Comparison

ProLab Film Developer vs DBW PinholeCalc

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

Head to head
About

ProLab Film Developer

Achieve consistent color film development at home with real-time adjustments for temperature and chemistry. This app eliminates guesswork by actively recalculating development times based on changing conditions, ensuring repeatable results without expensive equipment.

Highlights
  • Real-time time compensation
  • Chemistry tracking
  • Dynamic Time-Temperature Engine
  • Push processing support
  • Guided workflow
  • Supports major C-41 kits
Features
Read full description

No sous-vide. No guesswork. Just consistent colour film development. ProLab is a precision colour film development tool with real-time time compensation and chemistry tracking. ProLab Film Developer is the smarter way to develop colour film at home. Most home colour film development goes wrong for two reasons: temperature drift and tired chemicals. Every other app ignores that. ProLab Film Developer doesn’t. It’s the only app that actively adjusts your development time in real time, based on what’s actually happening, not what should be happening. Real-time time and temperature correction Built around a Dynamic Time-Temperature Engine, ProLab continuously recalculates your development time as conditions change. Temperature drops? Time is adjusted. Chemistry weakening? Compensated. No guessing. No assumptions. No expensive setup. No barriers. You don’t need a sous-vide. You don’t need a lab. Just a tank, a thermometer and a bowl. This is consistent, repeatable colour development without the cost or complexity. What makes it different • Real-time time compensation based on live temperature input • Chemistry tracking with exhaustion awareness • Intelligent adjustments based on actual usage, not theory • Built-in push processing for 1 and 2 stops • Clean, guided workflow from start to finish Supports major home C-41 kits, including Cinestill, Bellini, Rollei, Adox, Fuji and more. Built by a photographer, not a developer This was made to solve a real problem in home film processing. If your temperature moves and your timing doesn’t, you’re already off. Get it right. Every time.

About

DBW PinholeCalc

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DBW PinholeCalc is a simple exposure companion for pinhole photographers working with black and white film or photographic paper. Save your camera, enter the aperture and time your light meter gave, and get one big final exposure, then time it from your iPhone. • Cameras: save your pinhole camera by its f-number, or for a homemade camera enter the hole size and the pinhole-to-film distance and the app works out the f-number for you • Exposure: converts your meter reading to your pinhole's aperture, then applies reciprocity correction to the converted time, in the right order, with a big result and a START TIMER button • Film and paper: manufacturer-published reciprocity data for popular films, or add your own film or paper with your own reciprocity exponent, clearly labelled as your own figures • Timer: large full-screen timer that keeps accurate time and stays awake while running, with a soft chime and haptic at the end • Light, dark and red night modes, big touch targets, VoiceOver and Dynamic Type Supported films, each with its data source shown in the app: • Ilford HP5 Plus, FP4 Plus, Delta 100 Professional, Delta 400 Professional, Pan F Plus • Kodak Tri-X 400, T-Max 100, T-Max 400 • Kentmere Pan 100, Pan 400 • Fomapan 100 Classic, 200 Creative, 400 Action Photographic paper used as a negative is not in the built-in list because there is no published data for it, so add it as your own material and start with an exponent of 1.0. An external light meter is needed. The app does not use your camera. The chime and haptic play while the app is open, so keep it on screen during an exposure. No account, no ads, no tracking, no internet needed. The app collects no personal data. Made by Digital Black & White. Pinhole exposure is partly a matter of testing, and results depend on your film, developer and conditions, so treat the result as a starting point and bracket. Film names are trademarks of their respective owners. Not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Screenshots

ProLab Film Developer4 screens
DBW PinholeCalc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: DBW PinholeCalc at Free against ProLab Film Developer's $7.99. ProLab Film Developer's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On 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

DBW PinholeCalc is free to download; ProLab Film Developer costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ProLab Film Developer versus DBW PinholeCalc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterProLab Film DeveloperDBW PinholeCalc
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size189 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames MaherIan Barber

In-app purchases

None

ProLab Film Developer

No in-app purchases

None

DBW PinholeCalc

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ProLab Film Developer free?
ProLab Film Developer costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is DBW PinholeCalc free?
DBW PinholeCalc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ProLab Film Developer or DBW PinholeCalc have ads?
Neither ProLab Film Developer nor DBW PinholeCalc shows ads.

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