What Scouting/Planning Apps Are You Using in 2021?

[r.e.]

I find these apps very helpful...

Artist's Viewfinder, Mark II (https://www.artistsviewfinder.com)

For iOS, US$30/€33

As the first photo below shows, this is a digital Director's Viewfinder. Fairly new to the app, I have it on my iPhone and find it invaluable for scouting. If I like a particular view with a particular focal length, I can capture it from the app for later planning. It sure is a step up from a wire or cardboard frame and a piece of string. It looks like this app has been around for several years, and it's actively developed. No instructional videos on YouTube, but there's a thorough 75 page manual. For me, the performance easily justifies the price.

Photo Pills (https://www.photopills.com) and PlanIt! (http://www.planitphoto.com)

For iOS and Android, $10

These are two of the leading apps for planning astronomy photographs. They're also brilliant for planning an outdoor shoot if you want to know the path of the sun or moon and where either will be, at a given time, in relation to your camera and subject. Photo Pills was used to plan the second photo below, telling the photographer in advance exactly where the moon would be in relation to his camera, and when. Want to know what days of the year a specific phase of the moon will be in the position in the photo? Or, when you can photograph Manhattanhenge over the next year, and what the view will be from a given position? These apps will tell you.

The developers of these apps are in competition and they are both proactive on enhancements and new features. Each app has its adherents. There's a view, which I share, that Photo Pills is more intuitive; or, put another way, that PlanIt! has a longer learning curve. Both have YouTube channels with detailed instructional videos. I like the presentation style of the Photo Pills videos, but some may prefer the more businesslike PlanIt! videos. I have both apps, due to curiosity and because they're inexpensive, but you only need one of them. These apps offer a lot of information. They're OK on a phone screen, but I prefer to use them with the larger screen of an iPad.


Artist's Viewfinder Screen with User Specified Frame Lines

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Photograph Planned with Photo Pills

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[lassethomas]

I use the The Photographer’s Ephemeris https://photoephemeris.com. Its a map-based Sun, Moon, and Milky Way calculator with some nifty augmented reality features.

Comes for desktop and iPhone

[r.e.]

I use the The Photographer’s Ephemeris https://photoephemeris.com. Its a map-based Sun, Moon, and Milky Way calculator with some nifty augmented reality features.

Comes for desktop and iPhone

Right. Photographer's Ephemeris is the long-standing established player. Photo Pills and PlanIt! are the new kids on the block, trying to take over the sun, moon, stars market.

[Alan Klein]

I've been using my Olympus E-PL1 micro 4/3 camera as a director's viewfinder for my 4x5 large format camera. I use its zoom lens to select which 4x5 lens. Plus I can switch to monochrome or color depending on which film I'm using. I also use it as a light meter checking the histogram and blinkies for clipping. I can shoot a picture of the subject for future reference. I also use the video mode to record the camera settings I use on the camera along with movements and other pertinent data I transcribe when I get home. I don't have to fiddle around writing things down.

A smaller P&S would be better. But their aperture settings don't go small enough maybe to f/7 or f/9 while the Olympus goes down to f/22. Although I lost my eye-level viewfinder, that's a nice feature to use in bright sunlight if you're considering a camera as a light meter and/or director's viewfinder.

[Daniel Stone]

I use topographic maps, always carry a thomas guide or printed out current/up-to-date map available from the local county for the areas I will be traveling in/through, and have gps on my smart phone(assuming no service in areas, hence the maps). Have a friend who is a AAA member get you some free maps if you're not a member.

Cardboard windows cut to your chosen format/frame size takes no batteries, is lightweight, and can be made in 5mins or less. Put a shoestring loop on them and hang em around your neck.

I "scout" with a DSLR if the required walk is longer than 200m from the car. Unless I know it's good, I can always burn some extra calories doing two trips. Having some digital 36mp stills also affords me some backup plans if something happens with the film.

LESS IS MORE

[r.e.]

