Comparison

36 Frames Camera vs Fillca

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

Head to head
About

36 Frames Camera

Features
Read full description

One roll. Thirty-six frames. No preview, no retakes, and no way to see a single photo until the roll comes back from the lab. 36 Frames is a film camera for your iPhone. You load a roll, and from the first frame to the thirty-sixth there is nothing to look at but the counter. You can't check the shot. You can't delete the bad ones. You shoot, you trust it, and you move on. It's how photography felt before there was a screen on the back of the camera. When the roll is full, or whenever you decide you're done with it, you send it to the lab. Standard developing takes two to five days. Express comes back in about an hour. The look is identical either way; the only thing you ever trade is time. Then one day the roll is ready, the contact sheet arrives, and you finally see what you spent your week shooting. Keep the good ones. That's the whole app. WHAT YOU GET One roll, thirty-six frames. The counter is the only feedback there is. No preview, no retakes, no recovery. Nothing you shoot can be viewed until the roll is developed. Not previewed, not reviewed, not undeleted. Two ways to wait. Standard developing in two to five working days, never coming back on a weekend. Express in about an hour. Both are free, and neither one looks better than the other. Two films. Colour 400 and Mono 400, each with its own grain, colour rendering and tone. The look is applied when the roll is developed, not when you shoot, so you never get to preview it either. A camera worth holding. Every lens on your iPhone, a viewfinder that shows exactly what gets captured, optional manual focus with focus peaking, a rule-of-thirds grid and a horizon level. One tap is the shutter. Short rolls are fine. Send any time after the first frame. The lab develops only the frames you actually shot. Widgets, Lock Screen and Siri. See how far into the roll you are and when the next one is ready, jump straight to the shutter from Control Center or the Action Button, and ask Siri about a roll. Keepers go to Photos. Developed frames save at full resolution with the real capture details: date, place, lens, exposure. They sort into your library where they belong. In a hurry? There's a Rush option that develops a roll on the spot, free and unlimited. The app will gently point out that rushing every roll rather defeats the point. WHERE YOUR PHOTOS GO Nowhere. "Sending the roll to the lab" is this app's language for a wait that runs entirely on your own phone. Undeveloped frames live in the app's private storage, developing happens on the device, and nothing is ever uploaded. There's no account to make, no sign-up, no analytics, no ads and no tracking. It works in airplane mode. The wait is real, though. It isn't a progress bar you can skip by relaunching. WHAT IT COSTS Free to download, and your first two rolls are free, one on each film, so you get a proper feel for it. After that, a single one-time purchase unlocks unlimited rolls, forever. No subscription, nothing metered, and nothing that expires. Buy it once and the app keeps working.

About

Fillca

Features
Read full description

One roll. Intentional frames. Pure film soul. Fillca brings the analog film camera experience to your iPhone. Load a roll, choose your focal length and ratio, shoot your frames — and when the roll is full, develop it into a permanent, timeless record. [ Film Roll System ] • Choose 12, 24, or 36 exposures per roll • When full, the roll "develops" — every shot preserved as a permanent collection • Track remaining shots live on Dynamic Island & Lock Screen [ Film Filters & Effects ] • Vintage Ā· Cinematic Ā· Mood Ā· Destination Ā· Flash — premium LUT-based filters • Add grain, vignette, light leak, and date stamp for true analog texture • Focal lengths: 28mm Ā· 35mm Ā· 48mm Ā· 120mm • Aspect ratios: 1:1 Ā· 3:4 Ā· 9:16 [ Pro Camera Controls ] • Manually dial in ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and focus • Save ProRAW DNG on supported devices [ Always Connected ] • iCloud sync across all your devices • Home Screen widgets & Live Activity support • Share Extension for editing photos from anywhere [ Free & Subscription ] • Free: shoot up to 3 rolls at any time • Subscribe for unlimited rolls — ā‚©1,000/month or ā‚©10,000/year

Screenshots

36 Frames Camera4 screens
Fillca4 screens

Verdict

The call

36 Frames Camera and Fillca are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. 36 Frames Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Fillca sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
36 Frames Camera versus Fillca: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter36 Frames CameraFillca
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB219 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHjalmar HallinEun Kwan Sung

In-app purchases

1 purchases

36 Frames Camera

One-time1
  • Full app unlock$4.99
2 purchases

Fillca

Subscriptions2
  • Fillca Pro$0.491 Month
  • Fillca Pro$6.991 Year

Questions

Is 36 Frames Camera free?
36 Frames Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Fillca free?
Fillca is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do 36 Frames Camera or Fillca have ads?
Neither 36 Frames Camera nor Fillca shows ads.

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