Second View vs CamPlot Director's Viewfinder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Second View
This app acts as a digital viewfinder and light meter for analog photographers. It helps you precisely frame shots, calculate exposure settings, and plan complex scenes before using your physical camera. It supports a wide range of film formats and offers advanced tools for metering and composition.
- Precise field-of-view matching
- Automatic lens selection
- Rangefinder-style bright lines
- Integrated light meter
- Zone System planning
- Reciprocity correction for film stocks
- Sun and moon planner
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PLEASE READ FIRST Second View is not a camera app and does not take photos for you. It helps you frame, meter, and plan shots before you press the shutter on your own camera. The photos it saves are framing aids, not final images. Second View turns your iPhone into a precision field toolkit for analog photographers. Set your lens and format, and it crops the iPhone camera to match what your film camera will capture: same field of view, aspect ratio, and framing. Supports 35mm, medium format (6x4.5 through 6x17), large format (4x5, 5x7, 8x10), digital sensors, and custom sizes. VIEWFINDER Precise field-of-view matching for any focal length and format. Portrait or landscape, control side of your choice, preview rotation per kit. AUTOMATIC LENS SELECTION Frames through the sharpest back camera that holds your crop (ultra-wide, wide or tele), so long lenses look crisp. Calibrate each lens with a sheet of paper. FRAMES MODE Rangefinder-style bright lines for every lens in your kit at once. WORKSPACES Design your own control panel and switch layouts with a swipe. FREEZE MODE Hold a full-resolution still to compose rise and shift, spot-meter, and measure distance without the scene moving. LIGHT METER Pick your aperture and get the shutter speed. EV compensation, hyperfocal distance, auto/manual modes, and whole/half/third stops. SPOT METERING Meter the whole frame or a spot down to 1° through the telephoto. ZONE SYSTEM Log spot readings on a zone scale from 0 to X and slide it to place shadows and highlights. Zone V sets the exposure, with contrast range, an N+/N- hint and film latitude. METER CALIBRATION Calibrate against your reference meter at several light levels, per lens. BELLOWS COMPENSATION Folds close-focus light loss into the reading, set manually or by LiDAR. LENS FILTERS Log ND, polarizer, and color filters. The meter compensates and every capture records them. RECIPROCITY CORRECTION 60 film stocks with accurate reciprocity curves, plus your own: Portra, CineStill, Tri-X, Velvia, ECN-2 and more. Exposures over one second are corrected automatically. FILM PREVIEW Simulate B&W film with color filters, and preview color-film white balance from the loaded stock. SUN AND MOON PLANNER The day's sun path, golden and blue hour and the moon drawn over your frame. Plan any date and place on a map with sunrise, sunset and moon directions. LONG EXPOSURE TIMER Countdown with a full-screen progress ring, on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with an optional end alert. HARDWARE BUTTONS Map the volume buttons, Camera Control, the Action button or a Bluetooth remote to shutter, timer, freeze, lens steps and more. LIDAR DISTANCE AND PARALLAX Measure subject distance with LiDAR (iPhone 12 Pro and later) or enter it manually. Parallax between the iPhone and your lens is corrected automatically. RISE, FALL AND SHIFT Simulate view camera movements in 1mm steps, up to your kit's maximum travel. COMPOSITION TOOLS Rule of thirds, phi grid, golden triangle, square, and custom grids up to 12x12. Bubble level with roll and pitch. PANORAMA SIMULATION Preview a stitched multi-frame panorama and save it as a plan. SHOT CHECKLIST Run a per-kit checklist in the viewfinder. One step can fire the shutter automatically. CAMERA KITS Save complete setups and switch instantly: lenses, format, stocks, workspace, parallax, and checklist. Pick a body and the format picker shows only the masks it can shoot. FILM ROLL TRACKING Know which roll is loaded and when every frame was exposed. CAPTURE AND GALLERY Save a reference photo with the exact framing and full metadata: lens, format, stock, filters, exposure, rise/shift, GPS, time, and sun and moon position. Export with a data overlay, add notes, group into rolls, and export a CSV log. Terms of Use : https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy : https://secondview.app/privacy
CamPlot Director's Viewfinder
Simulate professional cinema cameras and lenses on your iPhone. Accurately view shots with real sensor geometry, a vast lens kit, and live LUT grading. Scout locations with sun path and LiDAR distance.
