63 cinema cameras across 10 manufacturers โ ARRI, RED, Sony, Canon, Blackmagic, Panavision, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Vision Research, Freefly โข 300+ sensor formats โ Open Gate, Vista Vision, Super 35, Super 16, anamorphic, plus 35mm and 16mm film โข Cinema frame lines with adjustable color, opacity, and masking โข Grey-border framing for wide primes the iPhone can't reach natively, with vignette and frame line tracking the lens, not the iPhone CINEMATIC ZOOM CONTROL โ SMOOTH & SPEED CONTROL Pull a zoom move the way a focus puller would. Not a pinch. Not a digital slider. A real zoom-pull engine designed for cinematic moves. โข Logarithmic and linear zoom modes โข 7 zoom curves โ Linear, Standard, Aggressive, Soft, Broadcast, plus two ARRI ZMU-4-inspired Cine Expo profiles โข 0โ100 speed slider for slow push-ins or crash zooms โข Optional feathering for smooth motor-style ramping โข Joystick or speed-strip control โข Vision-based parallax compensation at multi-lens switchovers โ when the iPhone crosses 2ร or 5ร, the frame stays put through the lens swap โข Prime lens navigation: swipe or pinch to step through fixed focal lengths in a cinema set, with auto-selection of the best iPhone physical lens for each prime LENS COVERAGE โ REAL LENS VIGNETTES, LIVE See how a real cinema lens behaves on your chosen sensor. Lenset's vignette data is sourced from reference captures โ not procedurally generated, not estimated from spec sheets. 66 lens sets with reference-captured vignette textures: More being added 100+ additional cinema lens sets included as data-only references โ Master Primes, Signature, Supreme, Master Anamorphic, Cooke S/i, Primo, Hawk anamorphic, Optimo, Premista, Cabrio. LOCATION SCOUTING, BUILT IN Every capture is GPS-tagged with compass heading and device tilt. Drop a scene onto a map with your camera's field-of-view cone projected from the capture point, then scrub through a sun-path overlay computed from NOAA solar ephemeris โ sunrise, sunset, golden hour, and the full daypath at your shoot location and date. Plan future shoot dates by checking sun angle before you arrive. PROJECTS + SCENES Organize shoots into projects and numbered scenes. Drag clips between scenes, mark favorites, review with pinch-to-zoom photo and video. Export shotlists to share with directors and producers. BRING YOUR OWN LUT Import .cube LUTs from DaVinci Resolve, Lustre, or any grading tool. Preview your look live in the viewfinder, then bake it into recordings and full-resolution photos. Apple Log, Rec.709, ARRI LogC4, S-Log3, BT.2020, and DCI-P3 input/output color spaces supported. CAMERA FUNDAMENTALS 4K HEVC video at 24, 25, 30, 50, 60 fps. Full-sensor HEIF photo capture. Tap-to-focus, long-press AE/AF lock. Manual white balance, EV bias, rule-of-thirds grid, customizable center marker. Frame line, vignette, grey border, and info bar baked into recordings. PRIVACY BY DEFAULT Everything stays on your device. No tracking, no analytics, no cloud, no account. Lenset doesn't have a server. Made for filmmakers, by filmmakers.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: CineStager at Free against Lenset's $19.99. Lenset's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
CineStager is free to download; Lenset costs $19.99 up front. CineStager sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Lenset asks for nothing beyond the download.
CineStager ships an update every 2 weeks, Lenset every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CineStager | Lenset |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free โ better | $19.99 |
| Positive reviews | โ | 100.0% of reviews |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 10 days โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No โ better |
| Monetization | โ | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 329 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yannick Giraud | Eyvin Studios AB |
In-app purchases
CineStager
- CineStager Pro$17.99
Lenset
No in-app purchases









