NDCalc2 vs LensTrails
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NDCalc2
Calculate correct exposure times when using ND filters for long exposures. Easily manage your filter collection, add custom filters, and switch between single and multi-select modes for stacking.
- Calculate exposure time with ND filters
- Supports iPhone 5/s/c screens
- Multi-Select Mode for filter stacking
- Add custom ND filters
- Delete and reorder filters
- Countdown timer for long exposures
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Screenshots are german but it's translated to english too. This is a completely rewritten Version of NDCalc - now called NDCalc2. It's all new with these great features: - build for iOS7 - supports the 4" Screens of iPhone5/s/c - supports retina - Much more comfortable selection of shutter speed and NDFilter (no wheel control) - Multi-Select! Finally! You can switch to Multi-Select-Mode with a single tap in the toolbar if you are a ND-Filter-Stacker like myself :) Just activate Multi-Select-Mode and tap on any Filter you have stacked to the lens for really long exposures. - Add your own Filters! Finally! You own a filter which is not listed in the default list? Just add it by f-stops, ND-Value or Factor. - Delete Filters. Just delete all filters you don't own and make selecting filters much more convenient - Reorder Filter. Order the Filter-List as you like it. Bring up the most used filters to the top of the list. The core function is still the same as NDCalc: You know the time without the filter -how long do you need to exp. WITH filter? Sounds easy but tell me quickly how long to exp. with an ND 1.8 if the time without filter is 1/320? Now you can! Set Filter and exp. time without the filter and you can see the correct time. In the example above 1/5 Even easier it shows you 5 because this is what you can set on a dSLR. Smaller letters showing you the actual time. For 12500'' it shows, that these are 3h, 28m and 20s. For times of 4+ seconds you get a countdown button to easily stop longer exposures manually with a remote shutter release with alarm and vibration (if supported).
LensTrails
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LensTrails is a private photography journal and intelligent shoot planner for photographers who collect places, ideas and experiences, not just pictures. Try LensTrails Pro free for one month, with no registration. Viewpoints are available through the separate LensTrails Complete subscription. After the trial, an active subscription is required. BUILD YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY JOURNAL Save locations from the map, Google Maps, a new photo or a geolocated camera-roll image. Keep: • Photos, notes and creative ideas • Tags, ratings and location types • Preferred month and time of day • Shooting direction • Address, coordinates, elevation and distance • Visit and return-planning details Browse your journal on a map, in a searchable list or as a photo grid. Filter by name, notes, tags, type, rating, distance or preferred shooting time. DISCOVER VIEWPOINTS LensTrails introduces Viewpoints, a curated worldwide catalog of promising photography locations. Explore Viewpoints on the map, open a location to see its available photos, notes, tags, address and photographic context, then evaluate its conditions using LensTrails planning tools. Import the locations that interest you into your private journal and add your own photos, notes, tags, rating, shooting direction and preferred timing. Viewpoints help you discover places. LensTrails helps you plan the photograph. Your personal locations remain private and are never published, crowdsourced or added to the public catalog. GET SMART SHOOT SUGGESTIONS LensTrails evaluates saved locations using their character, tags, preferred timing, shooting direction, weather, clouds, fog, sunrise and sunset quality, sun position, moonlight, night-sky conditions, aurora potential, light pollution and tides where relevant. Each suggestion provides a score, recommended time window, direction to face and an explanation of why the conditions may work. Long-term suggestions identify useful months and times to return. PLAN WEATHER, LIGHT AND SKY See current conditions and a five-day forecast, including temperature, rain, wind, humidity, visibility and cloud layers. A 24-hour cloud graph helps reveal changing conditions. Plan daylight, golden hour, blue hour, sunrise, sunset, moon, stars, Milky Way and aurora photography. Use map overlays and Sky Path camera previews to understand how light and sky objects move around a scene. FIND DARKER SKIES Explore light pollution on the map and understand how nearby light sources may affect night photography. PLAN COASTAL PHOTOGRAPHY See five-day tide forecasts and detailed tide curves. LensTrails can consider tides when suggesting shoots involving beaches, rocks, reflections, access and moving water. MADE FOR THE FIELD Search by address or place, check elevation, navigate with your preferred mapping app, share locations and receive reminders. Export your journal as GPX or CSV. Your locations remain private on your iPhone, with optional private iCloud sync between Apple devices. LensTrails is made for landscape, cityscape, seascape, travel, drone, street, wildlife and outdoor photographers. Terms of Use: https://lenstrails.jerome.photo/eula.html Privacy Policy: https://lenstrails.jerome.photo/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: LensTrails at Free against NDCalc2's $0.99. LensTrails also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 10 months). NDCalc2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 17.0). On 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
LensTrails is free to download; NDCalc2 costs $0.99 up front. LensTrails sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. NDCalc2 asks for nothing beyond the download.
NDCalc2 ships an update every 10 months, LensTrails every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NDCalc2 | LensTrails |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 1.5 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 87 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Boris Nienke | Jerome Bei |
In-app purchases
NDCalc2
No in-app purchases
LensTrails
- Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
- Pro Yearly$44.991 Year








