INFORMATION

For many people purchasing a smartphone, having a decent camera is still one of the biggest draws. Todays camera phones are modern wonders, just look at the massive sensors that adorn phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S4, or even the half-phone-half-camera Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom for that matter. Some manufacturers are taking a different tack, with HTC looking at creating larger pixels to let in more light. Its proprietary UltraPixel technology means that the flagship HTC One, and its brothers the One Mini and One Max creates some stunning low light imagery.

It is then probably no surprise that the Play Store has found itself populated with numerous camera apps, designed to replace the stock camera app with something either more fun or more intuitive. Heres our guide to what we feel are the best camera apps on the Play Store right now.

Most camera apps are designed to make photography as easy as possible for the end-user, removing complicated steps. The result is some Facebook-friendly snapshots, but certainly not professional pictures. For experienced photographers, you may be more at home with Manual Camera, which provides a range of settings options that most other apps just dont offer. Shutter speed, focus, white balance, exposure compensation - you control every detail of your picture. Also, this app lets you save images in the lossless RAW format, which offers completely new possibilities for further processing.

So, if you take photographs pretty seriously, but still want to use your smartphone, Manual Camera is an excellent, brand new solution. But beware, the app does require the many new APIs from Android 5.0 Lollipop, so its currently only available to users with the update.

Google launched its own camera app earlier in the year, and it has now replaced the stock Android camera on devices running Android Lollipop. Google Camera has a minimalist design, it shows only two on-screen buttons when you want to shoot something, the others being hidden in a side panel which you use a gesture to bring out.

Google Camera�s 360 degree panoramic feature is really impressive. You rotate your camera right or left after taking your initial shot, and you must trace white balls across the screen as you go around to maintain the correct orientation. While it didn�t work 100% of the time, and did necessitate that I move really slow to complete it, when it did work, the outcome was fantastic. It is capable of creating incredibly high resolution panoramic pictures which looked seamless, and its the best method for taking panoramics that Ive ever used.

Google Camera�s Android version requirement varies depending on the device. I was able to download it on the KitKat 4.3 version of our HTC One, for others it may need KitKat 4.4. The steep requirement may stop some users being able to get it, but if your device can handle it, it�s well worth checking out. It�s simple to navigate, user-friendly and clever.

Camera Fun Pro is next and this one is definitely for a more niche market. The various filters available provide a more goofy and fun theme for people rather than the more serious and artistic filters that others on this list provide. One of the more nifty features is the app�s ability to let you see how the effects will look before snapping the picture. So instead of taking the picture, adding the effects, and hoping you got the shot you needed, you can instead take the picture you wanted the first time. There are professional filters available, but this app definitely caters more to the fun pictures crowd.

The app design is straightforward, with shooting modes grouped at one end of the viewfinder and camera settings and preferences at the other. There�s a mode for HDR shooting in which the camera shoots and then blends multiple photos at varying exposures to retain highlight detail while opening up shadow areas. In panorama mode you sweep the camera in an arc to capture image views of up to 180 degrees. There�s a timer mode of up to 60 seconds as well as an interval shooting option if you want to try some basic time-lapse photography. A full resolution burst mode is available but the speed at which the app shoots is limited by how fast your phone can save each image. On my Samsung Galaxy S5, I averaged about .8 fps for 12MP images, which may be helpful for getting blink-free portraits, but not for fast sports action. A single axis level can also be displayed onscreen to avoid crooked horizons. Set the app to image stabilizer mode and after pressing the shutter button the app will wait to take a picture until the phone is held steady.

Resolution for still and video capture can be set for both the front and rear cameras on your phone and you can choose to enable the physical volume buttons to trigger the camera shutter. SmugMug users can save photos directly to their online accounts and/or enable automatic cloud backups. Files can also be shared with social media apps installed on your phone like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter, and there�s an option to automatically downsize images before you share them, if you�d rather not upload large files. SmugMug requires Android 4.1 and later.

Ever heard of Open Camera? It has a lot of notable features, an extreme amount, actually. There are so many in fact, it�d probably take up the whole page. Some notable features are face detection, auto repeat mode, touch to focus and auto repeat mode. If those features are any indication, this camera isn�t the most modern on the list. But that�s okay, as some people don�t want bells and whistles.

Open Camera has a lot to offer. Honestly, this app isn�t a bad choice if you run an older version of Android, 4.0.3 to be exact. A lot of old versions of Android on old phones tend to have camera apps that are really dated.

In the world of smart phone photographs, this is considered as one of the best camera apps for android. Here is why . This camera applets the users to make use of many professional features in more easy way.

It offers a wide array of camera types and film types which can be combined to achieve your desired effect. It also provides a quick access to exposure control, tap to shoot and many more.

However the biggest problem that is often reported with the pudding camera is, it saves the images with the largest resolution around 1,280 pixels but that is perfectly fine for sharing it online.

A Better Camera is able to take high quality snapshots as it combines several well known Android camera apps into one, namely HDR Camera+, Night Camera+, and HD Panorama+. The app offers excellent HDR processing, 360 degree panorama shots, and a noise-free night mode.

If you are fond of snapping pictures at night, then your device must have Night Camera+. It�s one of the best night photography apps for Android Smartphones to capture high quality images in low light. The app comes with awesome features and let you snap photos in any conditions including evening, night, twilight, or in any other dark environment. No matter how dark the atmosphere is, open the app and start snapping the photos!

On the face of things, Camera ZOOM FX is well designed, with there being no real surprises in layout as it follows the same layout as stock cameras that we have encountered. Photo editing is also included, as with nigh on every camera app that we have seen these days, but it comes with a decent range of features.

If youre into downloading add-ons, there are over 90 that can be added to Camera ZOOM FX, including Frames, Props, Composites and more Composites. Morphing photos is also supported, meaning that you can distort images. There is even a clever sound activated shutter a la LG devices, meaning you can set the app to take a photo with a clap or shout.

Photo distortion is rather popular, so for those that arent impressed with Camera ZOOM FX and want a more specific app, Photo Warp will cater to your every warp need.

Just like with most photo apps, you can add filters, as well as change up a bunch of other features here. Including adjusting the aperature, brightness and so much more.