While most phones come with a pre-installed camera app, you can achieve better results using a dedicated third-party app, especially if you’re trying to capture shots at night. Here are the best camera apps I’ve tried and the one that produced the best results.
Using Apps to Take Great Night Shots
The camera apps on most phones are fairly rudimentary. Because they are designed for casual users and for ease of use, they tend to lack certain features needed for effective night photography. So, if you are a serious photographer, or you want to ensure the best possible images at night, downloading adedicated camera appis a good option.
Stock camera apps often don’t include image processing and the functionality to adequately adjustISO settings, shutter speed, exposure, or distance focusing. If you are trying to take the best night shots, it’s important to choose an app that gives you plenty of adjustment and allows advanced control over the settings.
1. Slow Shutter Cam
Slow Shutter Cam is an iPhone app that gives you maximum control over how long the shutter stays open.
The shot capture duration can be adjusted manually up to 60 seconds, or in Bulb mode, the shutter will stay open for as long as you hold your finger on the button. This allows for some fun shots as you experiment with the settings, and once you get the hang of it, you can snap away without too much thought and get great results.
You also have access to some additional handy features with Slow Shutter Cam, such as an adjustable ISO, which allows you to reduce light sensitivity. Additionally, there is a range of effects that can be applied after you shoot the image, including motion blur, light trail, and various filters.
Once you are happy with the photo, you can either choose to save it as a JPEG, a PNG, or in lossless TIFF or HEIF formats.
Download:Slow Shutter Cam foriOS(Free, in-app purchases available)
2. DeepSkyCamera
If you are looking tocapture astrophotographyshots, then check out DeepSkyCamera. This app is available for most Android devices and is designed for shooting star constellations at night.
The app has lots of functionality and a heap of settings that can be adjusted, which can be somewhat confusing for the non-professional. Thankfully, it is fairly easy for novices to use the standard ISO and shutter speed settings to create great night shots.
For those with advanced camera knowledge, there is the option to shoot in digital negative format (DNG) and save RAW images, which can be stacked to create a more detailed image.
Another standout feature of DeepSkyCamera is its star and constellation maps. These allow users to locate specific groups of stars or planets within the app to find the best sky scenes to photograph. The app also supports time-lapse photographs and videography.
Download:DeepSkyCamera forAndroid(Free, in-app purchases available)
3. ProCamera
ProCamera is an excellent all-around photo, video, and editing app. It captures images in RAW format and can shoot video up to 4K UHD. The app provides full control over shutter speeds and ISO settings and also includes a low-light mode and an anti-shake function to further enhance your night photography.
I found ProCamera to be intuitive and quick to navigate, with all the most common adjustments accessible while taking the image. Beyond the settings for taking photos at night, ProCamera is an adept camera app for everyday use, and it comes with a comprehensive editing suite that allows you to addcreative filters and effects.
For instance, the San Francisco filter pack is inspired by the color pallet of the Golden Gate Bridge, whereas the food filter pack has a range of settings that enhance food photography. Unfortunately, to use all of these features requires a paid subscription, while some of the filters are only available as a one-off purchase.
Download:ProCamera foriOS($24.99)
4. Adobe Lightroom
Perhaps the most well-known app on this list is Adobe Lightroom. The app is an extension of the popular editing software and includes a highly capable camera. While it’s more of an all-round camera app, rather than a dedicated one for night photography, I found that its fully adjustable functions can quickly and easily be set up for great night photography.
Once you open the camera settings within the app, you may switch from Auto to Professional mode by tapping the menu next to the shutter button. The Pro setting allows you to adjust shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus, which have plenty of adjustments for taking good images in dark environments, as well as lots of options for daytime shots, too.
Download:Adobe Lightroom foriOS|Android(Free, in-app purchases available)
Which Captures the Night Best?
If you want to focus solely on night photography, the app that provides the widest range of control is Slow Shutter Cam, and it gave me the best results. The ability to adjust the time the shutter stays open up to 60 seconds means there are very few situations where you won’t be able to set up for the perfect night shot. If you know what you are doing, that is.
While DeepSkyCamera is a great app for astrophotography, I found it doesn’t work well for capturing other types of low-light images, such as cityscapes and nightlife.
If, like me, you are looking for a great all-in-one camera app that can capture good night shots when the need arises, the Adobe Lightroom camera is easy to use with intuitive controls. And, if you are a user of Adobe editing software, then you can also save your DNG files to the cloud to edit later on your PC.
