Comparison

Codecam vs Aquarium Camera

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

Head to head
About

Codecam

Unlock the full potential of your iPhone camera with advanced manual controls for both photos and videos. Adjust settings like shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus for professional-quality results. Explore various compression and frame rate options for video recording.

Highlights
  • Manual shutter speed and ISO
  • Manual white balance (temperature, tint)
  • Manual focus control
  • Adjustable video compression and frame rates
  • Video zoom with focal length display
  • Video stabilization options
Features
Read full description

All the power of the iPhone camera at your fingertips! With the incredibly capable camera that is your iPhone, and Codecam, the most simple, easy to use, yet very powerful app, you can enjoy the unlimited possiblities that the complete control over your iPhone's camera can provide! Photo features: - shoot in JPEG, like the stock camera app, or shoot JPEG+RAW, which also records a DNG file next to your jpeg (it will still look like a single photo in the photos app). You can import the DNG to you computer, or edit it on your iPhone with an app that supports DNG raw files. - manual shutter speed, ISO. Lock your exposure by picking a new value, or by long pressing the automatically selected one. Long press again to go back to auto. You can also swipe up and down on the screen to apply an exposure compensation while in automatic exposure mode. - manual white balance: temperature and tint. You can lock the current value just like the exposure, or pick the exact values. White balance presets are also available: Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, plus two Incandescent and Fluorescent presets. - manual focus: switch between auto an manual focus by tapping the button, or by tapping an area on the image to focus on it. A slider to manually focus is also available. Video features: - video zoom: you can zoom by pinching the image, up until the point where upscaling would occur. For 4K, you can override this behaviour to allow zooming until the 1080p crop. The approximate focal length for the given zoom is also shown on the screen (converted to the equivalent focal length of a Super 35 or Full Frame sensor). - the same manual controls for shutter speed, ISO, white balance and focus as in photo mode. Smooth autofocus using Focus Pixels on the iPhone 6 or newer is available. - compressions supported: 15 Mbit, 25 Mbit, 50 Mbit, 75 Mbit, 100 Mbit, 200 Mbit, 400 Mbit in H.264 (or H.265 in newer devices) with selectable IPB or ALL-I modes, and MPJEG compression with either optimal (9/10 or 8/10 for 4K) or full quality (10/10) setting (note: the displayed bitrate in MJPEG mode is an estimation of the maximum possible bitrate) - frame rates supported: 1080p24, 1080p25, 1080p30 - additional frame rates supported by iPhone 5s: 720p50, 720p60 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6: 720p120 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 6: 1080p50, 1080p60, 720p240 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 6s and 7: 1080p120, 2160p30, 2160p25, 2160p24 - additional frame rates supported by the iPhone 8, X, 11, 11 Pro: 1080p240, 2160p50, 2160p60 - video stabilization is supported, you can toggle between on, off or cinematic, depending on availability on your device - show shutter angle instead of shutter speed - cinematic 1:2.35 overlay: crop mark option is available in the settings menu to switch between 16:9 and cinemascope. This feature is for composition only, the image that will be recorded is the full 16:9 frame. Additional features: - automatic save to camera roll: all images and supported videos are saved to the camera roll - gallery: You can see the images and videos you took in a grid or loupe view, with full metadata. You can also share them, or delete them right in the app.

About

Aquarium Camera

Capture your aquarium's true colors with this app designed to overcome the challenges of LED lighting. It offers real-time color correction and professional-grade filters to make your fish, plants, and corals look vibrant and accurate in photos and videos.

