Benshi
The slow retro film camera
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases
iPhone
Not just film looks — real lens simulation too. 70 looks, 32 films, 8 vintage lenses, 5 developers. Plus deep Japan: half-frame, postcard, era stamps, benshi captions.
A retro film camera for the iPhone era.
Benshi turns every photo into a piece of film. Portrait mode is the heart of the app — your darkroom in your pocket. Landscape mode turns into a small cinema for video, when you want it.
Benshi (弁士) is named after the silent-film narrators of 1920s Japan, who gave voice to silent movies. The app gives that same voice to your photos.
THE PHOTO ENGINE
A real darkroom recreated at the pixel level. Five Metal shaders simulate silver-halide grain, the H&D characteristic curve, wavelength-separated halation, reciprocity failure, and 16-bit half-float color. Not a filter chain — actual physical simulation.
Choose from 70 looks across 7 categories (Mood · People · Nature · City · Digital · Japan · Masters), then dial in 32 film stocks, 5 developers, and 8 lens profiles. About 90,000 combinations — every photo can become something different.
LENS SIMULATION (rare beyond film-only apps)
Most film apps stop at the film. Benshi also simulates the lens. Body × Lens × Film × Developer — swirly Helios bokeh, dreamy Summilux glow, thoriated amber cast, flat cine glass. 8 profiles from 28mm to 85mm, each with its own optical character, plus two cinema lenses for video.
MANUAL CONTROLS & PRESETS
Shoot like a rangefinder: continuous AF, spot metering, MF punch-in focus, AEB exposure bracketing, an intervalometer, and 7 white-balance presets. Save any setup as a camera preset and recall it in one tap, or build and name your own film × developer × look as a custom recipe (Pro).
DEEP JAPANESE CULTURE (no other app does this)
• Half-frame mode — two shutter presses become one diptych, like the 1963 Olympus Pen
• Postcard (絵葉書) export — horizontal 1.48:1 with 罫線 lines and a vermilion 印鑑 date stamp
• Ghost photo (心霊写真) — 1970s Japanese summer ghost-story-book mood
• Slow-develop mode — recreates the "wait for develop" feeling of disposable cameras
• 7 era presets (Showa 1965-74 / 1975-84 / 1985-88 / Heisei early / mid / late / Reiwa)
• 3 Japanese era date stamps (和暦 / 印鑑 / typewriter / LED90s)
• 12 camera skins (5 base + 7 Japanese era cameras: Half-Frame 63 · Bubble 88 · Showa Disposable 27 · Expo 70 · Heisei Digicam 01 · etc)
RAW + RE-DEVELOP
Automatic DNG capture on supported devices. Re-develop the same negative with different film, developer, lens, and effects — without losing the original. EXIF data preserved.
LANDSCAPE FOR VIDEO
Turn your iPhone sideways and Benshi becomes a small cinema. 16 video looks at 1080p (8 base + 4 Showa retro + 4 Japanese cinema), manual dial and grip, stop trick, ghost mode, iris transitions, film leader countdown, intertitle cards, procedural piano BGM. Cinema-style lens profiles (cineVintage50 / cineDreamy50) for that anamorphic feeling.
STORY MODE
Record 3 short clips and Benshi assembles a vertical 9:16 silent film with AI benshi captions in 4 title styles — ready to share. Free to use; only the watermark differs.
PRICING
• Lifetime $14.99 — pay once, no subscription drama
• Monthly $4.99 with 7-day free trial
• Family Sharing supported
The free tier includes 22 of 70 looks, 4 video looks, RAW capture, and Story Mode (with watermark). Try Pro free for 7 days.
AUTO-RENEWING SUBSCRIPTION INFO
• Benshi Pro Monthly — $4.99/month with a 7-day free trial. Payment charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase.
• Subscription auto-renews at the same price unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the period.
• Manage or cancel: Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.
• Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when purchasing a subscription.
TERMS
Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy Policy: https://windgksh.github.io/ibouCamera-policy/
CONTACT
admin@ibou.ai
Ratings & Reviews
Benshi 1.0.3 — keep your shots, shape your story.
NEW
• Auto-Save to Photos — switch it on in Settings and every developed photo is saved to your iOS Photos library too, automatically. Off by default — your in-app gallery is always kept, and you can still export individually.
• Story clip manager — before you create your silent film, reorder your scenes by dragging, or remove one you don't want.
• Photo Info — tap the info button on any photo to see its developer, film and look, plus full camera EXIF: ISO, shutter, aperture, lens.
• Batch re-develop (Pro) — select several photos and re-develop them all with one developer in a single tap. Your originals are always kept.
• Darkroom undo / redo — step back and forward through your tuning adjustments without starting over.
• Customize your tools — pick exactly which advanced tools show up in the camera, and hide the ones you never touch.
POLISH
• Faster gallery loading, smoother sliders, and general stability improvements.
Thank you for shooting slow with us.
The developer, IbouAI, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Ibou AI Co.,Ltd.
- Size
- 34.4 MB
- Category
- Photo & Video
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
English and 2 more
- English, Japanese, Korean
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Benshi Pro Lifetime $14.99
- Benshi Pro Monthly $4.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 ibou.ai
