Short version: if you're happy in a spreadsheet and you fill it in reliably, don't let anyone talk you out of it — it costs nothing and you own the file outright. The case for an app is entry speed on a phone mid-roll, automatic location, an image per frame, and not having to design the thing yourself. If you're staying with a sheet, take our free CSV template.
Spreadsheets are the default for a reason. Everyone has one, columns are free, and a film log is a table — roll, frame, aperture, shutter, notes. Google Sheets syncs, Excel exports anywhere, and nobody can discontinue your file or change its pricing. That's a genuinely strong position, and quite a few photographers have run a sheet for a decade without ever wanting more.
Cost
Free tier covers two active rolls indefinitely. Pro lifts the limit and adds PDF export and custom icons.
View App Store listing ↗No purchase, no lock-in, no app to trust. The cost is the hour you spend designing columns, and the discipline to keep filling them in.
Get our free CSV templateWhich one fits you
Choose an app if…
- You log while shooting, standing up, one-handed — a sheet is painful there.
- You want location captured automatically instead of typed.
- You want a reference snap attached to a frame.
- You'd rather not maintain your own columns and formulas.
- You want double exposures handled without inventing a convention for them.
- You want roll status — loaded, shot, developed — tracked rather than remembered.
Stay with a spreadsheet if…
- You already have one you actually keep up to date. That's the whole ball game.
- You want columns nobody else would think of — developer, dilution, temperature, print notes.
- You want to pivot, chart and analyse your shooting.
- You want one file that opens on any computer in twenty years.
- You're not on an iPhone — Film Logbook is iPhone-only.
- You log at the desk after developing, not at the camera.
The real difference
It isn't features. It's the friction at the exact moment you have something to record.
Spreadsheets are excellent at the desk and awkward in the field. Tapping into a tiny grid with cold hands, scrolling sideways to find the right column, while the light changes — that's where sheets quietly fail. Not because they can't hold the data, but because you postpone it, and "I'll fill it in tonight" is where most film logs go to die. Half-remembered f-stops aren't data.
An app can be built for that specific moment: the camera and stock are already set for the roll, so a frame is a few taps; location comes along for free; and the structure — rolls containing frames, each with a status — is already decided, so there's nothing to design. The trade is real, though. You give up arbitrary columns, you give up pivot tables, and you're trusting an app to keep your archive rather than a file you can open anywhere.
Which is why the honest recommendation depends on a question about you, not about software: does your sheet actually get filled in during the roll? If yes, it's working, keep it. If it's mostly blank after frame six, the tool isn't the problem you think it is.
Side by side
| Film Logbook | A spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free tier + €5.99 one-time | Free |
| Setup | None — structure is built in | You design the columns (or use a template) |
| Entry while shooting | A few taps; remembers the roll's setup | Awkward on a phone |
| Custom fields | Fixed set, plus notes and tags | Anything you want |
| Location | Optional automatic GPS | Typed by hand |
| Reference image per frame | Yes | Not practically |
| Roll status tracking | Loaded, shot, developed | A column you maintain |
| Analysis and charts | Not built in | Excellent — pivots, formulas, charts |
| Search across rolls | Instant, in-app | Instant, if the sheet is tidy |
| Sync and backup | Your own iCloud | Whatever your sheet already uses |
| Longevity of the file | JSON export, PDF with Pro | Opens anywhere, more or less forever |
| Platform | iPhone only | Everywhere |
| Best fit | Logging at the camera | Logging at the desk, and analysing |
Or use both
A pattern that works well: log in the app while shooting, then export and pull the data into a sheet once a year if you want to analyse it — which stocks you actually finish, which lens lives on the camera, how your shooting changes by season. The app handles capture, the spreadsheet handles the thinking. Film Logbook exports structured JSON for exactly this, though converting it to CSV is a step you'll have to take yourself.
Bottom line
A spreadsheet is not a compromise. It's free, portable, and more flexible than any app will ever be, and if yours is current then you already have a working system. Switch only for a concrete reason — you keep failing to fill it in mid-roll, you want location and reference images without typing, or you're tired of maintaining the thing. If that's you, two rolls in Film Logbook cost nothing to try. If it isn't, take the free CSV template and carry on.
Questions
Is a spreadsheet good enough?
For a lot of photographers, yes. It struggles mainly with entry on a phone, images, and automatic location.
Can I export from Film Logbook into a spreadsheet?
It exports structured JSON, which converts to CSV — so yes, with a step. There's no one-tap CSV export at the moment.
Do you have a template?
Yes — a free CSV and printable A4 PDF, no email required, using the same fields as the app.
What goes wrong most often?
Leaving entry until later. Whichever tool you pick, the log only works if it's filled in at the camera.
Try it for two rolls. Free.
If the sheet keeps ending up blank, this takes a few taps instead.
Get Film Logbook