We are all photographers, or at least that’s what our smartphones want us to become.

With powerful camera lens technology packed into smartphones, the need to carry dedicated digital camera has reduced for common photography enthusiasts.

Both iOS and Android devices come with some default camera app installed, but many of these apps lack the features or variety that more experienced photographers are after.

If you want to take or release professional-level snaps, there is good news: a plethora of third-party powerful camera apps are available on the iOS App & Google Play Store. These go beyond the barebones that come pre-installed, but learning how to operate them can be a challenge.

Below are some of the best, most customisable and easy-to-operate camera apps for iOS and Android:

iOS

1) VSCO Cam (iOS & Android)

It is one of the featured apps on both the iOS and App Store for photography buffs to use. It offers multiple features, including the ability to edit, capture and snap photographs within the app. It comes with a minimal interface, and is easy to use.

VSCO tools within the app allow for fine tuning, with the goal to complement, not define, your photographs. VSCO Cam’s editing and filtering options are first rate with a variety of professional presets available at the user’s disposal to tweak their photos.

It comes integrated with VSCO Grid, where people all around the globe share their exceptional photographs, giving you the freedom to follow and find the ones alluring to your taste.

There are in-app purchases too for both iOS and Android, giving you even greater control of your snaps.

Download for iOS here
Download for Android here

2) Camera+

Camera+ is an iOS exclusive and a paid app costing $2.99. It is one of the bestselling apps on the iOS App store, featuring a clean, well-designed interface, offering the ability to stabilise your images, touch exposure and focus, digital Zoom, clarity and scene mode and so forth.

It offers killer editing features for your photographs, which includes highlights, shadows, contrast and much more. Camera+ allows you to tinker with exposure compensation in places where it is difficult to take photographs for example a darker area, etc. The ISO and shutter speeds being utilised are viewable at every given moment of time.

Download for iOS here

3) Manual

Limited to iOS, Manual is a paid app that costs $1.99. It offers the freedom to independently control a variety of features that are Shutter, ISO, White Balance, Focus and exposure compensation.

Photos taken can be directly saved to the camera roll, offers dark and light themes, along with an EXIF viewer. The best part about Manual is that it is easy to use and does not involve a steep learning curve as with other photography apps.

Download for iOS here

Android

1) Google Camera

With various iterations of Android available from the Google Nexus to Samsung, HTC, Sony and so forth, camera apps vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Enter Google Camera, a free app available on the Google Play Store that can do the bidding for barebones to advanced photography.

It offers an easy interface with its material design interface inspired by its latest OS release Lollipop. Lens blur allows to control the camera’s depth of field to focus on the subject in the foreground and blur the background.

Photo Stitching allows users to create panoramas, wide angle and fisheye images with Google’s photo stitching technology developed exclusively for Google maps. It is compatible with phones using Kitkat 4.4 and above.

Download for Android here

2) A Better Camera

A Better Camera is a free app on the Google Play Store with the option of in-app purchases. It has a wide array of features on offer which include capturing high resolution photos with effects, with built in HDR and Panoramic mode, Multishot: Group portrait, Sequence shot, Removing unwanted objects with one click, Night mode, ISO option, Burst and expo-bracketing.

Download for Android here

Instagram

Owned by Facebook and probably the most popular smartphone photograph sharing app on the planet, Instagram is free to use on iOS and Android.

With various built in filter modes available at your disposal for your photographs, it is integrated with social media sharing features to share to Facebook, Twitter and to your followers alike.

Instagram allows to improve photos with 10 advanced creative tools to change brightness, contrast and saturation as well as shadows, highlights and perspective.

Download for iOS here
Download for Android here

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, September 13th, 2015

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