Highlights
  • Real-time lens filter mode
  • 32 custom professional-grade lens filters
  • Real-time tint, temperature, RGB, and exposure adjustment
  • Full-resolution photo capture
  • 4K video recording
  • Save and share presets
  • Side-by-side color balance preview
Features
Read full description

Aquarium Camera is built specifically for aquarium owners who are tired of their tank looking incredible in person and disappointing on their phone. LED aquarium lights are brilliant, but blue actinic lighting interferes with camera sensors, shifting the colors of your fish, plants, and corals into something far less accurate. Standard camera apps were not made for this. Aquarium Camera was. Designed for reef tanks, planted tanks, freshwater aquariums, and fish-only setups, Aquarium Camera helps you capture photos and videos that better reflect what your tank actually looks like. “The Aquarium Camera app is an essential tool for reef tank photography.” – ReefBuilders.com You can stop buying pro camera rigs, shooting in RAW, using clip-on filters or gels, and turning off your blue lights just to get a decent shot. You do not need to spend hours in editing apps adjusting hue, tint, and exposure after the fact. Aquarium Camera helps you color-correct aquarium lighting in real time on your iPhone or iPad, using the device you already carry every day. Version 4.0.0 is a complete re-architecture built to maximize the performance of your iPhone and iPad. Features: • Real-time lens filter mode that dynamically helps balance your shot • 32 custom professional-grade lens filters in manual mode • Real-time tint, temperature, RGB, and exposure adjustment • Full-resolution photo capture • 4K video recording • Syncs with iCloud • Support for your device’s available camera lenses, including wide, standard, and telephoto • Save and share presets once you dial in your tank • Side-by-side preview to help fine-tune color balance • Portrait and landscape support • Touch to focus • Flash toggle • Grid toggle • Quick access to your aquarium gallery with export or autosave to library • Share photos and videos right from the library • Volume button shutter support • Haptic feedback • No subscription: buy it once and unlock everything on iPhone and iPad “So easy to use… Love it!!! And the color changing is realtime so you can see the screen and the real thing side by side to ensure you get the right balance.” – Carlos Chacon, CoralVue I created Aquarium Camera because I was tired of seeing brilliant aquariums online that did not truly represent the health, color, and beauty of the fish, plants, and corals inside. As LED lighting took over the hobby, aquarium photography became harder. Aquarium Camera is my answer to that problem. Spend less time correcting aquarium photos and videos, and more time enjoying your tank... oh and doing water changes.

Screenshots

Codecam2 screens
Aquarium Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Codecam at Free against Aquarium Camera's $4.99. Codecam also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 34%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Aquarium Camera's advantage is ratings volume (757 vs 24). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Codecam is free to download; Aquarium Camera costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Aquarium Camera holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aquarium Camera has 757 ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Codecam's written reviews are positive against 34% of Aquarium Camera's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Codecam versus Aquarium Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCodecamAquarium Camera
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.0 (24 ratings)4.2 (757 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews — better33.9% of reviews
Number of ratings24757 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaszlo VaradiJohn Ostler

Customer experience

Codecam

All ratings24 ratings
Positive70.8%
Neutral8.3%
Negative20.8%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative40.0%

Aquarium Camera

All ratings757 ratings
Positive79.9%
Neutral4.2%
Negative15.9%
Written reviews112 reviews
Positive33.9%
Neutral6.3%
Negative59.8%

Bugs and requests

Codecam

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Aquarium Camera

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Constant black screen issue
  • Photos not saving correctly
  • Freezing on certain settings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Integrate with native camera app features
  • Add support for RAW image capture
  • Improve image stabilization
  • Expand color temperature correction range

In-app purchases

None

Codecam

No in-app purchases

None

Aquarium Camera

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Codecam free?
Codecam is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Aquarium Camera free?
Aquarium Camera costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Codecam or Aquarium Camera?
Aquarium Camera is rated higher. Codecam averages 4.0 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while Aquarium Camera averages 4.2 from 757 ratings.
Do Codecam or Aquarium Camera have ads?
Neither Codecam nor Aquarium Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Codecam or Aquarium Camera?
Codecam ships an update monthly, and Aquarium Camera monthly. Most recently, Codecam was updated on September 9, 2026 and Aquarium Camera on September 25, 2026.

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