- Here's the best camera apps for Android in 2023.
After testing all of the top options, I'm gonna share
with you the top two Android camera apps
that we recommend
to help you pick the best camera app for you.
So there's lots of different camera app options out there
and it's been really tough this year to narrow it down
to just two of them
but I absolutely love both of these options.
Both of them will give you DSLR like settings
or ProCamera settings on your Android device
but also let you dial in settings
like your ISO, your shutter speed, your white balance
and let you unlock more control
over your recording and the formats too.
So my top two recommendations this year
go to Protake and Filmic Pro
with an honorable mention as well to Open Camera.
So we'll quickly start off with that one.
Open Camera is a feature-packed manual camera app
that's totally free.
You get a decent amount of features and control in there
but it definitely doesn't have the polish or the ease
of use and a lot of the pro-level tools that you get
in the next two options that I've got for you.
But I have drawn this one in as an honorable mention
for those of you that are looking
for more control than likely your stock camera app
but you don't wanna spend any money.
Then that's where Open Camera
could be the best option for you.
So moving on to my top two apps.
Protake is an amazing app.
It's got a super clean, really intuitive,
really easy-to-use interface, and I love how fast
and easy it is to jump between a lot
of the key functionality right from that main screen,
having things like the ability to switch
between auto and promos with a little setting
down the bottom depending on what it is you're shooting
so it's easy to switch between them.
But promo is really what we're looking at here.
This is where you can enable things like your scopes
and your histograms down in the bottom corner here
and you can see that you can easily just swipe between them.
You can access all
of your recording formats and settings up the top here.
But these aren't just a display like some of the apps,
they're just giving you this info.
These are actually buttons that will open up
those settings directly from here as well,
which is great.
Control over things like your exposure,
so your ISO or your shutter speed.
It's really simple to adjust and to lock down.
And it's exactly the same
with the focus and Zoom as well.
With white balance,
you've got a bunch of presets in here that you can pick from
or you can manually even set your Kelvin rating
and tint in here as well.
I really like how simple it is to do things,
like adjust your audio inputs and your volume levels
but I do think the audio bars
are probably a little bit small
and it would be great if maybe they took up
this whole left side just so they have more detail.
There's a huge range of color profiles and filters
in here too
if you do download their Cinematic Looks add on.
And there's even some beauty filters in here.
Now, this isn't something that I use, maybe it's something
that I should use, but I do like that the interface
is either locked to portrait or to landscape mode.
So it's not just gonna auto switch as you rotate your phone,
you're actually choosing which interface you want,
which makes it an absolute dream to use
if you're gonna be moving the phone around
without it switching interface
and changing everything up all the time.
There's also decent hardware support in here for things
like anamorphic lenses, depth of field adapters
and even things like the Zhiyun gimbals.
Now, while I'm looking at videos specifically here,
Protake also works as a great camera or photo app too.
Now, in terms of pricing, there is a free version,
which is restricted to that auto only mode.
But to jump to the pro mode
and to unlock all of these more advanced features,
that's when you will need the Protake Plus subscription,
which you can currently grab
for $13.99 for your first year
but it is $19.99 for each year after that.
But with that subscription,
this does actually let you install it
on three devices across different platforms too.
So if you're someone that's got an Android
and an iOS device,
you can actually install this up to three.
And fun fact,
the iOS version actually has a bunch more features
than the Android version, but overall,
Protake is amazing option
for someone looking for the next level up
from that built-in camera app on their device,
someone looking for more pro-grade features
but still having that ease of use
and fast access to everything.
But if you ask someone who's looking for the most amount
of pro-grade features,
then that's where the next option, Filmic Pro,
is going to be the one for you.
So Filmic Pro has a lot of overlap and a lot of similarities
with apps like Protake, but it really is the next level
in terms of pro and cinematic features
that you get access to.
Now, I've been a massive fan of Filmic Pro for years
and that really is the OG when it comes
to pro camera apps on your iOS and Android devices.
I mean, people have literally used this to create movies
and documentaries and things.
Now, Filmic Pro has recently had a bit of an overhaul,
not just on the app itself, which is a huge step up
but also in their pricing model as well.
So it used to be a one-time fee
for lifetime access to the app
and they've now moved to a subscription model,
even for the people that already had lifetime access before.
So they've definitely upset a few people there
but I'm looking at this one totally objectively
at the app now in its latest v7 version.
What is that app like
if you'd never purchased the previous one before?
And I've gotta say, even being a big fan of the app before,
this new version is a massive step up.
The biggest improvement's really to the overall interface,
which flows through to the usability of the app.
It's now so much faster and easier to go
and access all the main functionality and stuff
that you're using all the time right from that main screen
without needing to dive into menus,
and settings and things to be able to find everything.
So things like adjusting the audio inputs
and the volume levels.
They're also having the ability to switch between basic
and pro audio level readings just by tapping on it.
But I absolutely love
that they also have a custom function button built
into the main dashboard too.
So this will let you assign access to some
of your most used features.
So again, you can customize up this experience for you.
Now, doing things like adjusting the focus
and exposure is super easy.
You can either just move the corresponding circle
or square around on the screen,
or you can open up the slider controls too
for greater control.
I absolutely love
that you can see all your recording settings
and all your formats,
and everything right up the top.
And again, it's not just a readout or information.
These are links that are directly taking you
to adjust those settings and things too.
So you can see, like here,
you can easily change your picture profile
or your gamma curve from natural,
dynamic, flat and log really, really fast and easily.
But there's also great control over things
like your white balance with the built-in presets
that are in there
but also you have the ability
to set your own custom presets in there too,
and you've got the ability to manually dial it in
from the color temperature and the tint too.
Now, while Protake had good hardware support,
Filmic Pro, again, is next level and actually,
has the most amount of hardware support out of any app.
And it also supports things
like clean HDMI output, anamorphic lenses.
And there's even a feature that I absolutely love,
which is the ability to overlay different aspect ratios
or different guides onto your videos.
Now, you can either use that
as just a preview to see what your video would look like
in that ratio, or you can actually set it to crop your video
to that overlay or to that aspect ratio as well.
Now, one other thing that I absolutely love
about Filmic Pro is their Filmic Remote Companion app
that lets you remotely control
and monitor Filmic Pro from another device.
Meaning that if you've got your primary device set up
to record you, you can control it, you can monitor it all
from a spare phone or tablet, which is absolutely amazing.
Now, previously with Filmic Pro, you would buy the app
and then there were additional add-on extras
like their cinematographer kit.
Now that it's a subscription, it actually unlocks all
of those things in that subscription for you.
So in terms of the pricing, your options are $2.99
on a weekly subscription or 49.99 annually.
So it's definitely not on the cheaper end of things.
But if you're not thinking of this
as buying an app and you're thinking of this
I'm buying a video creation tool and much cheaper
than buying a dedicated device with similar features.
So rounding this out, if you're on a really tight budget,
Open Camera is a great app to help you unlock some
of those more advanced features and controls.
Moving up from that, Protake is a good mix
of the auto settings and the pro-grade features,
yet still with a really easy-to-use interface,
making it fast to go and create content.
And for those of you that are looking for the most advanced,
most professional grade features, literally stuff
that people are shooting films and documentaries
and stuff on, but also still really easy to jump in
and use as well, especially with that new interface,
then Filmic Pro could be the best one for you.
Now, if you wanna learn how to level up
your smartphone filming and get the most out
of your devices, then check out the link onscreen
where you can download our free smartphone filming guide.
Also, check out the links down in the description.
We've got a bunch of resources down there
to help you as well.
And I'll see you in the next one.