Photographer’s Friend Technical Support

If you should have any suggestions, problems or questions about the Photographer’s Friend for iOS App, please drop us a line with the below form or tap on Contact Us under the Photographer’s Friend Links tab on your device to open up a new email to send us. Our email address will be in the new email ready to go.

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Known Issues

Sending email on a device that does not use Apple Mail as a mail client will fail gracefully, offering a link to the online contact form.

Track Changes

Highlights of Version 3.6 (Dec 2020)

Introducing the Active Timer for Apple Watch ND Filter Calculator

  • In the Neutral Density Filter Calculator for Apple Watch, with Active Timer, now timers up to one hour, can provide audible and haptic taps as an aid to the timer status, even when the watch face turns off.
  • Active Timer will also automatically engage from 60 minutes, even for longer exposures.
  • An Audible Tap (a ding and a haptic tap) plays every ten seconds from 60 to 5 minutes. It plays every 5 seconds from 3 to 1 minute, then every 3 seconds from 60 to 10 seconds. From 10 to 4 seconds it plays every other second, then every second for the last three seconds before the alarm starts to remind you to stop your exposure.
  • Mute your Apple Watch if you don’t want the sound, but the Audible Tap option makes the taps heavier, and harder to miss. With Audible Taps turned off and just the Active Timer, you’ll get lighter taps during the countdown with no sound.
  • Photographer’s Friend can now be completely closed during an ND Filter Calculator timer on both the Apple Watch and iOS device, and it will review the timer when opened again. If the app remains closed, you’ll still get a notification to remind you to stop your exposure.
  • We also added synching of ND Filter Calculator shutter speed and selected ND Filters from the iPhone to Apple Watch when tapping the watch button.
  • There is now a Decimal Fractions field in the ND Filter Calculator for Apple Watch to cater for filters such as an ND400 which is rated at 8.6 stops. The fractions for stacked filter combinations on the iPhone are also synchronized with the Watch Extension.
  • Turn on auto-hide to remove the Decimal Fractions field when there is no fraction in the synched filters. When hidden, swipe up to show the Decimal Fractions field to manual input filter fractions.

In addition to the above changes, the Settings, Help & Links Tables now flash the scroll bar when selected to make it more obvious that there is more to see when scrolled.

Highlights of Version 3.5.7 (Nov 2020)

  • Apple Watch Extensions for the DoF Calculator and ND Filter Calculator which are enabled via an In-App Purchase.
  • Superpower Photographer’s Friend with Smart Rotation and up to eight fully customizable Color Schemes, including Traffic Light colors.
  • The Pro Add-on also includes Left/Right Flip in Landscape mode with Smart Rotation, and Topsy-Turvy mode for the ND Filter Calculator, to get the controls closer to your fingers for one-handed operation when necessary.
  • Completely reworked the User Interface, making it generally prettier with better resizing of fonts for larger screens like the iPad and Mac OS when it becomes available.
  • Reorganized the Tab Bar adding a Settings section with all of the various settings screens for all of the calculators and the theme settings.
  • Expanded the Depth of Field Calculator ranges. The focal length range increased from 5 – 1200 mm to 4.5 – 5200 mm, because we found a few obscure lenses in these expanded ranges. Minimum focus distance changed from 10 cm (3.84 inches) to 3 cm (1.2 inches). Keep in mind that this is measured from the sensor, not the end of the lens.
  • Once you are familiar with the app, you can tap on the Title on most pages to make it disappear, making the most of your screen real estate.
  • Swiping down on the screen will bring the title back again. Titles can also be toggled on or off in the Appearance settings.
  • We added support for Mac OS X available for anyone that already owns a Silicon Mac, to enable quick reference and use in education, but have not been able to confirm that this is actually available to Silicon Mac users, so don’t shoot me if it isn’t. This is a freebie!

Added Apple Watch Extension for ND Filter Calculator

You can now transfer your calculated exposure time from your iPhone to your Apple Watch and run the timer on the watch, along with countdown sounds and haptics so you’ll know when to stop our exposure without looking at your iPhone or Watch. Unlink the Watch Extension from the iPhone by tapping the chain link and you can select a shutter speed and total stops of ND filter to apply and calculate filtered exposure time with just the Apple Watch. From the settings screen (swipe from right to left) you can set a custom timer just for the Watch or send it to the iPhone if they are linked, and run the timer from either device. When linked, you can start and stop the timers on either device independently. 

