ChobialChobial vs mood.camera: two ways to shoot film on iPhone
mood.camera and Chobial both want iPhone photos to feel like film, and go about it in opposite ways. mood.camera is a point-and-shoot: no live preview, no RAW, no fiddling, by design. Chobial shows the film as you frame and keeps every photo as a RAW negative you can develop again. Neither is wrong. It depends how you like to work.
| Chobial | mood.camera | |
|---|---|---|
| Look live while you frame | Yes | No, on purpose |
| Saves RAW | Yes, every photo | No, on purpose |
| Change the look after the shot | Yes, with any film, any time | No |
| Make your own look | Yes | Yes, custom presets |
| Grain and halation | Yes | Yes |
| Share or import looks | QR code, file or .cube | Community presets as pages of settings; no import, on purpose |
| Manual controls | P, S, ISO and M, manual focus, peaking, zebras | An exposure dial |
| Editor with masks and heal | Yes | No |
| Open other cameras' RAW | Yes | No |
| Account | None | None |
| How you pay | Free to shoot, develop and make films; pay to export | 7-day trial, then a one-time purchase or monthly |
Where mood.camera is ahead
- Simplicity. Fewer decisions means more attention on the moment. If you want to point, shoot and never edit, that's mood.camera's whole point.
- Price. Its one-time price is low, and it has a free week to try it.
- A community of presets, published on its site with the settings to dial in.
Where Chobial is ahead
- You see the film before you shoot, and can compose for it.
- Nothing is final. Every photo stays a RAW negative, so a new film you make next year works on this year's photos. See re-developing old photos.
- Full control when you want it: manual modes, focus peaking, zebras, masks and heal.
Pick mood.camera
You want a simple, committed point-and-shoot and never want to edit.
Pick Chobial
You want to see the film live, keep the RAW, and be able to change your mind.
Sources, opened on 28 September 2026: mood.camera and its FAQ, mood.camera's presets, and its App Store listing. See all apps on the comparison page. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Questions
Why doesn't mood.camera show the look live?
It's a choice. mood.camera's FAQ says it wants you to stay in the moment and take photos rather than tweak settings. Chobial shows the film live, and you can hold the viewfinder to see the scene without it.
Can I get my photo back without the look in mood.camera?
mood.camera doesn't save a RAW file alongside the photo, by design. Chobial always keeps the RAW, so you can develop the photo again with another film at any time.
Can I use mood.camera's community presets in Chobial?
mood.camera publishes its community presets as pages of settings. Those settings are for mood.camera's own controls, so they won't carry over number for number, but you can build a similar film in Chobial with its grain, halation, tone and colour controls.