Cinescope vs Magic ARRI ViewFinder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cinescope
This app provides filmmakers with advanced controls for capturing high-resolution video and photos. It offers industry-standard and custom aspect ratios, manual adjustments for focus, exposure, and color, and various shooting modes including slow motion. Optimize your media for social platforms with built-in editing tools.
- Custom aspect ratios
- Manual focus and exposure control
- High-resolution video capture
- Slow motion recording
- Live filters
- Instagram formatting
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Cinescope version 2.5 is a filmmaker's best friend. Capture your vision with industry-standard aspect ratios, or create and save your own. Swipe the screen using one or two fingers to quickly tweak focus, exposure, tint, and temperature to create the perfect atmospheric mood. Shoot high resolution video in various aspect ratios and at various frame rates. Crop your media or optimize for Instagram with mattes colors based on the color palette of your image. All the features available in Cinescope: Photos • Save in either compressed (JPEG) or uncompressed (TIFF*) format • Store RAW information (DNG*) Videos • Capture in resolutions supported by your device • Pause and resume while shooting • Take a photo while shooting • Capture at 60, 30, 24 fps (based on selected resolution) • Capture with video stabilization (for resolutions that support it) Slow Motion • Capture in various resolutions and frame rates, including 240fps • Pause and resume while shooting • Capture with video stabilization (for resolutions that support it) Aspect Ratios • Capture using industry-standard aspect ratios • Create and save your own custom aspect ratios Live Filter • Capture in low, medium, and high-contrast black & white • Capture in various preset color levels Manual camera adjustment controls • Exposure: Single-finger vertical swipe • Focus: Single-finger horizontal swipe • Temperature: Two-finger vertical swipe • Tint: Two-finger horizontal swipe • Zoom: Pinch • Auto-adjust and fix to point of interest: Tap screen • Shake (or tap Lock Icon) to return to manual control Library • Format media for Instagram with additional color matte options • Crop your photos and videos Other • Swipe left or right on the Camera Function button to quickly move between photo, video, and slow-motion • Swipe left or right on the Aspect Ratio button to quickly change aspect ratios • Shoot in either landscape or portrait mode using any lens supported by your device • Four theme colors, manual control sensitivity adjustment, and alignment grid *Note: iOS does not natively handle TIFF or RAW files. Use an application like Image Capture to pull these formats directly from your device.
Magic ARRI ViewFinder
This app simulates the field of view for ARRI digital cameras and lenses on your iPhone or iPad. It helps filmmakers preview exact framing and lens focal lengths during pre-production, with options for color presets and saving shots.
- Precise framing preview
- ARRI digital camera simulation
- Lens focal length selection
- Aspect ratio frame guides
- Color preset (LUT) application
- Save framed shots with data
- Focus and exposure control
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Magic ARRI ViewFinder gives a precise framing preview for the real camera/lens combination you'll be shooting with, right where you stand with your iPhone / iPad. It simulates the field of view of ARRI digital cameras or lens and can help thousands of professionals in filmmaking at the preproduction. PLEASE READ: the app does not turn your Apple device into an external monitor but operates as a stand-alone tool. The app contains ad banners, which can be turned off with additional in-app purchase (in 'About the App' menu). The app is a digital directors viewfinder -- it helps you see the exact field of view for your future shot. Select the camera from the menu and rotate the wheel to select the focal length of the lens. Supported cameras / formats: - Alexa Classic / XT / SXT / LF / Amira - Sensor Mode 16:9 4:3 / 4:3 Cropped / Open Gate Magic ViewFinder simulates using tele adapters or anamorphic optics on your camera (see menu). From the menu you can also select the aspect ratio of the frame guide overlaying your image. Magic ViewFinder also lets you apply some commonly used color presets (also known as LUTs)to the live picture, which brings you even closer to the final shot. When you have found the right view, you may save it for future reference, with additional data like the focal length, date and time and camera / lens information. While taking a photo, you may lock exposure and turn on and off the auto focus to better control the captured picture. You can set camera to work in constant auto-focus mode, or lock the focus temporarily. You can also tap the live screen to focus on particular objects (which turns on the focus-locked mode). White balance may work in Auto, Locked or Manual mode. If the field of view of your real camera is wider than your in-device camera, the app adds 'padding' around the image, since the device cannot 'see' what is beyond. It is the best