Anyone who shoots video on their DSLR knows that having an external monitor can go a long way helping you get the best footage out of your camera. But sometimes the price of an external monitor can’t justify the ease of use and the overall quality, especially for amateurs.

Unbeknownst to us, we all carry a monitor in our own pockets. Yes, I’m talking about your phone. In this article, we go over how you can use your android phone as an external monitor for your DSLR.

How to use your phone as an external monitor

Step 1: Screw the phone bracket on top of the hot shoe mount. Then attach the hot-shoe mount to your camera.

Step 2: Download the DSLR Control app from the Play Store.

You can find the DSLR Control app here

Step 3: Insert the USB cable into your camera and then your phone using the OTG adaptor.

Step 4: Make sure everything is connected. Now open the DSLR Control app on your phone, and you have a fully functioning touchscreen monitor for your DSLR.

Now, in essence, you could skip the whole mounting process and connect your phone to the camera and have it function as a monitor. However, we suggest mounting it on top of the camera as it makes handling everything a lot easier, and you get ‘pro’ feels as well.

For iPhone users

iOS’ closed environment means only a few devices can interact with it over OTG. If you own an iPhone and would want to use that as an external monitor, first up, look for an app that might be able to control a camera over OTG.

I found a couple of apps that were meant to control DSLRs, but they didn’t function for me. However, you can always give it a shot.

Once you’ve found an app that has at least some positive reviews on it, try looking for an adaptor, which should be reasonably easy to come by. And you have a setup that can, in theory, function as a monitor.