Apps Allow Smartphone Cameras to Behave as Higher Tech Devices Over the course of the last few years, cameras provided by smartphones have continued to grow in power and potential. However, they still don’t offer quite the control that a manual or traditional, more expensive separate piece of equipment can provide. On their own, they take surprisingly good pictures, based in their location and previous capabilities. However, they still cannot offer an opportunity for manipulation like higher tech cameras can.

According to an article recently completed by The New York Times, several apps have been created in an attempt to solve this conundrum. First, the article mentions Manual, available for two dollars on iOS. This app allows users to tinker with options provided by higher tech cameras, including shutter speed, white balance, and exposure bracketing, among many other options. Essentially, this app overrides the iPhone’s set path to decide these items for the individual taking the picture, allowing the consumer to become a more serious photographer.

Also available on iOS is Expositor; this app, which also costs a meager two dollars, allows the user to choose settings on a traditional single lens reflex, otherwise known as the SLR. This app helps non­professional photographers master the difficult task of controlling the SLR, by calculating an appropriate exposure setting, based on information the user provides about the surroundings. The app also has other functions, namely enabling the user to change the camera speed and exposure; Expositor will also show how these choices affect the image. An Android equivalent is also available; the app is named Photo Tools by Hcpl, and is available for free. This app offers more calculations than Expositor, which could help the photographer take the best photo. It offers a depth­of­field calculator and flash exposure calculator; in addition to this, it offers instructions and options to take time­lapse shots. Professional photographers often use light meters as a means of suggesting the right settings, based on the lighting. Pocket Light Meter, provided for iOS, and LightMeter Free, for Android, both allow the phone to become a light meter, replacing the external device typically required. Both apps are free. The angle of the sun or moon can also become a factor in taking pictures. Photographer’s Ephemeris, for iOS, and Sun Surveyor Lite, for Android, calculate these angles, based on information provided by the user. Photographer’s Ephemeris costs nine dollars, whereas Sun Surveyor Lite is free, albeit with much more limited options. Finally, Photoshop is discussed. The application tends to earn a bad reputation as making alterations that fundamentally alter the subject of the photo. However, its original purpose was to touch up

small mistakes in the settings of the photo. When applied using its original intent, Photoshop can be a very valuable tool, particularly in using a smartphone camera.