Photographer's Friend App for iOS

PHOTOGRAPHER'S FRIEND for iOS

An assistant in your pocket!

Apple Watch
Extensions

Depth of Field
Calculator

Designed for practical use and Educational situations, dial ranges allow calculations to the extremes of the physics of light in molecular detail. Pixel Peeper mode takes Photographer's Friend way past traditional Depth of Field calculation.

Neutral Density Filter
Calculator

Calculate exposure times when using single or stacked Neutral Density Filters and run a timer right there in Photographer's Friend. Again, the educational element allows for exposures up to 30 Years!

Use the Depth of Field Calculator Neutral Density Filter Calculator on your Apple Watch, with iPhone Synching and remote control for ND Calc Timer.
* Available as In-App Purchase

Exposure Shift
Calculator

See the relationship between exposure settings while locking Shutter Speed, Aperture or ISO, os lock the EV (Exposure Value) and calculate the other two values based on a single dial shift.

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All main screens split into two
for intelligent orientation change

Topsy Turvy Mode

* Activated as part of the Pro Add-on

Left Right Flip

Intelligent Device Orientation

This kind of attension to detail makes
Photographer's Friend a pleasure to use

Intelligent Device Orientation

Photographer's Friend dynamically adapts to your
device orientation and your ergonomic requirements

Flip Top and Bottom sections of Neutral Density Calcuator

Flip Left and Right sections for left-handed use
Effects all main screens

Smart Rotation

Continue scrolling for more details

Take Your Photography to the Next
Level with Photographer's Friend

Download Photographer's Friend on the App Store

Questions?

Pixel Peeper Mode

Depth of Field Calculator

You can also enter a custom Circle of Confusion size as a basis for Depth of Field calculation if you prefer.

Note that this will turn off Pixel Peeper Mode but we are still able to calculate Diffraction Warnings for you, based on the custom Circle of Confusion.

Start by selecting your camera sensor size (35mm full-frame, 1.3X 1.5X or 1.6X crop factor, 1-inch, micro 4/3, or one of the medium or large format sizes) then choose your aperture, focal length and focus distance (the approximate distance to your main subject).

The calculator will instantly display your depth of field including the near limit, far limit, and hyperfocal distance. Tap the Hyperfocal Distance label the focus distance dial is automatically set to the hyperfocal distance and all displayed information is updated. Tap again to restore your original focus distance.

Tap the [Focus ft/m] button to toggle between feet and meters. To make this interaction easy to remember, the labels that have a function are blue (default color).

Traditionally Depth of Field is calculated assuming sharpness determined in an 8 x 10-inch print viewed at arm’s length, but this can lead to unsharp images when evaluated at 100% on a computer screen. Enter Pixel Peeper mode!

We calculate the Depth of Field based on your actual Pixel Pitch and Circle of Confusion size based on your chosen sensor size and megapixels.

The first difference is that the calculated depth of field is shallower in Pixel Peeper mode, to ensure that your image is sharp when inspected while zoomed in on a computer. To reach the required Depth of Field you may find that you need to use a smaller aperture.

We also calculate the size of the Airy Disk and that enables us to provide you with Diffraction Warnings by coloring the Aperture Dial and Airy Disk [AD] Labels in traffic light colors. Green for go, Amber for proceed with caution, and Red for Stop!

Whether or not you actually see the effects of Diffraction in your photograph depends on your camera and lens, and your own perception of sharpness.

The Diffraction Warnings are intended as a guide, to show you when the risk is there, but we urge you to test your own lenses, and if necessary, you can calibrate the warnings by using a different megapixel count or Custom CoC so that the red warning kicks-in in line with your findings.

Photographer's Friend is arguably the most accurate and detailed Depth of Field Calculators available.

Start by selecting your camera sensor size (35mm full-frame, 1.3X 1.5X or 1.6X crop factor, 1-inch, micro 4/3, or one of the medium or large format sizes) then choose your aperture, focal length and focus distance (the approximate distance to your main subject).

Unhiding Filters

Neutral Density Filter Calculator

If you have an Apple Watch, there is an In-App Purchase available to add Apple Watch Extensions for the Neutral Density Filter Calculator and Depth of Field Calculator.

The Neutral Density Filter Calculator acts as a remote control for the iPhone calculator when linked, or a completely standalone calculator when unlinked.

Up to 30 Year Timer!

