Director's viewfinder apps compared, checked November 2026

The apps at a glance

Prices are Apple's US prices and ratings are US App Store counts, both checked November 2, 2026, on each app's App Store record. Ratings move daily. "Not stated" means the seller's own pages say nothing either way.

When to choose each one

• Cutvey Viewfinder: the job rents any camera, the kit mixes series, and you want depth of field and a Watch remote in one purchase.
• Cadrage: the most-reviewed one-price app, with setups shared by QR code.
• Artemis: your production already works in it, or the frame must stream to other iPhones and iPads on set.
• Lightframer Pro: exteriors with a 3D shadow map and AR stand-ins, or Android.
• Magic ViewFinder: one camera maker, a free start, ads included.
• Mark II: stills, DNG captures and medium format backs.
• Viewfinder Preview: stills or film, a cheap framer with a light meter.
• FrameUp: a student's free, quick framer.

How we checked

We searched the App Store for "director's viewfinder", "cine viewfinder" and "magic viewfinder" on November 2, 2026, and kept the apps that simulate a real camera and lens on the phone's picture. For each we read its US App Store page, Apple's lookup record and the seller's own site. A feature counts as "Yes" only when the seller says so. Our own figures were counted from the app's bundled data that day.

What separates them on a scout

The camera list, down to the recording mode

A body has more than one sensor size: an ALEXA 35 in 4.6K 3:2 Open Gate and the same camera in 4K 16:9 see different pictures through the same 35mm. Cutvey Viewfinder frames from each recording mode's active area, across 2,309 modes on 722 bodies. Under every mode it prints a source line: the maker, the method and the date the figure was read. 958 modes are read from a published figure, 1,245 are worked out from the published pixel pitch, and 108 carry a Provisional badge until a person checks them again. No other app here prints a source per mode, and Cadrage and Artemis describe their databases in words. Try any body in the camera search, or work the angle out by hand with the field of view calculator.

Lens kits

A rental order of ZEISS Supreme Primes might fill its long end with an ARRI Signature 125. Cutvey Viewfinder lets one kit mix series ("Mixed primes"). Cadrage's own help says it selects one lens series at a time. Most apps here handle anamorphic in some form; Cutvey Viewfinder has 108 anamorphic series and accepts any squeeze up to 2.05x on a series you add yourself. Building a kit and choosing a lens package.

Light and focus

Sun paths are now standard: Cadrage, Artemis (through Helios), Lightframer Pro and Cutvey Viewfinder all draw one. Lightframer goes furthest, with a 3D shadow map of the buildings around you. Depth of field is where the apps split. Cutvey Viewfinder has near, far, total and hyperfocal in a panel beside the frame, with the circle of confusion set by the mode's gate. Cadrage sells depth of field as a separate app. The depth of field calculator on this site uses the same rule.

What you bring back

Cutvey Viewfinder's stills are HEIC files whose EXIF describes the simulated camera and lens. Its takes record the composed frame with lines and look burned in: HEVC up to 1920 px, 30 fps (24 when the phone runs hot), 10 minutes each. Its PDF shot list comes in three depths, the fullest with time, GPS, bearing, a map code and an Apple Maps link. Lightframer adds storyboard animatics, and Mark II captures DNG. Planning on paper? Use the free shot list template.

On set

Two apps here put the frame on the village monitor. Artemis does it through an Apple TV with Artemis TV, and also streams to nearby Artemis users. Cutvey Viewfinder sends a clean feed to a monitor on a cable or to an AirPlay screen, with a lower third naming the camera, mode, lens and aspect, while the phone keeps the controls. Cutvey Viewfinder also has an Apple Watch remote: with the iPhone app open on the viewfinder, the Watch shows the frame at about 1.5 frames a second and fires the shutter, and the Digital Crown steps through the kit. Its App Store page is the only one here that lists Apple Watch.

How Cutvey Viewfinder behaves on the phone

• It reads your phone's cameras as it runs. The field of view of each back camera comes from iOS for the exact capture format in use, so a new iPhone works without an app update.
• It picks the phone camera for you, or lets you pin one. On AUTO it frames on the main camera, moves to the ultra wide only when the frame does not fit the main camera, and to the telephoto only when the main camera would have to zoom past its limit. Tap a camera chip instead and the app frames on that camera whatever the lens. In low light or close up, iOS can stay on a wider camera than the one asked for; the app then does not treat the framing as settled.
• It tells you when the phone runs out. If your lens sees wider than the phone's widest camera, the missing edge is drawn as a band (purple, charcoal or black) and the status reads "Beyond this phone · frame is a guide". When the phone is scaling the picture up, it reads "Digital zoom: reduced resolution".
• You can check it yourself. Settings > Calibration has a MEASURE for each camera: point at something of known width from a known distance and slide until its edges meet two marks. The frame is as accurate as its sources, and this is how you test yours.
• Your shots stay put. Shots stay on your devices unless you save, share or export them, and the library is kept out of device backups, so save to Photos before you move phones. Where shots are kept.

The rest of the shelf

New indie viewfinders keep arriving in 2026: CamPlot Director's Viewfinder (free, 4.78 from 18 US ratings, November 2, 2026), The Director's Viewfinder and FinderKit among them. Kader is Android only.

If you are new to the idea, start with what a director's viewfinder is and how to tech scout. For two apps head to head, see the comparisons.

Questions