NightCap Camera: Long Exposure

Name: NightCap Camera: Long Exposure
Price: 2.99 USD
Rating: 4.4 (2955 reviews)
Author: RTD

Astrophotography and Low Light

$2.99

3K Ratings
Age Rating

4+
Years
Chart

#17
Photo & Video
Developer

RTD
Language

EN
+ 11 More
Size

10.4
MB

Photograph star trails or stunning smooth waterfalls. Capture a meteor mid-streak or traffic with light trails. And clear, detailed photos where there’s barely any light at all. One-time purchase, no subscription. ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY Four modes that automatically set the camera up for you. - Star Trails: watch the stars draw circles overhead - Meteors: automatic capture of shooting stars - ISS: the International Space Station passing over - Stars: starry skies and the Milky Way - New in version 10: Aurora, a time-lapse mode for the Northern and Southern Lights LONG EXPOSURE Hold the shutter open for seconds or minutes and movement becomes light. - Long Exposure: motion blur, or a cleaner shot when you hold still - Light Trails: traffic at night, fireworks, light painting - Both as time-lapse too, up to 4K with adjustable speed LOW LIGHT - ISO Boost for up to 4x beyond the standard camera range - Light Boost - Noise Reduction - Night Mode video and timelapse HANDHELD New in version 10. NightCap steadies and aligns every frame as you shoot, so long exposures no longer need a tripod. MANUAL CONTROL - Swipe to adjust exposure, ISO, focus and white balance - Camera Control on iPhone 16 and later - Zoom to 16x - Black and white mode Also includes an interval programmer, self-timer, and an Apple Watch app with live preview and remote control.

Ratings & Reviews

4.4

out of 5

3K Ratings

Great to have more control over iPhone camera
10/31/2021
txjlc
This app does a great job in giving you additional control over your iPhone camera and I have made some cool Astro shots with it. I just wish it had a few items refined. 1. Ability to have it open at night with preset settings. When you open the app, it freezes due to trying to find the correct exposure and do a live view. This slows you down trying to capture your first shot. 2. Better ability to hold settings during a session. You get the ISO, focus and shutter set and take pictures. You stop to take a look in the photo app at your results. Then when you go back over to the app, all your settings are gone. Huge waste of time and effort and seems like a no-brainer. 3. EXIF data. I am shooting in tiff and none of the EXIF data is saved. That’s digital photography 101 to include the EXIF. I stopped having to write down shooting data 20 years ago. If you work around these items, you can get some nice shots.
Great to have more control over iPhone camera
10/31/2021
txjlc

This app does a great job in giving you additional control over your iPhone camera and I have made some cool Astro shots with it. I just wish it had a few items refined. 1. Ability to have it open at night with preset settings. When you open the app, it freezes due to trying to find the correct exposure and do a live view. This slows you down trying to capture your first shot. 2. Better ability to hold settings during a session. You get the ISO, focus and shutter set and take pictures. You stop to take a look in the photo app at your results. Then when you go back over to the app, all your settings are gone. Huge waste of time and effort and seems like a no-brainer. 3. EXIF data. I am shooting in tiff and none of the EXIF data is saved. That’s digital photography 101 to include the EXIF. I stopped having to write down shooting data 20 years ago. If you work around these items, you can get some nice shots.
Maybe back in the day...
10/18/2018
WyoBret
I enjoy spending time outdoors and was looking for an app that would take great pictures in low light. Read lots of reviews about this app before buying. Unfortunately, it appears that this app isn’t really relevant any more, unless you have some unusual need or desire to control every little thing. If that’s you, then this app is for you and is great at giving you that total control. However, using the iPhone X on iOS 12... the native camera app with its automatic features outperforms the touted AI on this app hands down. Probably a great app in its heyday, but not worth the $1.99 today. Still can’t get a decent picture of the Milky Way on my phone but at this point I’m done trying. It’s clear the only way to get good pictures is with a good expensive camera, not with a cheap app in the App Store. No offense to the developer intended.UPDATE: It’s now been a few weeks of using this app, trying to give it the benefit of doubt. Unfortunately, my review took it from 2-stars to just 1, and even that is generous. This app lacks even basic functionality and pales in comparison to the native camera app. Further, the Halide app is easier to use, has more features, and actually differs greatly from the native camera app. Sorry developers. It is my recommendation to anyone considering this NightCap app to absolutely skip it. As soon as I’m done with this review, I’m deleting the app from my phone. Lesson learned— spend a couple extra bucks to get a decent app!

Developer Response
Photos should normally be better than the standard Camera app in low light so long as you keep the iPhone as still as possible or use a tripod, and with NightCap the difference should be more visible the darker it gets (to really see this, try photographing the stars with both apps). For best results try using Long Exposure mode, this gives far better results than the standard camera app but requires a tripod.The difference is smaller with newer iPhones, but we’re busy working on a major update to NightCap Camera that will dramatically improve results on all iPhone models. Pease be patient in the meantime.There are photo galleries (mostly taken by customers) showing what’s possible and tutorials explaining how to get best results from the app at nightcapcamera.com. If you’re still not getting good results, please mail us at support@nightcapcamera.com and we'll do our best to help.
Maybe back in the day...
10/18/2018
WyoBret

