Comparison

f vs ProFilm Meter

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

Head to head
About

f

This app helps darkroom printers adjust exposure times by f-stop increments. It calculates precise exposure values for printing, offering easier test strip creation by working with equal exposure differences.

Highlights
  • Calculate exposure by f-stop increments
  • Modify exposure times for printing
  • Generate new exposure times
  • Calculate f-stop increments for burning in
  • Easier test strip creation
Features
Read full description

The f-Stop Printing Calculator allows darkroom printers to modify times by stops when calculating exposure values. The calculator will establish 1/4 stop increments (+ or – up to 3/4) of the base time you have entered and, either generate a new time, or an increment of an f-stop if you are burning in. By working with f-stops rather than linear units of time, you can produce an easier to read test strip as the exposure differences are exactly equal. This app has been designed by Digitaltruth Photo Ltd and Bruce Tanner.

About

ProFilm Meter

This app offers a comprehensive light metering and exposure toolkit for film photographers. It calculates complex exposures for various film formats and conditions, including reciprocity failure and bellows compensation, all within a real-time, offline interface.

Highlights
  • Precision reflected-light meter
  • On-device film stock library
  • Reciprocity and bellows compensation
  • Flash metering and trigger
  • Lens-independent viewfinder zoom
  • Field journal for saving exposures
  • Guided camera calibration
Read full description

ProFilm Meter is the most complete light meter and exposure toolkit for film photographers. From 35mm to 8×10 large format, dry plates to tintypes, it handles every calculation you'd normally reach for three separate tools to solve — all offline, all in real time. LIGHT METERING Your phone's camera becomes a precision reflected-light meter. Choose spot, center-weighted, or average metering and dial in exposure with ⅓-stop, full-stop, or any combination of increment sets running simultaneously. A live RGB histogram keeps highlight and shadow zones in view at all times. Native per-frame ISO, shutter, and aperture capture at ~10 fps Multi-point metering: average 2–4 scene readings into one exposure value Tap-to-focus and multi-lens camera selection Adaptive EV smoothing adjusts for scene changes automatically Screen stays awake during active metering sessions CALIBRATION Two-point guided calibration locks each camera to a trusted reference. After calibration, a fine-tune step lets you match any external meter in ⅓-stop increments. Uncalibrated cameras are gated with a full-screen prompt so you never shoot on an unmeasured body. FILM STOCKS & RECIPROCITY An on-device film stock library covers 35mm, 120, and large format emulsions — including the full Zebra Dry Plate collection. Every stock carries its own reciprocity profile. Eight built-in profiles (Acros II, T-Max, HP5+, Portra, Fomapan, Zebra, and more) plus full custom profile creation, including Schwarzschild p-factor and optional threshold. Add custom film formats and reciprocity profiles inline, without leaving the film stock screen. COMPENSATIONS Reciprocity failure — corrected automatically for exposures beyond threshold Bellows compensation — calculated stop-for-stop from draw and focal length RA4 Color Reversal — estimates scene color temperature and gives you Mired-shift filter corrections for color positives; works in both ambient and flash mode Spectral sensitivity — metering coefficients adjusted for panchromatic, orthochromatic, and blue-sensitive emulsions Lens filters — ND (1–10 stops), polarizer, yellow/orange/red/green contrast filters, R72 and deep IR, plus custom filters Positive/reversal process — +0.5 stop compensation, auto-enabled for tintype stocks UV/environmental compensation — adjustable for altitude and atmospheric conditions IR Light Estimator — dedicated tool for infrared exposure estimation FLASH Flash metering detects incident flash via fast polling with peak-hold and sticky arming. A built-in flash trigger supports Optical Slave (fires the LED torch to trip slaved units) and Cable Sync (audio click for USB-C to PC-sync adapters). VIEWFINDER A lens-independent viewfinder zoom gives consistent framing regardless of which physical lens the phone uses. Overlay your chosen film format frame lines and compose like you're looking through a director's viewfinder. FIELD JOURNAL Save any exposure to the journal with one tap. Each entry records ISO, aperture, shutter speed, EV, reciprocity correction, RA4 and spectral corrections, GPS coordinates, and a cropped preview photo. Entries are exportable and shareable. EXTRA TOOLS Depth of Field Calculator — for any format and focal length Zebra Exposure Guide — zone-system reference for dry plate work Alternative Processes Meter — cyanotype, platinum, salt print, and more Step Wedge Tool — exposure planning for contact printing Rolling Shutter Calculator — flash sync safety for focal-plane shutters 20 FILM FORMATS 35mm · 6×4.5 · 6×6 · 6×7 · 6×9 · 4×5 · 5×7 · 8×10 · 9×12cm · 10×10 · 10×12 · 11×14 · 12×12 · 13×18cm · 20×24 · Sixth Plate · Quarter Plate · Half Plate · Whole Plate · custom dimensions 7 LANGUAGES English · Slovenian · Spanish · French · German · Japanese · Simplified Chinese PRIVACY All metering and calculation runs entirely on-device. No account required. No data leaves your phone.

Screenshots

f4 screens
ProFilm Meter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: f at Free against ProFilm Meter's $14.99. f also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.1). ProFilm Meter's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 60%). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases 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

f is free to download; ProFilm Meter costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ProFilm Meter holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of f's written reviews are positive against 100% of ProFilm Meter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

f ships an update every 29 months, ProFilm Meter fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
f versus ProFilm Meter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterfProFilm Meter
PriceFree — better$14.99
Rating3.8 (5 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 29 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFreestyle Photo & ImagingScott Henderson

Customer experience

f

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative0.0%

ProFilm Meter

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

f

No in-app purchases

None

ProFilm Meter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is f free?
f is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ProFilm Meter free?
ProFilm Meter costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, f or ProFilm Meter?
ProFilm Meter is rated higher. f averages 3.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while ProFilm Meter averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do f or ProFilm Meter have ads?
Neither f nor ProFilm Meter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, f or ProFilm Meter?
f ships an update every 29 months, and ProFilm Meter fortnightly. Most recently, f was updated on November 1, 2026 and ProFilm Meter on November 7, 2026.

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