If you have ever seen photos of smooth water or light trails at night, you are familiar with long exposure photography. Perhaps you have even tried to take such photos of your own.
Most smartphone cameras don’t have the capability to take long exposure shots. However, there are camera apps specifically for long exposure photography available. In this article, we have collected the best such long exposure camera app options for you!
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When Should You Use Long Exposure?
We use a slower shutter speed than usual when taking long exposure photos. By leaving the shutter open for a longer time, we can achieve certain effects that give a unique look to our photos.
Generally, we are talking about long exposure photography when the shutter speed is slow enough to blur motion. This usually means setting it to seconds instead of fractions of seconds.
Photographers usually use this technique when they are aiming to blur motion.
Landscape photographers take long exposures to make the water smooth and silky. During night photography, it is used to create light trails of traffic. And astrophotographers use it daily to let more light hit the sensor, thus capturing the stars.
You can also think of using a long exposure in a creative way, such as blurring people in the street or capturing motion during sports. You can even use it to draw with light in the dark.
You might think you are missing out on these opportunities if you don’t have a camera. Luckily, all this becomes possible with long exposure apps.
6 Best Long Exposure Camera Apps
Here are the six best long exposure camera apps for you to try.
But before starting with long exposure photography, don’t forget to get a mount and tripod for your phone! They are just as essential for phones as for cameras.
6. Shutter Stop (iOS)
This app is perfect if you don’t want to overcomplicate things. You don’t need to change any settings manually— all you need to do is choose the Light Trail mode after opening the app. This enables you to take long exposure shots in no time.
There is an option to change the light sensitivity and set a timer. After taking a picture, you can make it less blurry by adjusting “Freeze.” You can also adjust contrast within the app.
This app is only available for iOS, and you need to pay very little to download it.
5. Stabilized Night Camera (iOS)
This application specializes in taking long exposure photographs at night. Therefore, it is most suitable for creating light trail photos.
The use of the night camera couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is press the button and hold it down as long as you want the shutter to stay open.
Normally, you would need a tripod for long exposure shots since it is nearly impossible to hold your phone steady enough. However, as the name of this app suggests, Stabilized Night Camera has built-in stabilization. It fixes the camera shake effect and gets rid of the blurry effect. That way, you can get a clear image without any accessories.
The stabilized night camera application is available for iOS, including iPhone. It also costs very little to download.
4. Manual Camera DSLR (Android)
Manual Camera DSLR allows you to have manual control over your phone’s camera. The interface reminds the user of DSLR cameras.
It also lets you control shutter speed to use it for long exposure shots. You can even record videos using the manual settings this app provides you.
This manual camera DSLR app is accessible for Android devices. It has a free version, but it doesn’t give you access to the app’s full capabilities.
3. Slow Shutter Cam (iOS)
The Slow Sutter Cam app is the most popular application for a long exposure on the iPhone. It even has a hashtag on Instagram that you can follow if you are interested in the pictures taken with this app.
After opening the app, you must click on the Settings icon to adjust them manually. You can also choose from several built-in presets for specific scenarios. These include Light Trail, Motion Blur, and Low Light presets.
With the help of this application, you can achieve long exposure effects with your phone that wouldn’t have been possible before.
Slow Shutter Cam will definitely help you bring the most out of your long exposure photos. It is available for a low price.
2. Camera+2 (iOS)
Camera+ 2 is one of the most popular camera apps for phones. It gives you manual control over shutter speed and ISO. It also offers image stabilization, RAW file shooting, and editing to enhance your images.
With the built-in presets that this app offers, you can also edit your images for specific purposes, such as macro or action photography. The Slow Shutter preset makes it possible to take long exposure photos even in daylight!
To access the manual mode at all times, go to Advanced Controls and choose “Always show.” You can choose either full manual or shutter priority mode.
This app is about double the price of the other apps on this list. But it is still affordable and worth it for all the manual settings and features you get.
1. ProCamera (iOS)
ProCamera is another camera app with advanced manual settings designed for DSLR-like photography. Among other settings—like ISO and exposure compensation—it also lets you adjust the shutter speed. This feature makes this app suitable for taking long exposures with an iPhone.
You can set it to shutter priority or manual mode to have complete control. Once you have a shot with a slow shutter speed, you can also edit it within the app.
Quality always comes with a price. This popular application is double the price of the Camera+2 app. But if you shoot a lot with your phone, it’s worth the price.
Conclusion
Long exposure photography is a technique you should definitely try in your photography. It comes in handy in several niches of photography, and it also gives your pictures a unique look.
And with these apps, you don’t need a DSLR camera to take long exposures!
We hope you find the best long exposure camera app to help you explore this technique more.
If you want to delve into another technique more, try out our Total Time-Lapse course to capture beautiful moments of motion.
