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9 best DSLR apps for Android

DSLRs are an essential tool in a photographer's bag. Make your DSLR work better with the best DSLR apps for Android!
By
May 28, 2022
Panasonic GH5 DSLR camera Sigma lens front Jonathan Feist

Most serious photographers have DSLR cameras. They’re the current gold standard in photography. You can get buy various cameras and lenses. It can be expensive, but worth it. However, you can expand the experience even further using apps. For the most part, your camera has all the controls you need. However, some apps can add things like remote control support or easier, faster update processes. There aren’t a bunch of really good options, but what’s there isn’t too bad. Here are the best DSLR apps for Android!

The best DSLR apps for Android

Adobe Lightroom

Price: Free / Up to $52.99 per month

One of the best tools for a photographer is a good photo editor app. Adobe Lightroom is among the best. The mobile version has a lot of the same features as the desktop version. That includes support for RAW photos, the ability to easily revert back to the original if needed, and more. You can also send the files to your desktop version if needed. Most of the features in the app are free. However, you can get more features if you’re an existing Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber. It’s pretty good for serious photography.

Camera Connect

Price: Free / Up to $5.99

Camera Connect and Control screenshot 2021
Joe Hindy / Android Authority

Camera Connect and Control is one of several DSLR apps that let you control your camera. It supports a variety of cameras from Nikon, Canon, Sony, and GoPro. You can connect over WiFi or USB (depending on your camera). The app also lets you load your images to your phone. It also supports tethered shooting. There are some additional features for those who buy the pro versions. The lite pro version removes ads and gives you access to EXIF data. The full pro version gives you even more. It does have some bugs, though.

HyperFocal Pro

Price: Free

HyperFocal Pro - best DSLR apps

HyperFocal Pro is a reference guide for photographers. It shows you calculations to achieve the best focus. It’ll show you the optimal ranges for focus depending on your subject, distance, camera, and glass. Additionally, it supports most cameras. It’ll also show data for depth of field, angle of view, and field of view stats. The design is easy to read as well. The app is free with no in-app purchases and also no advertising. It’s a good little app to have for most beginner and intermediate photographers.

Magic Viewfinder apps

Price: Free / Varies

Magic Viewfinder is a family of DSLR apps. They don’t connect to cameras or control them. Instead, they help you plan shoots and see how your camera would do. It emulates your camera and lens setup. Thus, you can do things like framing without having your actual gear on you. There is an app for several manufacturer brands, including Canon, Nikon, Lumix, Sony, and others. They are all free to download with inexpensive in-app purchases to unlock all of the features. They’re not necessarily the most useful apps, but they can be helpful in some scenarios.

qDslrDashboard

Price: $8.66

qDslrDashboard is one of the best DSLR apps for android

qDslrDashboard is a DSLR app that either works amazingly or doesn’t work at all, it seems. The app works for Canon, Nikon, and Sony mirrorless cameras. The app has an exhaustive laundry list of features, including multiple camera support, the ability to view and pull photos off of a camera, time-lapse controls, wireless controls, and more. It also works over USB-OTG if you need to go the wired route. It’s not compatible with all cameras and many people have reported connection issues and other various bugs. Given its price tag, we imagine that’s why the rating is a bit lower than we’d normally see. In any case, if you try this, make sure to give it as thorough a testing as you can inside of the refund period, just in case.

Smart IR Remote

Price: Free / $6.99

Smart IR Remote screenshot 2021
Joe Hindy / Android Authority

Smart IR Remote is mostly for TVs and other home electronics. However, there are some cameras with IR receivers. There is an immediate caveat with this one. Your device needs an IR blaster on the phone or this remote app won’t work at all. Otherwise, it should work with almost anything with an IR receiver, and that does include some DSLR cameras and camera remotes. There isn’t an easy list to reference as to what cameras work with this one. We recommend downloading the free version of the app and see if it works with your camera. The pro version is rather expensive, but it’s probably the best IR remote app on Google Play so, you know, you get what you pay for.

Snapseed

Price: Free

best DSLR apps - Snapseed

Snapseed is a photo editor app by Google. It’s a totally free photo editor app with a lot of desirable features. That includes support for RAW files. The app also has 29 other editing tools. All of them have sliders to change their intensity for finer control. It can also do the basic stuff like white balance, crop, and more. It isn’t quite as powerful as something like Lightroom (desktop) or Photoshop, but this is probably as good as it gets on mobile.

Manufacturer DSLR apps

Price: Free (usually)

SnapBridge screenshot 2022

Most camera manufacturers have DSLR apps for their cameras. Canon, Sony, Nikon, Lumix, and others have official apps meant to be used with their specific cameras. These usually aren’t the best apps. If they were, this list would be unnecessary and you wouldn’t be here. They can offer basic functionality though, including shooting pictures, downloading images to your phone, and other simple stuff. Some others have increased in functionality and you can do things like remote shooting, downloading via Bluetooth, and other advanced tasks. The apps can be pretty decent depending on your needs. They are also generally free. We recommend trying your camera’s official app (if it has one and it is compatible) before diving into the other ones, just in case.

DSLR shopping apps

Price: Free

BH Photo Video screenshot 2021
Joe Hindy / Android Authority

There are a lot of apps that sell various DSLR cameras and accessories. Some examples include B&H Photo Video (linked at the button), Amazon Shopping (Google Play link), and Newegg (Google Play link). However, you can also find some neat stuff on sites like eBay if you want a new piece of glass or some lightly used accessories. Plus, those are excellent places to find lighting, filters, camera bags, cleaning supplies, and other things to make your photography life better. Hit all the links to check out the various apps.

See also: The best shopping apps for Android


If we missed any great DSLR apps, tell us about them in the comments. You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
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