Comparison

light & deep vs Photo Negative Scanner

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

Head to head
About

light & deep

Features
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Light & Deep is a viewfinder, light meter and LiDAR rangefinder for film, cinema and custom made cameras. Choose your format and focal length, meter the light and measure your subject distance. With Pro (one purchase, no subscription), see the estimated depth of field as zebra stripes over the live scene, and watch it change as you adjust the aperture. Originally built for a handmade camera without a finder or meter, it brings the same practical tools to medium-format, large-format and panoramic photography. SEE DEPTH OF FIELD — PRO Explore which nearby parts of your scene would be sharp for your format, focal length, aperture and focus distance. Open the aperture and the highlighted zone narrows. Stop down and it grows. METER THE LIGHT Set your film ISO, choose aperture or shutter priority, and read the corresponding exposure setting. Pro adds spot metering and calibration for each iPhone lens. FRAME YOUR SHOT Set your format and focal length to preview composition. Free offers 35mm full frame and 6x6 medium format. Pro offers 53 film, digital and cinema formats, including large format, XPan, Instax, Polaroid, Super 8, and IMAX. MEASURE THE DISTANCE On a LiDAR-equipped iPhone, tap a point to measure its distance. The free distance zebra highlights surfaces near the selected distance. Pro adds depth-of-field visualization and can keep measuring a fixed point in the scene even as you move the phone. SAVE A REFERENCE — PRO Keep a reference photo with a settings strip and image metadata. Record aperture, shutter speed, ISO, format, focal length, distance, a film note and optional location, so you can refer back to your setup later. FREE, WITH NO TIME LIMIT • Reflective light meter with aperture and shutter priority • 35mm full-frame and 6×6 frame overlays • Focal-length control • LiDAR distance measurement, tap-to-measure and target-distance zebras on supported hardware PRO - ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION • Depth-of-field visualization on supported hardware • All 53 formats • Spot metering and light-meter calibration • Reference photos with settings and metadata • Fixed-point distance tracking • Ultrawide camera support on compatible devices • Black-and-white view and virtual horizon • Frame, zebra and crosshair customization • Parallax correction for a phone mounted on a camera • Cinema tools: shutter angle, project frame rate and anamorphic squeeze Pro is an optional one-time in-app purchase. The free features remain available without upgrading. REQUIREMENTS iPhone with iOS 17.6 or later. Distance measurement, distance zebras and depth-of-field visualization require a LiDAR-equipped iPhone: iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max, or a later model with LiDAR. Metering and framing work without LiDAR. LiDAR is intended for nearby subjects, with a useful range of about five metres depending on conditions. Depth coverage is limited to the central area in ultrawide view. The depth-of-field overlay estimates acceptable sharpness; it does not simulate lens bokeh or guarantee the final photograph's sharpness. PRIVACY No account, ads or analytics. Camera, depth and exposure processing happens on your device. Optional location data is used when you choose to include it in a reference photo.

About

Photo Negative Scanner

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Turn the film you kept into photos you can share. Photo Negative Scanner digitizes developed 35 mm negatives and color slides on your iPhone, with a live positive preview and full-resolution export. SEE THE PHOTO AS YOU LINE IT UP The camera shows a live positive of the film, with the original one tap away. Live checks for focus, light, and framing name the one correction worth making, and How to Get a Good Scan explains light, distance, mounting, and glare in four short cards. DEVELOP EACH FRAME Crop the frame and correct its perspective, then choose Recommended, Natural, Restored, or Vivid. Fine-tune exposure, warmth, tint, contrast, and vibrance, or tap something gray or white to balance the color. Restored lifts faded color and flat tone; it does not invent detail or remove scratches. WORK THROUGH A WHOLE ROLL Save and Next keeps each frame and opens the camera for the next one. Calibrate the film base once, lock a roll's color balance, and copy one frame's settings to others after a preview, with an undo for the last batch. IMPORT UP TO 100 PHOTOS AT ONCE They are copied in the order you chose them. Then you crop, develop, and save each one, now or later. COLOR SLIDES, TOO Slides are developed as the positives they are, keeping their own color. YOUR ROLLS IN ONE PLACE Each roll shows a cover and a grid of its frames. Open any frame full screen, then swipe between frames or pinch to zoom. Single scans gather into a set for each day. SHARE A ROLL Export frames at full resolution to Photos, Files, or the Share sheet, or make contact sheets of up to 12 frames a page, with the roll's name and frame numbers. Photo Negative Scanner works with 35 mm film: color and black-and-white negatives, and color slides. Processing stays on your iPhone. No account is needed; you choose what to export or share. Save your first five frames free. A one-time purchase unlocks unlimited saving. Previously purchased unlimited saving includes all features in 1.1.1. Illustrative sample images. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

light & deep4 screens
Photo Negative Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

light & deep and Photo Negative Scanner are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. light & deep sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Photo Negative Scanner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

light & deep ships an update every 2 weeks, Photo Negative Scanner every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
light & deep versus Photo Negative Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterlight & deepPhoto Negative Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMikhail RybakovDzmitry Dziachenka

In-app purchases

1 purchases

light & deep

One-time1
  • Light & Deep Pro$11.99
1 purchases

Photo Negative Scanner

One-time1
  • Unlimited Saving$6.99

Questions

Is light & deep free?
light & deep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Photo Negative Scanner free?
Photo Negative Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do light & deep or Photo Negative Scanner have ads?
Neither light & deep nor Photo Negative Scanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, light & deep or Photo Negative Scanner?
light & deep ships an update every 2 weeks, and Photo Negative Scanner every 3 weeks. Most recently, light & deep was updated on November 5, 2026 and Photo Negative Scanner on October 31, 2026.

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