I enjoy spending time outdoors and was looking for an app that would take great pictures in low light. Read lots of reviews about this app before buying. Unfortunately, it appears that this app isn’t really relevant any more, unless you have some unusual need or desire to control every little thing. If that’s you, then this app is for you and is great at giving you that total control. However, using the iPhone X on iOS 12... the native camera app with its automatic features outperforms the touted AI on this app hands down. Probably a great app in its heyday, but not worth the $1.99 today. Still can’t get a decent picture of the Milky Way on my phone but at this point I’m done trying. It’s clear the only way to get good pictures is with a good expensive camera, not with a cheap app in the App Store. No offense to the developer intended.UPDATE: It’s now been a few weeks of using this app, trying to give it the benefit of doubt. Unfortunately, my review took it from 2-stars to just 1, and even that is generous. This app lacks even basic functionality and pales in comparison to the native camera app. Further, the Halide app is easier to use, has more features, and actually differs greatly from the native camera app. Sorry developers. It is my recommendation to anyone considering this NightCap app to absolutely skip it. As soon as I’m done with this review, I’m deleting the app from my phone. Lesson learned— spend a couple extra bucks to get a decent app!
Developer Response 10/18/2018
Photos should normally be better than the standard Camera app in low light so long as you keep the iPhone as still as possible or use a tripod, and with NightCap the difference should be more visible the darker it gets (to really see this, try photographing the stars with both apps). For best results try using Long Exposure mode, this gives far better results than the standard camera app but requires a tripod.The difference is smaller with newer iPhones, but we’re busy working on a major update to NightCap Camera that will dramatically improve results on all iPhone models. Pease be patient in the meantime.There are photo galleries (mostly taken by customers) showing what’s possible and tutorials explaining how to get best results from the app at nightcapcamera.com. If you’re still not getting good results, please mail us at support@nightcapcamera.com and we'll do our best to help.
A MUST HAVE for astrophotography and a wonderful dev team!
Aug 1
SRRyan20
I’ve been using NightCap for years for astrophotography, and it’s become one of those rare apps that stays on my iPhone because I genuinely use it. Whether I’m photographing the Milky Way, star trails, or just experimenting with low-light photography, it’s consistently produced results that simply aren’t possible with the standard camera app.What really prompted me to write this review, though, was my recent experience with the developer. I reached out with a feature request after noticing that background music would stop while using the app. I honestly wasn’t expecting much, but they responded quickly, explained that the issue had already been addressed in the upcoming version, and even invited me to help beta test the new release.It’s refreshing to see a small developer who genuinely listens to users and is passionate about improving their app. That kind of support is becoming increasingly rare.If you’re interested in night photography or astrophotography on iPhone, I highly recommend giving NightCap a try. It’s been one of my favorite photography apps for years, and after interacting with the developer, I’m even more confident recommending it to anyone interested in night photography on iPhone.
A MUST HAVE for astrophotography and a wonderful dev team!
Aug 1
SRRyan20

I’ve been using NightCap for years for astrophotography, and it’s become one of those rare apps that stays on my iPhone because I genuinely use it. Whether I’m photographing the Milky Way, star trails, or just experimenting with low-light photography, it’s consistently produced results that simply aren’t possible with the standard camera app.What really prompted me to write this review, though, was my recent experience with the developer. I reached out with a feature request after noticing that background music would stop while using the app. I honestly wasn’t expecting much, but they responded quickly, explained that the issue had already been addressed in the upcoming version, and even invited me to help beta test the new release.It’s refreshing to see a small developer who genuinely listens to users and is passionate about improving their app. That kind of support is becoming increasingly rare.If you’re interested in night photography or astrophotography on iPhone, I highly recommend giving NightCap a try. It’s been one of my favorite photography apps for years, and after interacting with the developer, I’m even more confident recommending it to anyone interested in night photography on iPhone.
It does the job
11/19/2021
sammjenner
This app is okay. I wouldn’t really recommend using it for taking pictures of the moon (unless you have a telescope handy). Even if you use their tutorial on how to take a picture of the moon, it’s still left grainy and undefined. The stars mode definitely helps taking pictures of the stars, but they are kind of just a glob in the sky. My BIGGEST issue is the constant lag and freezing. It seems that if you try to adjust the settings too much, the app doesn’t know what to do so it ultimately freezes, leaving you to close the app and start again. I’ve tried uninstalling the app, powering my phone off.. but the lag continues. It does get the job done to a certain extent, but you need lots of patience to work the app. It definitely isn’t worth $3 though. With all the downfalls this app has, it honestly should be free. The only reason i’m giving it a three star is because it does help me take pictures of the moon with my telescope. Otherwise, this is app is just messy and not worth it.
It does the job
11/19/2021
sammjenner

This app is okay. I wouldn’t really recommend using it for taking pictures of the moon (unless you have a telescope handy). Even if you use their tutorial on how to take a picture of the moon, it’s still left grainy and undefined. The stars mode definitely helps taking pictures of the stars, but they are kind of just a glob in the sky. My BIGGEST issue is the constant lag and freezing. It seems that if you try to adjust the settings too much, the app doesn’t know what to do so it ultimately freezes, leaving you to close the app and start again. I’ve tried uninstalling the app, powering my phone off.. but the lag continues. It does get the job done to a certain extent, but you need lots of patience to work the app. It definitely isn’t worth $3 though. With all the downfalls this app has, it honestly should be free. The only reason i’m giving it a three star is because it does help me take pictures of the moon with my telescope. Otherwise, this is app is just messy and not worth it.

10.1.1 fixes a photo metadata issue on iOS 26. 10.1 adds manual aperture control on iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. - Choose your f-stop alongside shutter speed and ISO, for control over depth of field. - Automatic exposure now opens the lens as wide as it will go, to gather the most light at night. - Other fixes and improvements.

Version 10.1.1 Sep 19

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Accessibility

Information

Seller: RTD
Size: 10.4 MB
Category: Photo & Video
Compatibility: Requires iOS 18.6 or later.

iPhone
Requires iOS 18.6 or later.

iPad
Requires iPadOS 18.6 or later.

Apple Watch
Requires watchOS 10.6 or later.
Languages: English and 11 more

English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Thai, Traditional Chinese
Age Rating: 4+

4+

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