Moment Pro Camera App vs BeastCam Pro Camera App

Which is better, the Moment Pro Camera App or the BeastCam Pro Camera App? If you’re a mobile photographer or filmmaker looking for manual control over your phone’s camera then you’ve probably heard of these apps. But, some reviews don’t do a good enough job of pitting these two apps head to head and as a result fail to fully prepare you for what using both of these apps is like.

Don’t worry, though, as we have Moment Pro Camera App vs BeatCam Pro Camera App to definitively prove who makes the best third party mobile photography and filmmaking app. No – Filmic Pro isn’t included.

Moment vs BeastGrip

To say this is a battle of the titans is an understatement. Both Moment and BeastGrip have been making mobile gear since 2013 though initially the former started with lenses and the latter focused on mounting and rigs. Do note that you will not need lenses from either company to use their iOS app,

At this point, however, both Moment and BeastGrip have expanded their lines to include lenses, filters, mounts, and more. That being said, BeastGrip’s lineup of lenses is more thorough as there are a number of different possible price points at which you can enter. The price points range from $39 to $200 and produce a wide array of results. For example, I recently tested the BeastGrip M-Series 0.6x Wide-Angle Lens against the Moment 18mm and Sandmarc 16mm and was disappointed in its performance. To use the M-Series Lens from BeastGrip you will need a BeastCage.

Moment lenses cost between $100 and $150 new but the company does offer used lenses and cases. To use a Moment Lens you will need either a Moment M-Series Case or a Moment M-Series Lens Adapter.

It would make sense to include Filmic Pro here too, but we already have a post comparing all three mobile filmmaking apps so that seemed like buzz kill. Additionally, Filmic Pro doesn’t offer mobile photography and filmmaking control in their base app so comparing two apps totalling over $35 against a $15 and $11 app respectively just doesn’t seem fair.

The Best iOS Camera Apps

Moment Pro Camera App Review

What does the Moment app do? Well, it claims to do everything that you could dream a mobile photography and filmmaking app could do but in actuality using the Moment Pro Camera app isn’t an overwhelmingly positive experience. To explain, I’ve experienced dropped frame rates for video, poor audio for video, and unsatisfying results for long exposure photography in the slow shutter mode. Additionally, according to iPhoneographers on Youtube the LOG color profile in the Moment Pro Camera app isn’t actually true LOG at all. LOG is a color profile where the initial output is dull and flat but the camera collects more visual data which makes the resulting video clip much more manipulatable in post-production. When compared to other LOG options out there the Moment Pro Camera app LOG color profile falls flat – really flat.

I am a fan of the Moment Pro Camera timelapse mode as it produces more aesthetically pleasing motion blur without the need for editing software. That being said, I learned in the Moment Lesson from Andy To that you get better timelapse results by shooting around five minutes of video, speeding it up 5000%, and applying a motion blur of some kind. If you do not have Final Cut or Adobe Premiere though the Moment Pro Camera App timelapse feature produces results that are almost as good.

How much is the Moment Pro Camera app? That’s a tough question because Moment always has deals of some kind going on. At time of writing, the base app with mobile photography and filmmaking modes featuring full manual control costs $6.99 with in-app purchase options of $3.99 for slow-shutter and timelapse modes, each. I recommend buying the Pro Bundle for $4.99, which will unlock both timelapse and slow-shutter mode, as I use these two modes more than the mobile photo and video ones.

How do you use the Moment Pro Camera app? Well, there probably should be a whole post and video dedicated to this question so comment ‘Moment Pro Camera App Tutorial Please!” below if that’s something that you’d like to see.

Pros

• Affordable photo and video app that does more than the competition
• Controls are easy to use
• App is intuitive for some stuff (complicated for others)

Cons

• Unreliable
• Dropped frames problem is too prevelant
• Buggy app
• Comes in pieces

BeastCam Pro Camera App Review

I use the BeastCam Pro Camera App from BeastGrip almost exclusively when filming videos for the Youtube channel because I can trust it. No – BeastCam doesn’t have all the flash of the Moment Pro Camera App or Filmic Pro but it does work every time on my iPhone 11 Pro. The only issue I have ever had with BeastCam was with an iPhone XR and the Moment 1.33x Anamorphic Lens. The skin and hair of the subject was weirdly colored but I deleted and redownloaded the app and the problem went away never to return.

BeastCam gives you everything you need and nothing you don’t. Intuitive manual control – from focus to exposure to white balance – and a streamlined no-nonsense app means the BeastCam is great for beginners and professionals alike. If you’re looking for an easy shooting experience on the BeastCam app then consider locking your exposure and allowing auto-focus to do its thing.

While BeastCam from BeastGrip costs just under $15 it’s an investment worth making. There’s nothing worse than doing a photo or video shoot only to realize that what you have is no good. Use BeastCam for the best chance of this never happening to you.

Pros

• Never fails
• Thorough photo and video control
• Intuitive for beginners and professionals alike

Cons

• No timelapse mode
• No slow shutter mode
• No color profiles
• Comparatively expensive

Moment Pro or BeastCam?

So, I’m going to continue to shoot primarily on BeastCam because I know from personal experience that it works – not just sometimes but every time. Part of the reason I choose mobile photography and filmmaking over the traditional methods is simplicity and ease of use and Moment’s Pro Camera app doesn’t deliver the performance and the peace of mind that BeastCam does. That being said, Moment’s Slow Shutter and Timelapse modes are fairly easy to use and do offer a feature that BeastCam does not.

Interested in learning more about these companies for mobile content creation? Give our full write-ups on Moment and BeastGrip a read then as you’ll learn more about the companies’ histories as well as their line-ups.

Comment your thoughts on BeastCam and the Moment Pro Camera App below and we’ll have a discussion about the merits of each app. If you feel like you want to open the Filmic Pro can of worms, we can discuss that one too.