Darkroom Assistant vs Kinemetron

Make better darkroom prints—and preserve every decision that got you there. Darkroom Assistant is a purpose-built workflow app for black-and-white darkroom printers. It connects what you see in the print to the exposure, dodging, burning, and sequencing needed to make the next one. Map adjustments on the image, work in stops, and let Darkroom Assistant calculate the actual exposure times. You don’t need an expensive programmable f-stop timer to use an advanced f-stop printing workflow. Whether your timer counts in stops or only in seconds, the calculations, visual map, and printing sequence stay connected to the image. If you have ever made a great print and struggled to recreate it, searched through scattered notes, or wasted paper rebuilding a previous result, Darkroom Assistant brings the complete printing process together. It does not automate printing or replace your judgment. Your eye decides what the print needs. Darkroom Assistant translates that decision into the next exposure—and preserves the path when the session ends. VISUAL DODGING AND BURNING Map local adjustments on the print image instead of trying to connect handwritten times to remembered areas. Set the desired change in stops, and Darkroom Assistant calculates the corresponding dodge or burn times and organizes them into a clear printing sequence. A programmable f-stop timer can count exposure in stops. Darkroom Assistant goes further by connecting each adjustment to the image, calculating the time for that operation, and preserving the reasoning behind the print. PRINT PROJECTS AND PRINT LOGS Organize each image as a project and preserve the path from test strip to final print. Keep multiple interpretations together, compare them over time, and return later without reconstructing the session from memory. Record paper, developer, filtration, exposure, contrast, notes, and the decisions made along the way. A short version note on the physical print can lead you back to the complete plan in Darkroom Assistant. TEST STRIPS AND SPLIT-GRADE PRINTING Build and document test-strip and split-grade workflows inside the app. Compare results, refine exposure and contrast, and carry your decisions forward without starting over. SCALE PRINTS WITHOUT STARTING OVER When you change print dimensions, Darkroom Assistant can scale the exposure steps in the complete Print Log—not just the base exposure. Carry a successful plan into the new size and begin with a calculated starting point instead of rebuilding every exposure, dodge, and burn from scratch. Additional calculators help with changes in exposure, aperture, filtration, neutral density, and print size. DARKROOM TIMERS Use focused, distraction-free timers designed for printing and film-development sessions. FILM DEVELOPMENT Create and run film-development workflows with organized formulas, timing, and session records alongside your printing tools. BACKUP AND RESTORE Protect your darkroom library with manual backup and restore. LEARN AND GET SUPPORT Use the video guide and subscriber community for help. DARKROOM ASSISTANT HELPS YOU: • Translate visual decisions into precise exposure steps • Use an advanced f-stop workflow without an expensive programmable timer • Plan dodging and burning without calculating every time in your head • Scale complete printing plans when changing print size • Reduce avoidable paper and chemistry waste • Preserve successful prints and multiple interpretations • Spend less time reconstructing old sessions • Build a consistent, repeatable darkroom process BUILT BY A DARKROOM PRINTER Darkroom Assistant was created by a working darkroom printer with decades of hands-on experience. Its tools come from real workflows developed at the enlarger—not from an attempt to replace analog craft with automation. Practical tools for photographers who care deeply about the craft. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Is your 1/30 really 1/30? Kinemetron tests the shutter speeds of film cameras with nothing but your iPhone, and adds a light meter for when you go out shooting. TEST YOUR SHUTTER Fire the shutter next to your iPhone. Kinemetron hears the opening and closing of the shutter and shows the measured time next to the dial setting, with the error in stops. Microphone mode covers slow speeds from 1 second to 1/15 s. HANDS-FREE SERIES Pick a speed and keep firing. Each release is detected on its own, three shots per speed, then Kinemetron moves to the next speed. Finish a sweep and get a health report for the whole camera. FASTER SPEEDS WITH THE IPHONE CAMERA Open the camera back, point the iPhone camera through the shutter at a bright light and measure the light pulse. Camera mode is an experimental estimate for faster speeds. LIGHT METER Reflected light metering with the iPhone camera. Set your film ISO and get aperture and shutter pairs, ready to dial into a camera with no working meter. YOUR CAMERA COLLECTION Keep every SLR, rangefinder, TLR and medium format body in one place, with deviation charts by speed, measurement history and before-and-after service comparison. Camera profiles and history sync between your devices with iCloud. KINEMETRON PRO Three camera profiles are free. One lifetime purchase adds unlimited cameras, PDF health reports, before/after CLA comparison, CSV export and alternate app icons. Measurement accuracy is never locked behind Pro. HONEST LIMITS Kinemetron is a screening tool, not calibrated service equipment. The microphone cannot resolve fast shutters, and camera mode cannot measure curtain travel or exposure evenness. Verify important results with a specialist shutter tester. PRIVATE BY DESIGN All audio and camera frames are analyzed on your device. No account, no tracking, nothing sent to us. Optional iCloud sync stays in your own iCloud account.