Filmatic for iPhone
Q&A
The things people ask most. If yours is not here,write to us — the answer usually ends up on this page.
Metering
The meter reads differently from my handheld meter.
Filmatic meters through the iPhone camera, so its angle of view depends on the focal length you set. Match that to the lens you are actually shooting, and use spot mode when the subject is small against a much brighter or darker surround. A reflected reading off a bright sky and an incident reading at the subject are supposed to disagree.
Which frame format should I pick?
The one your camera exposes — 35mm, 645, 6×6, and so on. It sets the angle of view the focal length is interpreted against, so a 80mm on 6×6 meters like the normal lens it is rather than like a short telephoto.
My long exposures come out thin.
That is reciprocity failure, and it is what the reciprocity correction is for. Pick the film you loaded and Filmatic gives you a corrected time, with a countdown you can pause and resume.
Negative preview
The preview looks flat, or has a colour cast.
Use the eyedropper on the clear film base — the unexposed strip between frames — rather than on the picture itself. That sets the orange mask colour everything else is corrected against. It is saved per film stock, so you only do it once per stock.
The preview screen is black.
It needs camera access: Settings → Filmatic → Camera on your iPhone. It also needs a real device — there is no camera in the iOS Simulator.
What should I light the negative with?
Anything even and reasonably neutral: a light table, a tablet showing a white screen, or an overcast window. Uneven light shows up as a gradient across the frame that no amount of correcting will remove.
Purchases
I bought Pro but it is not unlocked.
Open the Pro screen and tap Restore Purchases, signed in with the Apple Account you bought it with. If it still does not unlock, email us — we will sort it out.
Is it a subscription?
No. Filmatic Pro is a one-time purchase, and it works on your other devices under the same Apple Account.
What happens to my rolls if I do not buy Pro?
Nothing. Everything you have already created stays, and stays editable. The limits only apply to creating new rolls and processes past the free ceiling, and deleting one frees the slot again.
Your data
Do I lose my rolls if I delete the app?
Yes — everything lives on the device, so deleting the app deletes its data. Export anything you want to keep first. If iCloud backup is on, your rolls are inside your own encrypted Apple backup.
Does Filmatic send anything anywhere?
No. It makes no network requests at all and contains no third-party code. See the privacy policy.