LESS IS MORE

Which is why I'm now using the apps mentioned in post #1 instead of all the stuff in your post above :)

Topographic maps in hard copy? I hate to tell you this, but when I fly an airplane all the maps (aeronautical charts) are on an iPad. Same for my nautical charts. Are paper topographic charts even being updated at this point?

Just received the 4x5 and 8x10 film holder sleeves that you make. Really nice, even if you are a bit of a Luddite.

[Alan Klein]

Which is why I'm now using the apps mentioned in post #1 instead of all the stuff in your post above :)

Topographic maps in hard copy? I hate to tell you this, but when I fly an airplane all the maps (aeronautical charts) are on an iPad. Same for my nautical charts. Are paper topographic charts even being updated at this point?

Just received the 4x5 and 8x10 film holder sleeves that you make. Really nice, even if you are a bit of a Luddite.

You have power on an airplane for an iPad. But not so if you're hiking in the wild.

As an aside, I use to printout my 24k topo maps on Waterproof paper. It doesn't tear or crease and lasts "for ever". It's pricey for about a dollar a sheet. But you can print on both sides with your inkjet printer. Check out if laser color printers work. I'm not too sure because of the heat. You can write on it in the field and all printing lasts. I haven't tried this brand so maybe you can get a sample from them to try with your printer.
https://www.amazon.com/iGage-Weatherproof-Paper-8-5-x11/dp/B00006687T/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=national+geographic+adventure+paper&qid=1628421943&sr=8-3

[Tin Can]

Was that a 'polite' insult?

some of us like LF for it's non computer process

sure i am all over this site, BECAUSE it is full of luddites

i vastly prefer film or plate capture with optical printing

I use modern toys that will fall us just when we really need them, because they exist for a while, temporary brain food

I also capture souls any way I can




Which is why I'm now using the apps mentioned in post #1 instead of all the stuff in your post above :)

Topographic maps in hard copy? I hate to tell you this, but when I fly an airplane all the maps (aeronautical charts) are on an iPad. Same for my nautical charts. Are paper topographic charts even being updated at this point?

Just received the 4x5 and 8x10 film holder sleeves that you make. Really nice, even if you are a bit of a Luddite.

[r.e.]

Was that a 'polite' insult?

some of us like LF for it's non computer process

sure i am all over this site, BECAUSE it is full of luddites

i vastly prefer film or plate capture with optical printing

I use modern toys that will fall us just when we really need them, because they exist for a while, temporary brain food

I also capture souls any way I can

Insult? If you're trying to show that you have no sense of humour, you're doing a great job of it.

The "insulting sentence" refers to Daniel Stone's sleeves for film holders. This is the thread that I started about them yesterday: Film Holder Sleeves: Gnass Gear & Stone Photo (https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?164834-Film-Holder-Sleeves-Gnass-Gear-amp-Stone-Photo)

You've not only read that thread, you've posted in it. Maybe one day you'll find at least a rudimentary sense of humour.

[abruzzi]

For me, the number one "planning" app is google maps, though I don't really use it on a phone or iPad, but rather at home, figuring a place to go, finding interesting locations, even figuring out how you get there. Once I'm actually travelling, I don't use it, because as a navigational GPS app, it sucks (for my purposes.) By that point, I load routes into my Garmin (a very old one) but it works perfectly for me.

For the last 15 years (except last year) my father and I have done 2000-3000 mile motorcycle trips around the southwest every year, and a huge part of my enjoyment was planning routes to find interesting and beautiful places. That whole processes substitutes for the first half of photo scouting. Street view gives me a ground level view of the locations, so I can see the environs, traffic, population density. It doesn't get too close to many locations where I actually want to photograph, but it gives a good sense of what I'll find there. Street view also shows linked photos so I can see places off the road. If I see a huge cluster of photos at a location, I know its heavily visited. Many times that will actually turn me off, since I don't really want to fight crowds to get a photo, but it can still hint at possible other locations.

