Smartphone as an external camera monitor - how it works

You can also use your smartphone as an external monitor for your DSLR camera. You can also expand the screen with a tablet. Depending on the app, you can then work better with an external monitor, remote control or a combination of both.

Smartphone as an external monitor: the fastest and easiest solution

You don't need much additional equipment for this solution. You can also find the complete instructions in our picture gallery.

1. First you need the supplied camera-to-USB cable.
2. You also need a USB OnTheGo cable that fits your smartphone or tablet.
3. Connect the camera cable to the camera and the USB OTG adapter. If you now connect the smartphone or tablet, the app starts automatically. You can read which app is the right one in the following section.

External camera monitor - the most important thing: the app

The solution currently only works with Android devices. Apple's smartphone and Windows Phone are not supported.

• Canon has the "DSLR Controller" app. This works from Android version 2.1.
• A list of all smartphones, tablets and Canon cameras can be found on the manufacturer's website. Depending on the device, you may not need a USB OTG cable, but an adapter kit.
• The "DSLR Dashboard" app is suitable for Nikon cameras. This can be installed from Android OS 4.0.
• For more information, go to the DSLR Dashboard Google Code page.

With these apps you can now set your camera, focus externally and you have a live view in good quality. Next, you should decide which lens you want to use.

You can read through the individual steps again in our picture gallery. Test items for this article were the Nexus 5 with Android 4.4.2, the Canon EOS 550D with Magic Lantern and the app DSLR controller in version 0.99.1.

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Canon's included USB to camera cable.

The USB OnTheGo cable for the Nexus 5 or 7.

The cable runs from the camera into the smartphone.

The app opens automatically.