Comparison

Ordinary Camera vs EMST Camera

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

Head to head
About

Ordinary Camera

Read full description

What you see on the screen is what the photograph keeps. You choose the film before the shot, and it is saved inside the picture as you take it. One press, one exposure. Nothing to edit afterwards. CONTROLS Everything runs from the shutter. Tap it to take a photo. Slide up and down to zoom. Slide left and right to set whatever control is open. One thumb, without looking away from the picture. INCLUDED Full manual: ISO, shutter speed, white balance, exposure compensation, lens. Manual focus with peaking. Six films, with grain and halation. Self timer. Side buttons take the photo. The shutter sound can be turned off. Photographs stay on your phone. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO No RAW. The look is in the file as the picture is taken, so there is nothing underneath to go back to. No video mode. Sequence saves a video file, but you cannot film with it. Back camera only. No subscription. No account. No ads. No analytics. ORDINARY PLUS One payment, once. Double exposure, up to nine layers. Sequence, shot frame by frame and saved as video. Four more films. Recipes you can change and name yourself. An Auto mode that opens on your own settings. WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE Dark rooms stay dark. Movement blurs. Grain shows. Those are the things I did not want corrected. MADE BY One person in Prague, who also builds lenses out of used single-use cameras. One piece of glass, nothing else in the way.

About

EMST Camera

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EMST Camera is a film-inspired camera app you operate like a camera. Not a filter you drop on afterwards. Pick a look, set your exposure, aperture and focal length, and shoot. Live preview of the settings directly in viewfinder. YOUR CONTROL • A dial-based shooting interface: one scroll wheel drives exposure, aperture, focal length and aspect ratio. • Aperture dial with depth-of-field rendering. • Focal length presets pinned to your iPhone's real lenses. • Mirrorless-style autofocus: a persistent AF box, tap to move it, AF lock to recompose. • Grid and level overlays when you want them, nothing when you don't. YOUR LOOK • Built-in film-inspired looks, from warm evening color to cool dusk tones and true monochrome + Natural for a clean, untouched capture. • Every look is tunable: grain, halation, vignette, clarity and color temperature. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no ads, everything happens on your device. Open the camera straight from control center or lock screen with shortcut extension. EMST Camera iOS app from Emaki Studio, a small independent photo toolkit.

Screenshots

Ordinary Camera4 screens
EMST Camera3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: EMST Camera at none against Ordinary Camera's 1. Ordinary Camera's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Ordinary Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. EMST Camera asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ordinary Camera ships an update every 6 days, EMST Camera every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 3 level
Ordinary Camera versus EMST Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOrdinary CameraEMST Camera
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developertomas zahradkaTomas Ourednik

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Ordinary Camera

One-time1
  • EN$6.99
None

EMST Camera

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ordinary Camera free?
Ordinary Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is EMST Camera free?
EMST Camera is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Ordinary Camera or EMST Camera have ads?
Neither Ordinary Camera nor EMST Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ordinary Camera or EMST Camera?
Ordinary Camera ships an update every 6 days, and EMST Camera every 2 weeks. Most recently, Ordinary Camera was updated on November 10, 2026 and EMST Camera on November 10, 2026.

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