Once I get to a location, my process is more old school--I just drive around looking for interesting things. I used to hike around, but 15 years ago an idiot driver made sure I can only walk short distances. I use a viewfinder off a Technika to find a spot for a photo I want to take, then I mark the ground somehow--if its sand, like 90% of New Mexico, I just use my foot to draw an X in the ground, otherwise, just stack a couple of rocks. or similar. The viewfinder tells me what focal length lens I need, so I walk back to the vehicle, grab only what I need, and return to the spot, setup and take the picture.

For a number of years I used an app on my phone to record all my photo information--camera, lens, exposure settings, GPS--but moving to large format, has made me less worrysome about recording too many details. (during my digital years, I always used a camera with a built in GPS to record the location of every shot, so when I'd go into Aperture, I could see all my photos layed out on a map. May of my 35mm shots (the digitized version) have lat/log attached.) Today I just use a little notepad that Stearman sells. I'm slowly building to the point in 7 years when I retire and I can ditch my smart phone entirely.

I don't use anything to plan specific shots, partly because they seem to contribute to overly composed shots, which I really don't like. I have a friend (a digital friend) who uses apps like that extensively. He plans shots months in advance so he knows the exact day and time he needs to take his shot to have the sun framed by the branches of a tree or somthing like that. I prefer the serendipity of the moment (though I will likely use something like that in a couple years when I travel to Durango, Mexico for the upcoming solar eclipse (April 2024)--when something only happens for 2 minutes, serendipity to a weak partner.)

[Drew Bedo]

Ummm . . . .I generally walk around a scene till I find a vignette I like. Then I set up the Camera and put a lens on it. My current suite in 4x5 is 90mm, 15mm and 210mm. Then I look at the ground glass while moving the camera slightly. When the composition comes together I do the other things necessary to capture it on film.

If the composition won't work with that lens, I change lenses. If the composition won't come together from that set up, I move the tripod a few feet or a few yards then try it again. Some times even though there is an interesting composition out there, it still won't work due to factors such as changing conditions, sun, clouds wind etc. Then I pack it up and go somewhere else.

I cannot imaging an an app that would give me the same joy as finding a great image on my ground glass.

[r.e.]

I have a friend (a digital friend) who ... plans shots months in advance so he knows the exact day and time he needs to take his shot to have the sun framed by the branches of a tree or something like that. I prefer the serendipity of the moment (though I will likely use something like that in a couple years when I travel to Durango, Mexico for the upcoming solar eclipse (April 2024)--when something only happens for 2 minutes, serendipity to a weak partner.)


Having done a bit of motorcycle touring myself, I enjoyed your post. This is a recent video on using Photo Pills (post #1) to plan photographs of a solar eclipse:

How to Plan a Photo of an Annular Solar Eclipse - June 10, 2021 | Step by Step Tutorial


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA_C3mBdWno



The screen capture below is from the Photo Pills app on iPad. Following the video, it shows the first step in planning to photograph the April 8, 2024 eclipse in Durango: pulling up the map of the eclipse's path over Mexico. I selected Apple Maps for this, but Photo Pills offers several map options, such as Google Maps and Open Street Map.


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[Alan Klein]

For me, the number one "planning" app is google maps, though I don't really use it on a phone or iPad, but rather at home, figuring a place to go, finding interesting locations, even figuring out how you get there. Once I'm actually travelling, I don't use it, because as a navigational GPS app, it sucks (for my purposes.) By that point, I load routes into my Garmin (a very old one) but it works perfectly for me.

For the last 15 years (except last year) my father and I have done 2000-3000 mile motorcycle trips around the southwest every year, and a huge part of my enjoyment was planning routes to find interesting and beautiful places. That whole processes substitutes for the first half of photo scouting. Street view gives me a ground level view of the locations, so I can see the environs, traffic, population density. It doesn't get too close to many locations where I actually want to photograph, but it gives a good sense of what I'll find there. Street view also shows linked photos so I can see places off the road. If I see a huge cluster of photos at a location, I know its heavily visited. Many times that will actually turn me off, since I don't really want to fight crowds to get a photo, but it can still hint at possible other locations.