Hiding Unused Filters

The Neutral Density Filter Calculator takes any shutter speed that you can set on your camera and calculates your new shutter speed after applying neutral density filters to your lens. Filters are labeled by the multiplication factor (ND2, ND4, etc.) and also have the f-stop and optical density values.

A timer is available for shutter speeds of 3 seconds or more, so if you don’t have a timer switch or built-in timer in your camera, we’ll time your exposure for you. If you get a phone call or need to use another app during a long count-down, just background the app, and it will update when you open it again.

Although it’s unlikely that you’ll ever need this in real life, the ND Calculator allows stacking of filters for up to 30-year exposures. This is great for understanding how neutral density filters affect the shutter speed and for teaching others.

As you add filters after you reached 30 years, they will be automatically removed, and if you increase the base shutter speed taking you past 30 years, we’ll remove the largest filter and display a message to let you know what we removed.

To hide filters that you don’t use just slide them to the left. Once filters are hidden, the label below the Eye icon displays how many filters are hidden.

Tap the Eye icon to display the hidden filters with a highlighted background, and slide them to the left again to unhide them. When you finish unhiding filters, tap the red Eye icon to exit unhide mode.

When you’ve finished experimenting there’s a Reset button to clear the filters and start again.

When you first open Photographer’s Friend we'll ask for permission to send you notifications. When enabled, we’ll display an alert when the timer finishes if you close the app or even reboot your device during the count-down.

Limit Settings Ranges

Exposure Shift Calculator

Store Camera Settings

Manual mode helps photographer's acheive the best possible image quality, but it can sometimes be confusing to calculate the shifts in exposure as you adjust settings. If you change your aperture from f/8 to f/5.6 does your shutter speed need to go up or down? What about ISO?

Exposure Shift Calculator has the answers!

We’ve included a huge range of apertures and ISOs that are not available on many cameras. These are great for educational purposes, but in practical use, you will probably not need them. To make it possible to limit the settings ranges that you use we’ve included a settings screen that appears when you tap the cogwheel in the bottom left corner of the Exposure Calculator. There's also a toggle switch to temporarily go back to the full ranges when experimenting.

To store your initial settings as a reference, slide the blue central band to the left. To update the settings, slide left again, or slide right to close the blue band.

The Exposure Value display and lock is invaluable when looking for appropriate settings from a light meter EV readout. We’ve also added a button to send your aperture to the Depth of Field Calculator and another to forward your shutter speed to the Neutral Density Filter Calculator.

Enter your current camera settings with the Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO dials, and watch Photographer’s Friend calculate how changes to one dial affect the others. You can lock any of the three dials to calculate just the other free dial automatically, or turn on Exposure Value Lock to have Photographer’s Friend calculator all settings for you!

iPad Split View

Drag a browser from the task bar to the left or right side of the screen to start using Split View.

Drag the vertical bar to the center for a half and half view.

Drag the vertical bar to further across for a narrow Photographer's Friend and two-thirds browser. Perfect for reading our linked tutorials while operating Photographer's Friend!

Photographer's Friend's dynamic screen layout enables it to work perfectly on the iPad, including Split View!

Help & Links

Settings in One Place

Buy Photographer's Friend

Meet your new photography assistant on the Apple App Store and level-up your photography today!

Note that the Apple Watch Extensions and Pro Add-on are available as In-App Purchases, as they may not be necessary for everyone, so we keep the base price down by keeping these features separate. Photographer's Friend is fully functional at the base price.

Questions?

Similarly, the Help and Links sections are grouped together for easy access. There are links to four help sections for the three calculators and Apple Watch Extensions, as well as links to online tutorials and related blog posts to help you fully understand the theory behind Depth of Field, Hyperfocal Distance, Neutral Density filters and Exposure.

There's also a link to open a blank email to drop us a line if you need any further help. We want you to get the most out of Photographer's Friend, to really take your photography to the next level and beyond!

The settings for each of the three calculators are accessible from the respective calculators, as well as from the Settings tab, alongside a number of other settings screen to make Photographer's Friend work as you'd like.

Rate and Review

Once you’ve given Photographer’s Friend a try, we’d really appreciate it if you could rate the app and leave us a review on the App Store. This really helps us to get ranked higher and make more sales!

Technical Support

Visit the Photographer’s Friend Technical Support page for information on updates, known issues and to contact us for help should you require it.

Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

How About Android?

We are currently working to provide an Android version. Please subscribe to our newsletter to be updated when it becomes available, or check back here from time to time.

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How About Android?

Take a look around, and if you need anything, drop us a line!

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