Comparison

Camera Shelf vs Camdex

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Camera Shelf

This app helps photographers and filmmakers organize their equipment with detailed tracking, visual logs, and smart packing lists. It offers insights into gear value, maintenance history, and secure storage for receipts and reports.

Highlights
  • Organize camera gear collection
  • Track detailed item specifications
  • Create smart packing kits
  • Calculate pack weight
  • Log maintenance and repairs
  • Securely store receipts
  • Generate PDF inventory reports
Features
Read full description

Camera Shelf is the simple inventory manager designed for photographers, filmmakers, and gear enthusiasts who need to know exactly what they own and where it is. Stop using spreadsheets. Start building your digital shelf. ORGANIZE YOUR COLLECTION Create a beautiful, visual database of your entire kit. • Track Everything: Cameras, lenses, drones, lighting, and accessories. • Detailed Specs: Log serial numbers, purchase dates, prices, mount types, and more. • Visual Log: Add multiple photos for every item to document condition. • Filter & Sort: Instantly find gear by brand, category, or mount system. SMART PACKING KITS Never leave a battery or SD card behind again. • Build Loadouts: Create custom kits for specific jobs (e.g., "Wedding Day," "Travel Light," "Studio Rig"). • Weight Calculator: Automatically sum up the total weight of your pack—essential for travel and hiking. • Value Tracking: See the total insurance value of the gear in your bag. INSIGHTS & ANALYTICS Understand your investment. • Dashboard: Visualize your total collection value and item counts. • Breakdowns: See your gear distributed by brand and category. • Maintenance Log: Keep a history of sensor cleanings, repairs, and firmware updates. PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT • Receipt Vault: Scan and attach receipts directly to your items for warranty and insurance claims. • PDF Reports: Generate professional PDF summaries of your inventory or specific packing lists to share with insurers or production teams. • Secure & Private: Your data lives on your device and syncs securely via your personal iCloud. No accounts, no tracking. Camera Shelf Premium Unlock the full potential of your workflow with a one-time purchase. No subscriptions. • Unlimited Items & Kits • PDF Report Exporting • Unlimited Receipt Storage Download Camera Shelf today and get your gear organized.

About

Camdex

Instantly identify camera brands, models, and specifications by taking a photo. Catalog your entire camera collection, track its value with live market data, and manage your inventory with ease. Share your collection with others via a web link.

Highlights
  • Instant camera identification via photo
  • Catalog and organize camera gear
  • Live market price tracking
  • Shareable web links for collections
  • Wishlist and deal hunting
  • Data export to CSV and PDF
Read full description

Camdex is a collection tracker built to help camera collectors catalog and grow their collections. Catalog, organize, and appraise your vintage Leica, Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, and Polaroid gear—from film SLRs and rangefinders to mirrorless bodies, lenses, and film stock. Just take a photo and we will instantly identify the brand/model/specifications and any visible serial numbers to make documenting your entire collection easy. I built Camdex because I collect vintage film cameras and needed a better way to track my own collection. Whether you're cataloging a lifelong vault of equipment or trying to identify a mystery find at a dusty flea market, Camdex is your ultimate companion. TRACK YOUR COLLECTION The collection tracker your camera shelf deserves. Keep a complete inventory of every body, lens, and accessory you own—organized however your brain works: SLRs, rangefinders, Zeiss folders, Leica glass, Soviet shooters, Polaroids, or modern mirrorless. Log serial numbers, focal lengths, apertures, and lens mounts, plus attach your own photos and personal notes to every entry. Your whole catalog, always in your pocket. INSTANT IDENTIFICATION & APPRAISAL Spotted a camera at a thrift store, estate sale, or flea market and have no clue what it is or what it is worth? Snap a photo, and Camdex will instantly identify the brand and model—along with up-to-date market data—so you can make an informed purchase. SHARE VIA EXTERNAL WEB LINK Show off your collection with a single, read-only web link. Publish your catalog as a clean web page that anyone can open in their standard mobile or desktop browser—no app download or sign-up needed to view. You're in control: share your whole collection or just a specific group, choose whether to include purchase prices and notes, and revoke the link any time. Serial numbers are never shared. LIVE MARKET PRICES Stop playing guessing games about what your camera is worth. Tap any item to see current market prices based on real, active listings—a price guide that's never out of date. Camdex pulls live data straight from eBay to calculate average asking prices and confidence scores. Choose your specific region (US, UK, Germany, etc.) and currency, so you always know the market value where you live. QUICK IMPORT & CLOUD SYNC Import your entire collection and appraise it in seconds. Bulk upload photos of your cameras and let the app's auto-identification fill in the blanks, or upload a CSV/ZIP file. Create a free account to securely sync across all your devices, or go off the grid and use it anonymously. WISHLIST & DEAL HUNTING Keep a wishlist of the gear you're chasing with target prices. Camdex shows you active eBay listings for each item so you can jump on a deal the moment it drops. EXPORT YOUR DATA No app lock-in. If you decide you want to go back to spreadsheets or use a different app, we make it easy to export your data. Generate a clean PDF report of your collection, export everything to a CSV spreadsheet, or download a ZIP archive that bundles in all your photos. Perfect for insurance documentation, color-coded spreadsheets, or keeping your own offline records. FREE TO USE, NO ADS The core features for logging, organizing, and importing your collection are 100% free, forever, and include 5 free item scans per day. Need to scan a massive collection or an entire flea market? Upgrade to Pro for unlimited scans at just $1.99/month or $19.99/year. This helps support indie development and keeps the servers humming. Zero ads, ever. Terms of Use (EULA): https://camdex.io/terms Privacy Policy: https://camdex.io/privacy

Screenshots

Camera Shelf4 screens
Camdex4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Camdex at 5.0 against Camera Shelf's 4.0. Camdex also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Camera Shelf's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Camera Shelf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Camdex sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Camdex holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Camera Shelf ships an update weekly, Camdex every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Camera Shelf versus Camdex: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCamera ShelfCamdex
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBryan Jeffrey MartinP&T Labs LLC

Customer experience

Camera Shelf

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Camdex

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Camera Shelf

One-time1
  • Premium$17.99
2 purchases

Camdex

Subscriptions2
  • Camdex Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Camdex Pro Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Camera Shelf free?
Camera Shelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Camdex free?
Camdex is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Camera Shelf or Camdex?
Camdex is rated higher. Camera Shelf averages 4.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Camdex averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Camera Shelf or Camdex have ads?
Neither Camera Shelf nor Camdex shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Camera Shelf or Camdex?
Camera Shelf ships an update weekly, and Camdex every 3 weeks. Most recently, Camera Shelf was updated on September 7, 2026 and Camdex on September 14, 2026.

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