Benshi

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

[email protected]