Once I get to a location, my process is more old school--I just drive around looking for interesting things. I used to hike around, but 15 years ago an idiot driver made sure I can only walk short distances. I use a viewfinder off a Technika to find a spot for a photo I want to take, then I mark the ground somehow--if its sand, like 90% of New Mexico, I just use my foot to draw an X in the ground, otherwise, just stack a couple of rocks. or similar. The viewfinder tells me what focal length lens I need, so I walk back to the vehicle, grab only what I need, and return to the spot, setup and take the picture.

For a number of years I used an app on my phone to record all my photo information--camera, lens, exposure settings, GPS--but moving to large format, has made me less worrysome about recording too many details. (during my digital years, I always used a camera with a built in GPS to record the location of every shot, so when I'd go into Aperture, I could see all my photos layed out on a map. May of my 35mm shots (the digitized version) have lat/log attached.) Today I just use a little notepad that Stearman sells. I'm slowly building to the point in 7 years when I retire and I can ditch my smart phone entirely.

I don't use anything to plan specific shots, partly because they seem to contribute to overly composed shots, which I really don't like. I have a friend (a digital friend) who uses apps like that extensively. He plans shots months in advance so he knows the exact day and time he needs to take his shot to have the sun framed by the branches of a tree or somthing like that. I prefer the serendipity of the moment (though I will likely use something like that in a couple years when I travel to Durango, Mexico for the upcoming solar eclipse (April 2024)--when something only happens for 2 minutes, serendipity to a weak partner.)

Thanks for reminding me about Google maps. I forgot about it. I too probably use that more than any other app to find places, navigate, and get around. I also planned a 3000 mile tour of the SW on it by car hitting all the main national and state parks in Utah, Arizona and NM> https://goo.gl/maps/aTTUdS7hVKB5Niuy9 pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/albums/72157694819890421

I still use my Garmin GPS off-road. Also, like you, I have started using my micro 4/3 camera to setup 4x5 large format shots tripod locations, and to select the lens. I also use it as an exposure lightmeter. I also use the digital cameras video to record exposure settings, camera movements, focus points, etc which I transcribe to paper when I get home and keep with the film when developed.

I'm curious. How do you use your digital camera as a lightmeter? I shoot both chromes (Velvia 50 and Provia 100 as well as negative BW film such as Tmax 100 and 400). What do you look at in your digital camera and how do you transfer the info there to set your film exposure?

[abruzzi]

The screen capture below is from the Photo Pills app on iPad. Following the video, it shows the first step in planning to photograph the April 8, 2024 eclipse in Durango: pulling up the map of the eclipse's path over Mexico. I selected Apple Maps for this, but Photo Pills offers several map options, such as Google Maps and Open Street Map.


Initially I was hoping it would pass over Monterey, but its going to be a little too far north. There is a park just outside of Monterey that climbers use, that would make for a nice composition:

https://www.google.com/maps/@25.947786,-100.47669,3a,75y,233.46h,73.58t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMNnFW1d-9jrnt0WtoMU5BBp-TLCKM7xLDtnEhg!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMNnFW1d-9jrnt0WtoMU5BBp-TLCKM7xLDtnEhg%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya1.9999874-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Durango has some nice locations as well, but I don't know them as well.



I'm curious. How do you use your digital camera as a lightmeter? I shoot both chromes (Velvia 50 and Provia 100 as well as negative BW film such as Tmax 100 and 400). What do you look at in your digital camera and how do you transfer the info there to set your film exposure?


I think you misunderstood, I use my phone to record exposure information using an app called PhotoExif, I actually meter with a sekonic. The PhotoExif app isn't well suited to large format--its roll based--but it does work. I may go back to using it when my life settles down, but I'm too busy these days to do anything but wing it.

[Bill Poole]

I'm not sure of anyone has mentioned the Viewfinder Preview app, which frames the photo at various format-and-lens combinations. I don't find the emulsion emulations (also included) as helpful, but for choosing what lens to put on the camera and where to set up the tripod, it is worth the 4 bucks cost, imho. Uses the native phone camera, so no internet connection needed.

[Drew Bedo]

Has any one here read an account of how Ansel Adams shot "Moon Rise Over Hernandez NM"?