- Simulates real cinema camera bodies and sensors
- Extensive lens kit with primes and zooms
- Live LUT grading with 200+ cinema looks
- Sun path visualization for location scouting
- LiDAR distance measurement on Pro iPhones
- Organized library of all captures and scans
- Exportable shot lists with QR codes
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Hold up your iPhone and see the shot through the real camera. CamPlot Director's Viewfinder simulates professional cinema cameras and lenses with honest optics — the same tool built into CamPlot, as its own app. THE CAMERA, NOT AN APPROXIMATION Pick the body — ARRI Alexa, Sony FX6 and Venice, RED Komodo, Canon C-series, DJI Ronin 4D, and more — choose Full Frame, Super 35, or MFT, and set frame lines for 16:9, 2.35, 2.39, or 4:3. The image you see is computed from the real sensor geometry. YOUR LENS KIT ON A ROLL Swipe through your lenses on an endless roll — primes snap, zooms ride a focal-length wheel with real stops. Add your own primes and zooms, or sign in to CamPlot and your project's lens inventory appears automatically. A LUT LIBRARY THAT LEAVES WITH YOU Grade the image live with true 3D LUTs on the GPU: 200+ cinema looks in nine packs, plus your own .cube files. Press and drag the LUT dial to spin the whole library with the picture regrading under your finger. And every look exports for your actual camera — pick your log format and CamPlot composes the conversion, so what you saw on the phone is what you load into the camera. SUN PATH WHILE SCOUTING See the sun's arc drawn over your framed shot for any date, using your location and compass. Know exactly when golden hour lands where you want it — weeks before the shoot. LIDAR DISTANCE On Pro iPhones, a measure mode reads the exact distance to your subject — aim, tap, and get feet and inches. THE LIBRARY Every frame, take and room scan you have made, in one place — each with the readings that were live when you shot it: camera, sensor window, lens, ISO, shutter, aperture, white balance, LUT, bearing, horizon, distance and where you stood. Photos, videos and room scans on their own shelves. A shot takes the whole screen with its instruments riding on top — one tap clears them, one brings them back. SHOT LISTS Build a list, name every shot in it, and add rows for shots you have not taken yet. Export it as a PDF contact sheet: the frame, its name, its readings, and a QR code that opens where it was shot in Apple or Google Maps. CAPTURES THAT REMEMBER Every capture burns in the body, sensor mode, focal length, and heading, saves silently to a CamPlot album in Photos, and carries its full readings inside the file itself. FREE TO TRY The app runs free with a generic full-frame body and a demo lens range, so you can see the whole thing before deciding. CamPlot Plus or CamPlot Max unlocks every camera body, your lens kits, the LUT library and LUT export, sun path, LiDAR, and capture — one account across the Viewfinder, the Calculators, and all of CamPlot at camplot.studio. The CamPlot Calculators are free with any account, including the free one. SUBSCRIPTIONS CamPlot Max: $49.99/year or $4.99/month. CamPlot Plus: $29.99/year or $3.99/month. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your device Settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://camplot.studio/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CamPlot Director's Viewfinder at 4.8 against Second View's 4.0. CamPlot Director's Viewfinder also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (89% vs 56%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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
Both are free to download. Second View sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year and CamPlot Director's Viewfinder sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
CamPlot Director's Viewfinder holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 18 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Second View's written reviews are positive against 89% of CamPlot Director's Viewfinder's.
Second View ships an update weekly, CamPlot Director's Viewfinder every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Second View | CamPlot Director's Viewfinder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (5 ratings) | 4.8 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Benoit Linard | Romany Films Inc. |
Customer experience
Second View
CamPlot Director's Viewfinder
In-app purchases
Second View
- Second View Basic Yearly7 Days trial$7.991 Year
- Second View Pro Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year
CamPlot Director's Viewfinder
- CamPlot View+ Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- CamPlot Creator Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- CamPlot View Plus Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
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- CamPlot Creator Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Questions
Is Second View free?
Is CamPlot Director's Viewfinder free?
Which has better reviews, Second View or CamPlot Director's Viewfinder?
Do Second View or CamPlot Director's Viewfinder have ads?
Which is updated more often, Second View or CamPlot Director's Viewfinder?
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