The best vintage camera apps for iPhone in 2026
The vintage camera category is crowded and genuinely good — the differences are less about quality and more about shape: how many cameras you get, whether video is first-class, and whether you shoot one camera or two.
The short list
Dazz Cam — the category king. The biggest catalogue of vintage cameras, lenses and accessory effects, with detailed film emulation. If browsing a huge camera bag is the joy, this is it. Shoots one camera at a time.
OldRoll — the film ritual. Skeuomorphic film cameras with a develop-the-roll feel and a broad collection. The most "analog" experience of the list.
1998 Cam — quick date-stamped nostalgia. The 90s point-and-shoot look — timestamp, light leaks, grain — with minimal fuss.
Huji Cam — the original. Started the disposable-cam wave in 2018. It hasn't changed much, which is either a bug or the entire point. Effectively free.
ism — editorial retro digital. Polished retro-digicam looks by MWM, subscription-first, strong defaults.
Selfie — vintage + both cameras at once. 50+ presets across 35mm film, medium format, instant, and fun categories (VHS, CCTV, thermal, fisheye), rendered live in the viewfinder — with the one feature no vintage-first app has: simultaneous front-and-back photos and videos. The film look, applied to the scene and your reaction, in one exposure. Free to try; iOS 17+.
How to choose
- Maximum camera variety to explore: Dazz Cam, then OldRoll.
- Fast and free: Huji Cam or 1998 Cam.
- You're in the photos too — travel, couples, group shots, reactions: Selfie is the only one that shoots both cameras simultaneously. (Why that matters.)
- Video with the vintage look: Selfie (including dual video) and Dazz Cam both do filtered video; the stills-first apps mostly don't.
What makes a vintage filter good
Worth knowing when you compare: convincing film emulation is per-camera, not one-size — real grain structure (applied at capture, so it survives export), halation around highlights, stock-specific color bias, and imperfections that vary shot to shot. Apps that model individual cameras (Dazz, OldRoll, Selfie) pass this test; generic "vintage filter" overlays don't. More in how to make iPhone photos look like film.
Common questions
Do these apps reduce photo quality? The look is a quality reduction, deliberately — grain, softness, color shifts. The underlying capture is a normal iPhone photo; nothing is lost beyond what the aesthetic asks for. (Longer answer.)
Which is best for Instagram stories? Any of them — the disposable/party look (Huji, 1998, Selfie's Disposable preset) is the most story-native aesthetic right now.
Is there one app that covers everything? No single app wins every column. The honest summary: Dazz for catalogue depth, Selfie for dual capture + video, Huji for free simplicity.