[r.e.]

I'm not sure of anyone has mentioned the Viewfinder Preview app, which frames the photo at various format-and-lens combinations. I don't find the emulsion emulations (also included) as helpful, but for choosing what lens to put on the camera and where to set up the tripod, it is worth the 4 bucks cost, imho. Uses the native phone camera, so no internet connection needed.

Artist's Viewfinder (post #1), Viewfinder Preview and Cadradge Director's Viewfinder are all viewfinder apps, but at different price points. I've only used Artist's Viewfinder.

[joelio]

Has any one here read an account of how Ansel Adams shot "Moon Rise Over Hernandez NM"?

Isn’t that the one where his iPhone died just as he was about to consult the Reciprocity Timer app?

;)

[pozzello]

Artist's Viewfinder (post #1), Viewfinder Preview and Cadradge Director's Viewfinder are all viewfinder apps, but at different price points. I've only used Artist's Viewfinder.

What do you guys do to preview wide angle lenses? My iPhone 8+ isn't wide enough..

[r.e.]

What do you guys do to preview wide angle lenses? My iPhone 8+ isn't wide enough..

I can get wide-angle frame lines in Artist's Viewfinder because I have an iPhone 11. It supports them natively for iPhone 11 and 12. Your phone would require a converter. Info here, and in the app's manual: Tech Specs (https://www.artistsviewfinder.com/tech-specs/)

I just purchased a 75mm lens for 4x5, and the native support for iPhone 11/12 works fine.

[pozzello]

I can get wide-angle frame lines in Artist's Viewfinder because I have an iPhone 11. It supports them natively for iPhone 11 and 12. Your phone would require a converter. Info here, and in the app's manual: Tech Specs (https://www.artistsviewfinder.com/tech-specs/)

I just purchased a 75mm lens for 4x5, and the native support for iPhone 11/12 works fine.


What converter would you recommend ? Would it work with the following lenses ?

72mm SA XL on 6x17
35/45/55 APO grandagon on 6x12
Hasselblad SWC 38mm 6x6

[r.e.]

What converter would you recommend ? Would it work with the following lenses ?

72mm SA XL on 6x17
35/45/55 APO grandagon on 6x12
Hasselblad SWC 38mm 6x6

I just checked the app. Like 4x5, it will create generic 6x17, 6x12 and 6x6 formats. From there, you can add whatever focal length frame lines you want.

I haven't used a converter so can't suggest one. Have a look at the link I gave you and what the app manual says about converters. I think that the developer has also written one or two blog posts about converters.

[Bill Poole]

>>What do you guys do to preview wide angle lenses? My iPhone 8+ isn't wide enough..<<

Interesting question. All I can tell you is that on my IPhone 12, Viewfinder Preview seems to allow me to preview framing for a 65mm lens on 4x5 format--wider than I would use, actually.

[r.e.]

What converter would you recommend ? Would it work with the following lenses ?

72mm SA XL on 6x17
35/45/55 APO grandagon on 6x12
Hasselblad SWC 38mm 6x6

I just looked at this further on my iPhone 11. The screen capture shows what the app offers me for 6x12. The widest is 58mm, which isn't wide enough for you. You might contact the app developer and see what he says about your specific needs and what a converter can do for you.

The Artist's Viewfinder app, and I assume the one that Bill Poole is talking about, uses the iPhone 11/12 camera's widest lens. That is presumably the limiting feature on how wide the app can go without a converter.

"Wide Required" in the screen capture refers to a button in the app that engages the camera's widest lens.


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[alan_b]

What converter would you recommend ? Would it work with the following lenses ?

72mm SA XL on 6x17
35/45/55 APO grandagon on 6x12
Hasselblad SWC 38mm 6x6
I have a Moment wide lens that I use on an iPhone 7, and it shows as wide as 56mm on 6x12 (Horseman 56 x 112mm). It's kind of a PITA to carry the extra lens around, so I'm looking forward to getting a new phone w/ a superwide lens built in.

