Thankfully, there are plenty of apps in the ay Store that can help you achieve faux-professional smartphone photographer status, or at least give you a little more control over how the shot looks. For instance, I personally like apps where I can adjust the shutter speed for when I’m shooting at dusk, but if you like filters presets, there are plenty of applications that offer those, too. So, let’s go through some of the better camera applications available for your Android phone. Some are free some require you to pay, but all of them offer a little something for the photographer in you just waiting to bust out. Open Camera’s interface might appear busy at first, but that’s because there are a ton of options to choose from, including several focus scene modes. You can also choose to lock your exposure, or change the white balance filter based on the environment. Open Camera also offers configurable volume keys an option to edit button placement for right- or left-hed users. If you decide to download this app, be sure to spend some time in the settings panel. There’s even an option to enable ’s Camera2 A for more granular camera settings. Open Camera (Free) For instance, Camera MX offers a feature called ve Shot photos. After you snap a photo, the extra footage from a few seconds before the actual photo was taken will be saved. That allows you to go back save a still, in case you missed the moment, or share the photo to social media as an animated GIF or video. Camera MX (Free) By default, BestMe sticks a watermark on your photos, but you can remove that via an option in the settings menu. BestMe has also hinted at Android ar support coming soon, as well as real-time video filters. BestMe Selfie Camera (Free) Unfortunately, stock Android does not offer its own manual mode, but you can download an app like Camera FV-5 to get access to those particular features. Camera FV-5 enables you to adjust the shutter speed, ISO, metering mode, white balance no matter the megapixels you’ve got on the back of your device. You can also adjust exposure bracketing choose whether to shoot in EG, G, or RA the latter of which will allow you to take those images to the computer adjust them further in an editing app like ghtroom. The best part of the app, however, is all the relevant information displayed on the viewfinder, including a battery meter an aperture gauge. Camera FV-5 ($3.95) For instance, Cinema FV-5 offers the ability to plug in a pair of headphones for audio monitoring. The app also offers an on-screen histogram, so you can keep those colors leveled throughout the plot of your video. And if you’re looking to get semi-professional with your video-making, there’s a number of granular controls available in the settings panel. Cinema FV-5 (On sale for $2.49) If you’re been thinking of ramping up your smartphone photography up to the next level, Manual Camera is a great place to start. The app offers all the usual features, like the ability to manually adjust the shutter speed, focus distance, ISO, as well as the ability to shoot in RA Manual Camera ($2.99) Cameringo+ Effects Camera ($2.99) VSCO offers a wealth of pre-configured presets to help you achieve the exact look feel you want for your photos. You can also batch edit a few different files at once, which is especially helpful if you’re aiming for the same aesthetic across the board. If you’re feeling particularly brave, you can also upload your photos to share with VSCO’s budding online community. But be forewarned that while the application is free, you’ll have to pay for some of the more effective presets. VSCO (Free)
