Comparison

Cavo Camera vs Pure Camera

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

Head to head
About

Cavo Camera

This app transforms your iPhone into a professional cinema camera, offering advanced manual controls for exposure, focus, and color. It allows for flexible recording formats and custom color grading, ensuring your creative vision is preserved.

Highlights
  • Advanced manual exposure controls
  • Customizable frame rates and shutter angles
  • Support for ProRes and Apple Log formats
  • Import and preview .cube LUTs
  • Flexible recording destinations
  • No ads or analytics
Read full description

Your iPhone. Your cinema camera. Choose the motion you want. Cavo handles exposure, gives you manual control when you need it, and lets you preview your look without changing the recording. Smarter auto Set your frame rate and shutter angle. Shutter-priority auto adjusts exposure around those settings. On compatible cameras, Aperture Priority holds your chosen aperture while Cavo adjusts exposure. Keep exposure and white balance adjusting as you shoot, or lock them when recording starts. Manual when you want it Control ISO, shutter, focus, and white balance from the viewfinder, with manual aperture control on compatible cameras. Check audio levels, available recording time, grid, and horizon level without leaving the camera. Choose shutter angles from 30° to 360°, or use supported longer exposures for more motion blur at a lower recording frame rate. Pick your format Record in H.264, HEVC, or supported ProRes formats. Choose Apple Log, Apple Log 2, HDR, and real open gate when your iPhone and active camera format support them. Recordings are QuickTime MOV files. Microphone access is optional. Cavo records silent video when access is off. See your look. Keep your master. Import .cube LUTs to preview color while you shoot. Monitoring leaves the recorded master unchanged. When you're ready, Quick Grade creates a separate graded HEVC Rec. 709 MOV export and preserves your original. Save where you choose Record to Photos, App Files, a folder you select, or compatible external storage. Optionally save the recording location with your videos. Quick Grade preserves location tags in graded copies, too. Your camera. Your recordings. No account, ads, or analytics. Your recordings stay in the destination you choose. Requires iOS 17 or later. Available codecs, color modes, resolutions, frame rates, lenses, stabilization, and external recording depend on your iPhone, iOS version, and connected hardware. Apple Log 2 and dynamic 4:3 capture require iOS 26 and compatible hardware. Manual aperture control and Aperture Priority require iOS 27 or later and compatible cameras.

About

Pure Camera

Features
Read full description

Pure Camera brings authentic true photography to your iPhone. Images are rendered directly from the iPhone’s raw sensor data through a simulated film process rather than applying a filter to a preprocessed photograph. Most camera applications begin with a processed image and apply color grading. Pure Camera utilizes raw sensor data without multi-frame fusion, Smart HDR, sharpening, noise reduction, or upscaling. The result is a photograph developed through an authentic film emulation—incorporating gamma, color separation, interlayer effects, and grain—using traditional darkroom characteristics rather than post-processing adjustments. This unique approach produces authentic, unprocessed images.. Nine Film Stocks Options range from neutral, accurate profiles to saturated slide film, faded prints, motion-picture stock, and high-contrast black-and-white. Each profile is derived from genuine film properties rather than visual inspiration. Manual Control Users have full control over ISO, shutter speed, white balance, exposure compensation, and aspect ratio. Preferred settings may be saved to named banks and selected with a single tap, or the application may be left to manage exposure automatically. Grain as a Variable Grain is a selectable parameter rather than a fixed attribute. Settings include off, weak, normal, and strong; intensity scales realistically with exposure—subtle at low speeds and more pronounced at higher speeds. Reliable Viewfinder The preview is calibrated to match the final developed image, ensuring accurate framing rather than a generic live-view approximation. Pure Camera is designed for photographers who prefer traditional camera behavior: exposure, focus, and composition are user-defined, while the film handles the remainder authentically. Premium The application is fully functional but limited to the primary lens. Access to additional lenses is available via a one-time in-app purchase with family sharing enabled.

Screenshots

Cavo Camera4 screens
Pure Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cavo Camera at none against Pure Camera's 1. Cavo Camera also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pure Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Cavo Camera asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Cavo Camera versus Pure Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCavo CameraPure Camera
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSam JandrisGijs Raggers

In-app purchases

None

Cavo Camera

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Pure Camera

One-time1
  • Premium$4.99

Questions

Is Cavo Camera free?
Cavo Camera is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pure Camera free?
Pure Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Cavo Camera or Pure Camera have ads?
Neither Cavo Camera nor Pure Camera shows ads.

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