Comparison

Second View vs CameraAdapt

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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

About

CameraAdapt

Replicate the look of any photo using your own camera gear. Input your equipment and get precise camera settings and editing recipes to match desired aesthetics. It intelligently adapts to your lens limitations and provides exportable presets.

Highlights
  • Adapt photo looks to your camera and lens
  • Get original camera settings
  • Receive adapted editing recipes
  • Supports 313 cameras and 62 phones
  • Includes 259 lenses
  • Export presets for popular editing software
  • Upload custom reference photos
Features
Read full description

Pick any photo's look, enter your specific gear, and get the original camera settings used + a full recipe adapted to your exact camera and lens in seconds. You see a photo you love. The problem is never the look — it's that it was shot on a body and a lens you don't own, so copying its settings gives you a different photo entirely. CameraAdapt translates instead of copying. Pick a reference photo, tell it what's in your bag, and get the aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length and white balance that land the same look on your gear — plus an editing recipe written for the app you actually edit in. It is honest about the gap, too. When your lens can't reach the reference's f/1.4, it says so and tells you what to do instead: step closer, put more distance behind your subject, accept a little more grain. • 100 reference photos across 10 moods — golden hour, blue hour, neon night, high noon, soft overcast, window light, low key, high key, film and hazy • Every one carries its real camera metadata, so the numbers you start from are facts, not guesses • 313 cameras and 62 phones (iPhone, Pixel and Galaxy), 259 lenses from kit zooms to fast primes, and a similar-camera option when yours isn't listed • iPhone counts as a camera: which lens to use, how to bias exposure, when to use Portrait and Night mode, and which Photographic Style • Editing recipes in Lightroom, Capture One, Photoshop, Affinity Photo, VSCO, Snapseed, Darkroom or Apple Photos, each in that app's own controls • Export real preset files: .xmp for Lightroom and Camera Raw, .costyle for Capture One, and .cube LUTs for DaVinci Resolve, Premiere and Final Cut • Upload your own reference photo and have it read the same way Your first adapted look is free, in full. Anything new after that needs CameraAdapt Pro. CameraAdapt Pro is $14.99/month or $49.99/year, each with a 3-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless cancelled 24hrs before your renewal date in the App Store. Privacy Policy: https://oskarbruce1.github.io/cameraadapt-pages/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Second View4 screens
CameraAdapt4 screens

Verdict

The call

Second View and CameraAdapt both sit at 4.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 56% of Second View's written reviews are positive against 0% of CameraAdapt's. CameraAdapt's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Both are free to download. Second View sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year and CameraAdapt sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Second View against 4.0 for CameraAdapt. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 3 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 56% of Second View's written reviews are positive against 0% of CameraAdapt's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Second View versus CameraAdapt: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSecond ViewCameraAdapt
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (5 ratings)4.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews55.6% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5 — better3
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBenoit LinardOskar Bruce

Customer experience

Second View

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral11.1%
Negative33.3%

CameraAdapt

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Second View

Subscriptions2
  • Second View Basic Yearly7 Days trial$7.991 Year
  • Second View Pro Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year
2 purchases

CameraAdapt

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly3 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Pro Annual3 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Second View free?
Second View is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CameraAdapt free?
CameraAdapt is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Second View or CameraAdapt?
Second View and CameraAdapt are both rated 4.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Second View or CameraAdapt have ads?
Second View shows ads; CameraAdapt does not.
Which is updated more often, Second View or CameraAdapt?
Second View ships an update weekly, and CameraAdapt weekly. Most recently, Second View was updated on November 5, 2026 and CameraAdapt on November 6, 2026.

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