Best Camera Apps for Android
In this article, I'm gonna review the best camera apps for Android right now, and after testing them all out, I'm gonna share my top recommendation. |
| Best Camera Apps for Android - Features | Pricing | 2020 Review |
Nowadays smartphones are capable of shooting some great videos straight out of the box but with a quick app install you can instantly unlock a ton of advanced functionality and take your camera's output results even further. There's a lot of options out there though, we're going to take a look at each of the best camera apps right now.
There are lots of options out there, some of them are great and some of them not so great and not worth your time at all. So we're going to skip the ones that aren't worth your time and jump straight into this shortlist of the top options.
Top 5 Best Camera Apps for Android Smartphones
So from all the apps out there, we've narrowed the shortlist down to Open Camera, Footej Camera, HD Camera Pro, Manual Camera, and Filmic Pro.Now each one of those has its own advantages and disadvantages including different features, different levels of complexity and even pricing models so make sure you stick around as we run through each of them to make sure you're getting the best fit for you.
Open Camera
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| Open Camera |
This is a really solid camera app with an absolute ton of features built-in and it's totally open source
meaning that it's free. Now the app itself is easy enough to use and to get up to speed with but the interface is not as intuitive or as inviting as some of the other options out there.
Now there's so many options and settings in here to really allow you to customize this up for you.
You can even change the different items and things that you wanna have on the main screen, on the main graphical user interface. You can customize it all up. It's probably got the most amount of features and settings out of all the apps that we're going to mention here.
But one thing I do want to mention here that is relevant to most of the other apps we're going to cover to a point is that not all of the features are going to be available on every device.
Some of these apps will remove different features based on which Android the device you are using
so if it doesn't have access to the image stabilizer then you won't have that option or if your device isn't powerful enough then they may remove or limit some of the top-end features.
Now while I said that is related to most of the apps, we're gonna cover, specifically with Open Camera, they actually have a heap of options that are missing from different devices, depending on which device it is that you're using.
One of those things, for instance, is the level at which you can control the bit rate or the quality of the video recording that you're doing.
With some devices, you can go over 100 megabits per second, with others you might be limited
to around 50, so it is device-dependent, so just keep that in mind.
So rounding this out, Open Camera is a solid choice for someone who is looking for a huge amount
of features to up their video game and the amount of control that they have over the videos they're creating on their Android device but it doesn't have the best or the most intuitive interface.
But if you're looking for a heap of control and functionality you can definitely get up to speed and really master this app.
Download Open Camera
Footej Camera
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| Footej Camera |
Now this one has a really simple, really clean interface.
It's not overcrowded, it's not overwhelming, it's really easy to find stuff.
It's actually most like the stock IOS or stock Android camera apps where you just swipe
across the bottom to access the different modes, but obviously, it's got a ton of extra features
and a ton of more advanced control in there as well.
So there's a decent range of manual controls that you get access to, things like white balance, things like shutter speed, ISO, lots of different camera modes as we said for things not just for recording video but things like slow-motion time-lapse, shooting in RAW or panorama. You've got all of these built-in there as well.
Another cool little a feature that they've got that's kind of buried in under the settings is what they call fingerprint gestures and this is where you can use your fingerprint reader or fingerprint scanner on your phone and assign different gestures on that reader to different tasks in the app. So whether it's a swipe down on the reader swipe across, swipe up you can actually assign those to do different things within the app.
Now as for some of the downsides or features that this app is missing, there is no control over the frame rate options. So you can't adjust from 24 to 25 to 30 or so on, you can't make the frame rate adjustments in this app.
There's also no specific bitrate or quality options for the videos that you're creating either.
They do have basic settings so you adjust high, medium, or low quality but there's no specific bit rate
or megabits per second setting in here to really dial in that quality setting like you get in most of the other apps that we are covering here.
So besides that, it is definitely a great app it's easy to use, it would be perfect for someone that wants
the manual camera controls without the need or the want
for those quality controls.
The pro version upgrade is $2.99, and that's definitely recommended.
That's going to let you record videos for longer than five minutes, and it's also going to enable
a ton of extra features, things like anti banding to remove any flickering in your shot, plus a heap of other features as well, so if you're looking at this app
I would strongly recommend upgrading and paying the $2.99 to get the pro version.
Download Footej Camera
HD Camera Pro
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| HD Camera Pro |
Now just be careful because when you're looking in the App Store, there are two apps called HD Camera Pro, so make sure you're getting the right one.
The right one is from a company called Intermedia INC.
Now just like pretty much all of the other apps in here this one has a full suite of manual options covering your white balance, your shutter speed, your ISO.
This one also allows quality or bit rate settings of up to 100 megabits per second but there is no option to change or adjust the video frame rate. So whatever it's recording at, I'm assuming it's 30 frames per second, you have no option to change that at this point.
The other thing I would say that this app doesn't have that a lot of the others do is just a ton of settings and features to be able to control and customize the app up and to be able to really get a lot of control over the videos, you're creating.
The settings and things that you can control, yes, they're important ones, yes, they're good ones, but you don't have pages and pages of settings to really tailor this up like you do in some of the other apps.
This interface on this one definitely isn't going to scare you it's really clean, all the text is really big, the icons are big, it's so easy to find everything but it's probably not as sleek and intuitive as the Footej app. I think that one's kind of winning hands down at the moment with the coolest interface.
Now there is a free version of this app available or a lite version but it does have limitations around the quality or the resolutions that you can record your videos.