* Note that Apple Watch Extensions are paid Add-on Features

Added Apple Watch DoF Calculator

We have added a completely standalone, fully functional version of the Depth of Field Calculator for Apple Watch.
Has almost complete feature parity with the iOS version, including Pixel Peeper Mode and the same intense level of detail!
Double-tap the DoF Readout to transfer the Hyperfocal Distance to the Focus Distance Dial. The central data band is a teal color when the settings result in hyperlocal distance or greater. Long-press or triple tap to lock the Hyper Focal Distance link to the Distance Dial, indicated by gold background for central data band.
When the Extension is available, a watch button will appear on the DoF Calculator on your iPhone, which when pressed, transfers all of your DoF Calculator settings to the Watch and updates the DoF details accordingly.

*Note that Apple Watch Extensions are paid Add-on Features.

One Bug Fix

We corrected a minor error in the sub-micrometer depth of field calculations.

Version 3.3 (build 3.3.1) Mar 2020

  • The HFD (Hyperfocal Distance) can now be locked/unlocked with a one-second press, or by tapping the padlock, forcing the Focus Distance dial to automatically adjust to the currently calculated HFD. The lock can remain on when the HFD is not transferred to the Focus Distance dial but has no effect until the HFD label is tapped, indicated by a teal-colored label, along with a locked padlock icon.
  • It’s now possible to lock/unlock the Format (sensor size) dial with a one-second press, or by tapping the padlock. This setting is not changed often and some users found that they changed it inadvertently and didn’t notice.
  • If you try to change the Format (sensor size) or Focus Distance dials when their respective locks are engaged, a message will be displayed asking if you’d like to deactivate the lock and proceed with the change. It’s also possible to keep the lock on if the change was not intentional and the value will be reset to the original value.
  • Added a new DoF Calculator Help Screen to explain the new HFD and Format Dial Locks.
  • Refined the messaging system that was introduced in version 3.2, including a number of fun welcome messages.
  • Fixed a known issue that caused the Status Bar to effectively become invisible until the tab bar is tapped after shaking the device to toggle between Light and Dark Appearances on iOS 13 or later devices.
  • Fixed an issue that caused a blank space to be created on the right side of the Tab Bar on iPads that caused the app to crash when tapped.

Version 3.2 (build 3.2.1) Feb 2020

  • We added support for Light and Dark Appearance throughout Photographer’s Friend (requires iOS 13 or higher, though earlier versions work fine in Light mode). Now you can shake your device to switch between Light and Dark Modes. There is also a Default Appearance mode, which changes automatically to match the Appearance set on your iOS device. Try the new Dark mode. It looks great!
  • We also added two new medium format sensor sizes CF0.79 (44 x 33 mm) and CF0.64 (53.4 x 40 mm) to the Depth of Field Calculator.

Version 3.1 (build 3.1.1) Oct 2018

  • Added automatic support for regions such as France and Russia that use a comma instead of a period to delimit decimal fractions.
  • Photographer’s Friend now automatically uses a comma as the decimal delimiter in the custom Circle of Confusion setting for the Depth of Field Calculator.
  • Fixed a problem that caused the Exposure Shift Calculator to crash the app if a region that uses a comma in decimal fractions was set in iOS.
  • Fixed an issue that resulted in a truncated title in the Exposure Shift Calculator help.

Version 3.0.4 (build 3.0.4) Oct 2018

  • The focus distance dial is now updated to the new Hyperfocal Distance if the Hyperfocal Distance was actively being transferred to the focus distance dial when Pixel Peeper mode is activated or the megapixels changed.
  • The focus distance dial is also now correctly updated if a new aperture is sent to the Depth of Field Calculator from the Exposure Shift Calculator while the Hyperfocal Distance is being transferred to the focus distance dial.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Exposure Shift Calculator screen to be displayed if the Depth of Field Calculator settings were changed straight after the aperture being transferred from the Exposure Shift Calculator.
  • Fixed an embarrassing typo in the Startup Help for the Exposure Shift Calculator.

Version 3.0.3 (build 3.0.3) Sept 2018

  • Tweaked the decimal points in the Depth of Field Calculator a little more, to display even more detail for very shallow depth of field measurements.
  • Under the hood, the code has been tweaked and updated to Swift 4.2.