solution that we developed first amongst other viewfinder apps. Please note that position of your iPhone or iPad should correspond to the 'nodal point' of your real lens, which is somewhere in the middle of the lens. This point is, so to speak, the weighted center of the optics. Ad policy: The ads are designed to appear non-intrusively. Ads can be turned off (see below). Additional info about the app may be read at: http://dev.kadru.net/index.php/magic-viewfinder/ If you have any issues please email us for a quick support: dev@kadru.net To activate additional settings (i.e. to use all available optical adapters and frame guides) and to turn off advertising, please subscribe to (Option #1) or purchase Premium Features (Option #2) in 'About the App' menu. In-App Purchase Option #1: - Title of service: Premium features: subscription - Length of subscription: a month (auto-renewable) - Contents of service: Turned off ads and additional options for frame guides, optical adapters, anamorphic indices, more LUTs - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable Terms of Use: http://dev.kadru.net/tos.html Privacy Policy: http://dev.kadru.net/privacy_policy/Privacy_Policy_Magic_CinemaPLUS_ViewFinder.html In-App Purchase Option #2: - Title of service: Premium features: purchase - Length of subscription: once and forever - Contents of service: Turned off ads and additional options for frame guides, optical adapters, anamorphic indices, more LUTs
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Magic ARRI ViewFinder at Free against Cinescope's $4.99. Magic ARRI ViewFinder also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 58%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Cinescope's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On ratings volume, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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
Magic ARRI ViewFinder is free to download; Cinescope costs $4.99 up front. Magic ARRI ViewFinder sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Cinescope asks for nothing beyond the download.
Magic ARRI ViewFinder holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 155 and 177 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Cinescope's written reviews are positive against 86% of Magic ARRI ViewFinder's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cinescope | Magic ARRI ViewFinder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (155 ratings) | 4.8 (177 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.0% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 155 | 177 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #195 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Poster Child Pictures Inc. | Roman Medvid |
Customer experience
Cinescope
Magic ARRI ViewFinder
Bugs and requests
Cinescope
Reported bugs
30 issues- App keeps taking random shots when opened
- App not working, shows error message
- Unable to save video after 40 minutes
- App defaults to losing the first image in an album
- App keeps closing when trying to use it
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- App crashes when trying to stop recording or save
- App crashes after taking a picture
- App saves picture vertically, only a sliver of the image captured
- App crashes when trying to crop and save
- Stabilization is trash
- Formatting for Instagram causes jumbled lines or crashes Instagram app
- No stability in camera
- Weird bug with stretching of images when formatting
- App crashes and shuts down in video mode
- Sending feedback via app makes the app crash
- App closes every time the button to take a picture is clicked
- App crashing almost every time a shot is snapped
- Cannot see photos within the app, have to look in photo album on phone
- Cannot get any recordings to save
- App closes instantly when trying to load photos or videos
- Cannot import videos
- Cannot access the gallery from the app
- No sound records with videos
- No audio for videos
- Camera mode not working correctly
- Cannot use existing videos from camera roll to crop
- No sound issue
- No AF/AE lock
- No stabilization
- No updates for years
Requested features
16 requests- Add selfie mode
- Import videos for cropping
- LED flash support
- Slo-mo (60, 120 FPS) support
- Front camera support
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- Lock exposure and focus
- Manual controls (exposure, focus)
- Stabilization / shake reduction
- Point app to store photos in specific albums
- Ability to change ratio in built-in app
- Add 3x3 guides
- Add 4K 24p support
- Add 1080p recording
- Add regular camera mode
- Upload existing video to be cropped
- Selfie mode
Magic ARRI ViewFinder
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Cinescope
No in-app purchases
Magic ARRI ViewFinder
- Premium features: subscription1 Month trial$1.491 Month
- Premium features: purchase$4.99
Questions
Is Cinescope free?
Is Magic ARRI ViewFinder free?
Which has better reviews, Cinescope or Magic ARRI ViewFinder?
Do Cinescope or Magic ARRI ViewFinder have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cinescope or Magic ARRI ViewFinder?
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