Open Camera

Review by eFreeware

Open Camera is a free, open source camera app for Android, made by Mark Harman and listed in the Photography category. It has been on Google Play since October 2013 and now sits past 100 million installs with a 4.0 average across 287,918 ratings. The main reason to consider it is simple: it puts a deep set of camera controls in front of you, and it does so without charging for them.

Most phone camera apps hide the interesting parts behind an automatic mode. Open Camera takes the opposite approach. It exposes scene modes, color effects, white balance, ISO and exposure compensation or lock, and it goes further with manual controls on devices that support the Camera2 API. If you have ever wanted your phone camera to behave more like a compact camera with a settings dial, this is the shape of app you are looking for.

The developer is upfront that not every feature will appear on every device. Hardware, camera capabilities and the Android version all play a part, so what you get depends on the phone you install it on.

The auto-level feature and what it fixes

The feature the developer leads with is auto-level, which keeps your pictures level regardless of how you are holding the phone. It is a small idea with a wide reach. Anyone who has come home from a trip with a folder of slightly tilted horizons knows the annoyance it addresses, and having the app correct that as you shoot saves the cropping and rotating later.

The recent update adds a related touch: grids now rotate when auto-level is enabled. That keeps your framing guides aligned with the corrected image rather than the raw sensor angle, which should make composing a level shot easier to judge on screen. This version also lets you show icons on screen to lock orientation or take preview shots.

Auto-level is the kind of feature that sounds minor until you use it in a situation where straight lines matter. Architectural details, seascapes, anything with a strong horizontal, all benefit. It is also the clearest example of the app's general character: it takes a problem you might not have articulated and gives you a switch for it.

Manual controls, RAW files and video modes

The Camera2 API support is where the app gets serious. On hardware that supports it, you get manual controls with an optional focus assist, burst mode, RAW capture in DNG format, camera vendor extensions, slow motion video and log profile video. RAW files in particular are the reason some photographers seek out a third-party camera app, since they leave more room for adjustment after the fact than a compressed JPEG does.

The app also covers the assistive tools that go with manual shooting. There is an on-screen histogram, zebra stripes for spotting blown highlights, and focus peaking to show what is in focus. Focus bracketing mode is available too, which is the sort of thing you would otherwise associate with dedicated camera gear rather than a phone.

On image quality, the app offers noise reduction with a low light night mode, plus dynamic range optimization. HDR is supported with auto-alignment and ghost removal, which addresses the usual problem of moving subjects blurring between exposures. Exposure bracketing is there alongside it. Panorama shooting is included as well, and it works with the front camera, not just the rear one.

Video gets its own set of options. HD video is supported, and the app can store date, time and location as subtitles in .SRT files that sit alongside the video. That is a niche feature, but for anyone documenting fieldwork, travel or an event where the when and where matter, it is a tidy way to keep that information attached.

Remote triggers, overlays and metadata

Open Camera offers several ways to fire the shutter without touching the screen. You also get a voice-countdown timer, auto-repeat with a set delay, and Bluetooth LE remote support for some housings. It can also take a photo remotely when you make a noise, which is a clever option for group shots where you want to be in the frame.

Grids and crop guides can be overlaid to help with framing. There is an upside-down preview option intended for use with attachable lenses, so the image on screen is oriented correctly when the lens flips the view.

Metadata handling is unusually thorough. Geotagging can be turned on or off for stills and clips, and photos may store compass direction in GPSImgDirection and GPSImgDirectionRef. Stills can be stamped with the date and time, coordinates, or your own text. In the other direction, there is an option to strip device exif metadata from photos before sharing them. The latest update extends exif tag support to WebP and PNG formats, and panorama photos now store XMP metadata marking them as panoramas in JPEG formats.

What the app asks of you

The app is free to download and use, and third-party ads run on the website rather than inside the app. That combination is rare enough in a photography app to be worth stating plainly.

The cost is not money but attention. This is not an app that hides its settings away. Between scene modes, white balance, ISO, exposure lock, grids, histogram, zebra stripes, focus peaking and the Camera2 manual controls, there is a lot to configure, and the app gives you room to configure it. The developer also makes the volume keys and the user interface itself configurable, which adds another layer of personal setup.

The other thing to keep in mind is device dependence. Not every device supports every feature, since some depend on hardware, camera capabilities or the Android version. The app's full range of manual and RAW options is tied to Camera2 support, so the experience on an older or more limited phone will not match what a recent flagship can do.

How I would approach it in practice

The sensible way in is to decide what you actually want from a camera app before you start changing settings. If you mostly want level, well-composed snapshots, auto-level, the grid overlays and the timer are where I would begin. Those three cover a lot of everyday photography without asking you to think about sensor behavior.

If you want to shoot RAW and edit afterward, the manual controls and focus assist are the relevant part, along with the histogram and zebra stripes for judging exposure. Focus bracketing and exposure bracketing are worth exploring once you have a feel for the basics, since they multiply the number of frames you capture and the amount of sorting you do later.

The developer makes a point of saying the app cannot be tested on every Android device, and suggests trying it before relying on it for something important like wedding photos. That is sound advice for any camera app, and it applies here given how much of the feature set depends on your specific hardware. A few test shots in the conditions you care about will tell you more than any feature list.

The noise-triggered shutter and the Bluetooth LE remote are the features I would file under occasional use. They solve specific problems well, but they are not the reason to install the app. The reason is the depth of control available for free, and the fact that it keeps that control visible rather than burying it.

A capable choice for photographers who want control

Its 4.0 average across nearly 288,000 ratings suggests a large audience has found it useful over the years, and the recent update shows it is still being refined.

It suits photographers who want to understand and adjust what their phone camera is doing. If you are comfortable with terms like ISO, white balance and exposure compensation, or willing to learn them, the app rewards that interest. If you want a camera that makes every decision for you and never shows a setting, the depth here will feel like more than you need.

The main things to weigh are device dependence and the learning curve. The best features depend on Camera2 support, so your mileage varies by phone, and the sheer number of options takes time to work through. For anyone who wants a free camera app with genuine manual capability, it is one of the more complete options on Android.

What's new in version 1.56.2

New optional on-screen icons for locking orientation to portrait/landscape, and preview shots. Grids now rotate when auto-level is enabled. Exif tags now supported for WebP and PNG image formats. Panorama photos now store XMP metadata to mark these as panorama images (JPEG formats only). Photos no longer save on UI thread when using "Pause after taking photo" option. Various other improvements and bug fixes.