As far as the Artist's Viewfinder app, I highly recommend it, even though it's "expensive" for a phone app. I use it all the time for scouting. Especially helpful in areas where I want to have the view camera pre-setup for a shot so I call as little attention to myself as possible.

[lassethomas]

What do you guys do to preview wide angle lenses? My iPhone 8+ isn't wide enough..

on my iPhone 8 II used som cheap crap I bought on some airport that somewhat worked in the sense it was better than nothing at all. Had to find the right magnification by trial and error. Before that on the iPhone 5 I had the Schneider iPro which was brilliant.

If you use it a lot and depend on it, upgrading to an iphone with a super wide lens is the best option. I've got the 12 mini now and it almost covers my 47mm on 4x5 with great quality.

[Drew Bedo]

>>What do you guys do to preview wide angle lenses? My iPhone 8+ isn't wide enough..<<


"Normal" eyesight covers an angle well over 120 degrees. I look at a scene and note what I'd like in it and where the edges might fall, then mount the lens and see where my mental edge markers fall. It helps some that work primarily with a 90mm, 150mm and 210mm as my regular 4x5 kit of lenses. So I am acustomed to how they cover the format. Sometimes I'll use a 75mm.

Tthe ground glass is truth.

[r.e.]

"Normal" eyesight covers an angle well over 120 degrees. I look at a scene and note what I'd like in it and where the edges might fall, then mount the lens and see where my mental edge markers fall. It helps some that work primarily with a 90mm, 150mm and 210mm as my regular 4x5 kit of lenses. So I am acustomed to how they cover the format. Sometimes I'll use a 75mm.

Tthe ground glass is truth.

Yes, you made your point about eschewing preview viewfinders in post #12 as well: "I cannot imagine an app that would give me the same joy as finding a great image on my ground glass".

You should explain this to feature film directors and cinematographers. They've been under the impression for decades, evidently misguided, that such viewfinders are not only useful for scouting and for making aesthetic decisions when shooting, but save them time and money. Look at the price, size and features of a traditional physical director's viewfinder and you'll know why an app on a phone or tablet is attractive. Then there's the poor man's viewfinder. Having used coat hanger wire or a cardboard cutout, together with a piece of string to emulate focal length, it took me about a minute to decide that my iPhone/iPad and an app is kinda a better idea.

We get it. You don't like the subject-matter of this thread and want everyone to know it. Meanwhile, the person you're responding to wants to know how to use an iPhone 8+, the camera of which is limited at the wide end compared to the camera in an iPhone 11 or 12, as a preview viewfinder for wide angle lenses. It would appear that the option that you favour is precisely the option that he wants to avoid.

[pozzello]

"Normal" eyesight covers an angle well over 120 degrees. I look at a scene and note what I'd like in it and where the edges might fall, then mount the lens and see where my mental edge markers fall. It helps some that work primarily with a 90mm, 150mm and 210mm as my regular 4x5 kit of lenses. So I am acustomed to how they cover the format. Sometimes I'll use a 75mm.

Tthe ground glass is truth.

And back in the real world - when I’m hiking in the Arctic in -30 degree weather, I prefer carrying a limited amount of equipment and getting an idea of what the scene will look like on my phone instead.

[Drew Bedo]

Sorrry to appear to be an anti-tech luddite. As the Seinfeld character George Costanza frequently said, "Its not you, its me." I broke into LF while working in diagnostic imaging using computer driven "Gamma Cameras" and isotopes as a Nuclear Medicine technologist. Back then, using a view camera was, for me, a step back from that.

By all means; if using an iPhone to help you visualize a composition, choose a lens and determine exposure go on ahead with that as your creative process. In the end the single most important thing is to get out and shoot, however you do it.

Cheers to all

[Drew Bedo]

And back in the real world - when I’m hiking in the Arctic in -30 degree weather, I prefer carrying a limited amount of equipment and getting an idea of what the scene will look like on my phone instead.

Well I do get your point. Under those conditions you want to keep everything packed up unless the image is worth the effort.