Version 3.0 (build 3.0.2) Sept 2018

This is a paid update as we’ve added an awesome third calculator.

Introducing the Exposure Shift Calculator!

Version 2.5 (build 2.5.2) Sept 2018

  • We made Depth of Field calculation more accurate throughout and added more decimal places for small numbers to make the DoF Calculator more useful in macro photography
  • Photographer’s Friend now remembers the last tab you were using rather than returning to the Depth of Field calculator after a restart
  • Updated the Neutral Density calculator icons
  • Added a link to a new Online Video Tutorials page with tutorials for each calculator
  • Added a link to Photographer’s Friend version 3.0

*** Note that although we will continue to maintain version 2.5 of Photographer’s Friend for the foreseeable future, all new features and enhancements moving forward will be added to version 3 ***

Version 2.3.2 (build 2.3.2) Feb 2018

  • Added support for 1-inch sensor size cameras, such as the Sony RX100M5.
    • Just select 1″ from the Format dial in the Depth of Field calculator to use this newly added sensor format.

Version 2.3 (build 2.3.1) Nov 2017

  • Introducing Pixel Peeper mode!
    • When enabled we calculate Depth of Field and Diffraction Limits from camera sensor size and megapixels.
    • Diffraction warning color coding for Airy Disk display and Aperture dial, selectable independently. Green when no problems, amber when there’s a risk of seeing effects of diffraction, and red when diffraction limited.
    • Added a new row of labels and button in the Depth of Field calculator for Advanced settings and information display.
    • The Pixel Pitch display label can be tapped toggle between Pixel Pitch and selected megapixels.
  • You can now enter a custom Circle of Confusion size as a basis for Depth of Field calculation.
  • Updated Depth of Field calculator help with information on custom Circle of Confusion and Pixel Peeper mode.
  • Added a link to a detailed article on Circle of Confusion, Airy Disk, and Diffraction to the links section.
  • Updated screen layouts to support iPhone X.
  • Fixed an ND Calculator bug that caused filter values to be included in calculation even after a partial slide of filter cell caused them to be deselected 

Version 2.2 (build 2.2.1) Oct 2017

  • Selected Neutral Density filters are now saved and restored after app or device restart
  • Added new Help pages with information on hiding/unhiding ND filters and updated other Help screenshots
  • Changed the Contact Us web link to point to the app Technical Support page contact form
  • Fixed a bug that caused the Quick Tips to be displayed every time the [Focus ft/m] label is tapped after the first install of the app. 

Version 2.1.2 (build 2.1.2) Oct 2017

  • Fixed a bug that crashed the app when the Help page links were tapped

Version 2.1 (build 2.1.1) Oct 2017

  • Added the ability to hide and unhide the neutral density filters. Slide left to hide. Press the (number of filters) Hidden button to see all hidden filters, and slide left again to unhide them as necessary.
  • Tapping the Hyperfocal Distance label now changes its color when the [Focus ft/m] is set to Hyperfocal Distance, and tapping again now restores the initially selected focus distance
  • Added two more medium format Camera Types and three new large format Camera Types
  • Added some Quick Tips to DoF Calc that display on the first launch to relay a few essential tips to help avoid confusion
  • Added a Quick Tips button in DoF Calc to present Quick Tips at any time
  • Changed help pages to stop truncation when the device’s system text size is set to larger than the default setting
  • Corrected an error where the Crop Factor 1.5 and Crop Factor 1.6 labels were reversed
  • Tweaked Depth of Field calculations for greater accuracy
  • Added an About Photographer’s Friend page to the bottom of the Help links page
  • Added a link to the Links tab to request to rate and review the app on the App Store
  • Squished a few other minor bugs

Version 2.0 (build: 2.0.5) Oct 2017

Completely rebuilt the app from the ground up!

  • Made the app universal, now supporting iPhone and iPad
  • Enabled both vertical and horizontal orientation use
  • Now works with iPad Split View
  • Included an improved user experience for the Depth of Field Calculator
  • Included an all-new Neutral Density Calculator
  • Changed the links page to include more links to helpful and relevant documents
  • Removed the old Podcasts Player, and included a link that opens the Podcast in the Apple Podcast app on the device
  • Included the Contact Us options in the Links tab
  • Included a Help tab with multi-page help for the Depth of Field calculator and Neutral Density calculator

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