So I would strongly recommend that you purchase the pro version, the unrestricted version for just $4.99.
So this app will be great for someone who is looking for a lot of those manual controls and manual features without the overwhelm or without the need to go into full pages and pages of settings and things to customize everything up.
This is a much more straightforward app.
It's got some solid features but it doesn't have an abundance of settings and controls that might overwhelm you.
And if you're after options like that, then that's where something like Open Camera or even the next two that we're gonna jump into, they'll fit that box for you.
Download HD Camera Pro
Manual Camera
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| Manual Camera |
Once again, this is an easy app to use. It's got a solid interface, again, really intuitive, really easy to find things, really easy to get up to speed using it and to start getting great results with it. This one does support control over your video bit rate, over the quality of the recordings. You've also got full control over your frame rates.
Everything from 15 frames per second right up to 120, or depending on your device, you might even be able to select higher than that.
Now, this app really packs a punch when it comes to settings.
Just scrolling through the menu now, you can start to see the amount of control that you have over setting this app up and controlling the videos that you're recording.
But what I like about this is that it's still easy to find things.
So you can quickly scroll through and see the options that are available to you, turn on the ones that you need, ignore the ones that you don't without having to go through menus upon menus in a big hierarchy of settings like you do in Open Camera which can be pretty confusing and pretty overwhelming for people.
Now you definitely want to make sure with this one again that you are getting the paid version for $4.99 and that you're not just using the lite version that will limit your recording time to five minutes.
It also limits your camera resolution or the quality that you can record at, and it's got ads.
Who wants ads when you're recording videos?
One of the things that I really like that stood out to me almost straight away when I first started using this app was how easy it is to lock everything down in manual.
Yes, you can do it quite easily in a lot of the other apps that we've mentioned as well, but I really like how easy it is and how fast it is to do it in this app.
Once you tap on the exposure button, you get direct access immediately to both the shutter speed and your ISO from within that one window without the need to set one of them and then go and set the other one in a different place or under a different menu setting.
I just thought it was pretty clever and pretty intuitive on how they've got them right next to each other
which just makes sense and I know it's little thing but if this is something that you wanna adjust on the fly when you're out filming and especially if you're creating videos where you're moving around a lot, run and gun style, and you quickly wanna lock things down,
I just thought that was a cool little addition.
So Manual Camera Pro is a great option for someone who is looking for that full range of manual control.
Everything from your high video bit rates to be able to adjust your frame rates as I said right up to 120 frames per second or higher.
To have access to a heap of extra settings to dial everything in the way that you want it without being overwhelmed with a clunky interface so something that's going to be hard to use.
Download Manual Camera
Filmic Pro
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| Filmic Pro |
Now, this is really kind of the app that started it all. This app has been around since almost day one when it comes to a third party or aftermarket camera apps to be able to unlock DSLR-like settings
or professional camera-like settings on our smartphones to
unlock the true potential of what these things are capable of, and it is still one of the best options out there today when it comes to these sorts of apps.
In Filmic Pro you get a huge amount of control over pretty much everything. You've got a huge range of frame rates, you've got a huge range of bit rates, video recording sizes, you can even set cropping regions on the videos that you're creating to create different cinematic looks or create different versions of your videos.
But even with all of that, there are a few stand-out features that none of the other apps have.
The first one is direct hardware integration with a lot of accessories. You can connect this thing up and pair it and run it natively with gimbal stabilizers like DJI OSMO Mobile and OSMO Mobile 2 and also the Zhiyun or Zhiyun Smooth 4. You can have full access and integration with those devices from within Filmic Pro. It also supports the Movi Camera Robot, Moondog Anamorphic lenses, and 35-millimeter adapters as well, literally at a button press.
The second thing you've got access to in Filimc Pro is what they call their cinematographer kit. Now this will enable a heap of extra control over the color profiles and all the settings to help you enable things like log mode or to really dial in the color and the color profiles that you're using to shoot your videos.
Now the overall interface itself and the user experience, I would say it's definitely on the more
complicated ends of things especially when you're comparing it to some of the other apps in this video but it's definitely something you can play around with and get up to speed fast.
Now we do have a tutorial which I'll link up in the cards taking you through that entire process and also showing off a lot of the features inside of Filmic Pro.
Now in regards to pricing, Filmic Pro is the most expensive app that we've mentioned in this video. It cost 14.99 to buy the license to Filmic Pro.
That is a one-time fee, and I personally think that given all the advanced
features and control and everything in it, I think that's an absolute no brainer, but you also need to be aware that if you do wanna unlock that cinematographer kit to enable all of the log profiles and the advanced color control, then that is an additional one-time purchase of 13.99.
Again, I still think it's a no brainer, given the number of features and control that this thing is going to let you have access to it.
So I think if you're someone who is looking for the most amount of control, the most amount of features, you probably aren't looking for the most super intuitive interface, then Filmic Pro is really going to be where it's at.
There is everything in this app, there's all the advanced focus peaking, there are all the histograms and control over your color.
This thing really has everything in there. And they're actively growing it and adding new features and things all the time.
Download Filmic Pro
CONCLUSION:
But really, with any of the apps that we have mentioned in this video, these are all gonna be a massive step up from the built-in camera apps on your phone.They're gonna unlock a heap of extra power, a heap of extra potential, and hopefully a heap of extra creative ability for you to be able to create better videos.
You will be able to get great results with any one of these.
Let me know down in the comments what's your favorite camera app for Android and what's your favorite feature in that app.