Comparison

CamBe vs Honesmith Optics

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

Head to head
About

CamBe

Features
Read full description

Every photo you take is rendered with an 80s film look — warm tones, lifted blacks, soft grain, gentle vignette. But the moment you press the shutter, it starts fading. Slowly. Irreversibly. HOW IT WORKS Photos live only inside CamBe. Each time you open your album, the app calculates exactly how much time has passed since each shot was taken and renders the current fade state in real time. 0–3 months — Film original. Warm, grainy, alive. 3–8 months — Blues pull back. A pink-red drift sets in. Contrast softens. 8–12 months — Detail blurs. The image starts dissolving. After 1 year — Terminal state. Almost white. A faint ghost of what was there. WHAT YOU CAN DO Ā· Shoot with a built-in film look Ā· Watch your photos age over real calendar time Ā· Import photos from your camera roll — if timestamp data exists, they get sorted by when they were actually taken and rendered with the fade they've already earned Ā· Export the current faded state to your camera roll at any point Ā· Delete a photo permanently WHAT YOU CAN'T DO Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ You can't slow it down. You can't speed it up. You can't restore the original. That's the point. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Honesmith Optics

Features
Read full description

Some photos are better when you make the decisions yourself. Honesmith Optics is an iPhone camera built for RAW and manual photography. Focus and exposure metering can be controlled independently, while manual focus, P/S/M exposure modes, RAW and ProRAW give you direct control when shooting close-up subjects, backlit scenes, or with external lenses. Focus here. Meter there. Tap the preview to set focus. Press and hold to place exposure metering independently. Your subject can stay in focus without forcing you to meter from the same part of the frame. EV compensation gives you a quick final adjustment when you want the image brighter or darker. Shoot RAW. Keep more room to edit. On supported iPhones and camera configurations, Honesmith Optics can capture Bayer RAW or Apple ProRAW and save the original image as DNG, giving you more flexibility for exposure, color, and post-processing. Take more control when you need it. Manual focus, magnified viewing, and Focus Assist make precise focusing easier for macro photography, external lenses, and shallow depth of field. You can control: • ISO • Shutter speed • White balance • Auto and manual focus • Independent exposure metering • EV compensation • RAW / ProRAW • JPEG / PNG • Aspect ratio and filters • Timer • Volume-button shutter • High-resolution photos and 4K video on supported devices No account. No subscription. Your photos stay yours. Honesmith Optics does not require a Honesmith account and does not use Honesmith cloud processing for your photos. Core photo, video, and RAW processing stays on your device. There are no ads or usage analytics. Advanced features are available through one-time in-app purchases. There is no subscription. Whether you are learning manual photography, shooting RAW, working with macro or external lenses, or simply want more control than the built-in camera gives you, Honesmith Optics gives you a more deliberate way to shoot with iPhone. Availability of RAW, ProRAW, high-resolution capture, video formats, and certain camera controls depends on your iPhone, physical lens, iOS version, and current capture configuration.

Screenshots

CamBe4 screens
Honesmith Optics4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CamBe at none against Honesmith Optics's 1. CamBe also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Honesmith Optics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. CamBe asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 3 level
CamBe versus Honesmith Optics: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCamBeHonesmith Optics
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Weekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMING-TA HSIEHShih-Chen Yang

In-app purchases

None

CamBe

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Honesmith Optics

One-time1
  • Honesmith Optics Pro$11.99

Questions

Is CamBe free?
CamBe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Honesmith Optics free?
Honesmith Optics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do CamBe or Honesmith Optics have ads?
Neither CamBe nor Honesmith Optics shows ads.

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