At my age (71) I now only go out to shoot in good weather. I grew up in Michigan (before Global Warming) and have been skiing, once in (only) twenty below zero. We now live on the Sunny South Coast in Houston.

If that creative process works for you, do what you need to do to "git 'er done!" in the words of Larry-The-Cable-Guy.

BTW: you might want to read the short story "To Build A Fire" by Jack London.

[Alan Klein]

I have this Zone VI viewing filter that I bought originally for my 6x7 Mamiya medium format. It kind of let's you see the scene in BW and the viewing shape matches the 6x7 format although this one is for 4x5. I have to check, but I think it's really the same one. The neck lanyard is handy. Depending how far you place it from your eye, that's how to determine which lens you'll need.

[r.e.]

I find these apps very helpful...

Artist's Viewfinder, Mark II (https://www.artistsviewfinder.com)

For iOS, US$30/€33

As the first photo below shows, this is a digital Director's Viewfinder. Fairly new to the app, I have it on my iPhone and find it invaluable for scouting. If I like a particular view with a particular focal length, I can capture it from the app for later planning. It sure is a step up from a wire or cardboard frame and a piece of string. It looks like this app has been around for several years, and it's actively developed. No instructional videos on YouTube, but there's a thorough 75 page manual. For me, the performance easily justifies the price.

Artist's Viewfinder Screen with User Specified Frame Lines

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There's an example of the practical use of Artist's Viewfinder, with photos taken with the app, in the following thread (the link goes to the relevant post): Alternative Center Filters for Rodenstock 75/4.5 Grandagon-N (https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?147126-Alternative-Center-Filters-for-Rodenstock-75-4-5-Grandagon-N&p=1611443&viewfull=1#post1611443)

As the post explains, the app played a significant role in my decision to purchase a 75mm lens. I think that the app is going to be invaluable for planning, and a timesaver, as the project discussed in the thread proceeds.

I'll also be using Photo Pills (posts #1 and #13) to get sunpath information, which is presented visually, to plan shooting days and times.

[pozzello]

Thanks for everyone’s help. I ordered an alloclip ultra wide on eBay and it can cover most of my lenses except for the 35/45mm apo grandagons.

Paul

[pozzello]

I spent the afternoon playing around with Mark II viewfinder and the alloclip and I'm very impressed. All my 617 lenses are covered, even the 72XL, and I'm amazed at how accurate it is compared to the ground glass viewfinder- basically identical. The 35mm APO grandagon is too wide for the app using a 612 back, but the 45mm is mostly covered except for edges - and good enough. I wish it had a way of simulating my Noblex 150 - so I'll keep using my iPhone in panorama mode and crop to get a general idea.

Love it.

[esearing]

My last weekends outing I walked around a tree taking Iphone 7 shots then edited them to B&W and cropping to 4x5 or square. It did help with overall visualization since I have been a bit out of practice for a few months. With a 5x12 preview I just had to crop more in edit mode. One thing to be careful of is that everything is in focus on the phone where as a real lens has limitations depending on fStop and focal point.

[tykos]

Has any one here read an account of how Ansel Adams shot "Moon Rise Over Hernandez NM"?

if someone has got experience to eye-ball a composition at first sight plus the time and money needed to roam around every day finding scenes, well that's good for him.
For all the other people i don't think it's a shame to use various aids.
I mean, AA was not using a lightmeter for a good part of his career but we are here today polishing our shiny spot-meters and babbling about the zone system or some variations of it.
Where do we draw the line between the modern witchcrafts and the ancient old good technology?

[r.e.]

I'm finding the Artist's Viewfinder helpful when using a 4x5 camera to make a smaller photograph such as 6x12. See this thread, especially post #16: Masking a Ground Glass for Cinema Aspect Ratios (https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?166341-Masking-a-Ground-Glass-for-Cinema-Aspect-Ratios)

[artcorr]

Alpa eFinder II (I think this is a rebranded Artist's Viewfinder?) for framing.

Lightmate for metering, surprisingly accurate.

Sunsurveyor for light tracking.

Snapseed for previewing b&w filters.

Dev It for dev times etc.