Nokia, one of the oldest surviving players in the mobile phone space, has in recent years changed its tune, and wisely so, by focusing on the mobile software part as much as the hardware. The 808 PureView marked the company's giant leap as far as the camera department was concerned with PureView Technology backed by a never-before-heard-in-a-mobile-phone 41 megapixel image sensor. Taking note of the fact that the weaker Symbian platform held it back, it was only a matter of time before the Finnish manufacturer brought out Windows Phone devices equipped with PureView tech cameras and the latest among them being the Lumia 1020 with a similar 41 megapixel image sensor.
Talking of camera software, there is a plethora of software that Nokia brought to the Lumia series to get the most out of their cameras. The latest one to arrive is Nokia Refocus, which works on the Lumia 920, 925, 928, and 1020 (and also the upcoming Lumia 1520 phablet), all as long as they are running the Amber software update.
Refocus is meant to make taking sharp-focus photos a piece of cake for just about anyone, and it does so innovatively. With this software, you don't need to worry about focusing, thus leaving you free to concentrate on composing the frame.
Refocus allows you to click photos and you can adjust the focus later as required. It does so by taking not one, but a series of photos in rapid succession but with varying focus. The result is then culled in the background in such a way as to only retain relevant photos with sharp focus in various focal planes or distances from the camera, thus allowing you to choose the one that suits your requirements. The results are best illustrated when you shoot a subject at a macro distance and also have distant objects in the same frame.
Additionally, Refocus also allows you to adjust the image to have everything in focus at the touch of the "all in focus" button. Thus, you can have a macro subject and a distant subject in sharp focus in the same frame, which results in some beautiful compositions. There is also a "color pop" button that retains colours for only select parts of the images and turns the rest into black-and-white.
You can share your Refocus results with your friends as long as you have a SkyDrive account and allow your friends to play with the focus themselves. Keep in mind that you cannot adjust photo settings such as ISO, exposure, and flash in Refocus, but I think that there is no reason why Nokia should not bring it in future releases. This is one camera app that will surely be imitated by competitors. Nokia Refocus is just a 5 MB download that will forever change the way you take photographs using your Nokia Lumia smartphone. This looks like yet another strong reason to switch to Lumia.
Talking of camera software, there is a plethora of software that Nokia brought to the Lumia series to get the most out of their cameras. The latest one to arrive is Nokia Refocus, which works on the Lumia 920, 925, 928, and 1020 (and also the upcoming Lumia 1520 phablet), all as long as they are running the Amber software update.
Refocus is meant to make taking sharp-focus photos a piece of cake for just about anyone, and it does so innovatively. With this software, you don't need to worry about focusing, thus leaving you free to concentrate on composing the frame.
Refocus allows you to click photos and you can adjust the focus later as required. It does so by taking not one, but a series of photos in rapid succession but with varying focus. The result is then culled in the background in such a way as to only retain relevant photos with sharp focus in various focal planes or distances from the camera, thus allowing you to choose the one that suits your requirements. The results are best illustrated when you shoot a subject at a macro distance and also have distant objects in the same frame.
Additionally, Refocus also allows you to adjust the image to have everything in focus at the touch of the "all in focus" button. Thus, you can have a macro subject and a distant subject in sharp focus in the same frame, which results in some beautiful compositions. There is also a "color pop" button that retains colours for only select parts of the images and turns the rest into black-and-white.
You can share your Refocus results with your friends as long as you have a SkyDrive account and allow your friends to play with the focus themselves. Keep in mind that you cannot adjust photo settings such as ISO, exposure, and flash in Refocus, but I think that there is no reason why Nokia should not bring it in future releases. This is one camera app that will surely be imitated by competitors. Nokia Refocus is just a 5 MB download that will forever change the way you take photographs using your Nokia Lumia smartphone. This looks like yet another strong reason to switch to Lumia.
Check out some of my Nokia Refocus sample shots below:
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