Nokia Lumia 928: ingredients for the purest picture
Tweet The brand new Nokia Lumia 928 comes with the most innovative and advanced smartphone camera package available today, producing great pictures both day and night. Keen to know more, we asked Nokia’s head of imaging technologies, Juha Alakarhu, about the magic mix of components and software that makes the PureView camera in the Lumia 928 (and Nokia Lumia 920 before it) work so well. Large 8.7-megapixel sensor The most important thing is the image quality. Every time we are developing a new camera module, we carry out an extensive technology evaluation and a lot of simulations for example on sharpness, and low light performance, and their subjective importance in different use cases. This process includes deciding the resolution of the camera module. So why is Nokia’s camera sensor 8.7-megapixels? It may seem like a strange number to pick, but it’s based on the fact that the sensor is specially designed so it can be ‘sliced’ in different ways to produce excellent results in either 4:3 or 16:9 modes. Juha notes that other smartphones are optimised just for one aspect ratio, 4:3 or 16:9, and the other is created by cropping from it. Nokia’s leading cameras take the full field of view in both aspects. Large aperture “You want a large aperture on a smartphone camera. It means the camera lets in more light. And that means better pictures with shorter exposure times, or when lighting is low,” explains Juha. Our solution for the Lumia 928 and 920 is an f2.0 opening, which is one of the largest in the industry. [NB: smaller numbers mean a bigger opening when it comes to camera apertures]. But making a large aperture poses its own design problems, so there are practical limits. “Fortunately, our partnership with Carl Zeiss has made it possible to have leading-edge optics that are entirely customised to our cameras.” Optical image stabilisation “We’re really proud of this,” says Juha. “It simply lets people take better pictures, without having to worry about the technology.” The lenses on the Lumia 928 (like the Lumia 920) are actually separately encased in their own unit and can move in X or Y directions to compensate for shaky hands, movement or longer exposure times. While these adjustments happen, the lens always stays parallel to the sensor, which enables broader movement than, for example, solutions that tilt the lens. This way we can enable longer exposure time than anyone else without having handshake in the images. There is a whole white paper devoted to this technology, here . “When you add our exclusive Carl Zeiss optics to this, it’s something unique and special.” Click here to view the video on YouTube . Image processing With the sort of mix we’ve described above, the physical components of the camera can provide a great basis for good pictures. But Juha stresses the importance of imaging algorithms in creating the best images. Nokia’s own proprietary technology decides how to best expose different parts of the image, how the colours are balanced, how best to eliminate noise, and dozens of other parameters. Finding the perfect balance for everything is like creating art! “And the great thing about these software solutions is that they are portable to lower-cost phones and also upgradeable – we spend a lot of time reading feedback on our cameras from users and professionals to ensure we are fine-tuning them to deliver the best possible results based on people’s needs and experiences” says Juha. “As a result of this, you can guarantee that the camera on your Nokia Lumia will continue to improve through updates and new experiences. I would also say that, right from the start, we have the best smartphone camera technology at each price point.” Superior flash solutions On high-end Nokia smartphones, because of OIS, larger apertures, great image sensor technology and superior processing software, you can often take images without flash. But there are still occasions when you need it: if you’ve got low light and movement to contend with, for example. In these extremes, the Lumia 928 has got your back with a powerful xenon flash that can freeze the scene to help you capture that moment with detail. It also gives you one more tool that you can you can use for your creative purposes. For example, try having both motion blur and “xenon freeze” in the same photo! Sum of its parts “You can have a great sensor, lenses, algorithms and mechanics. But if you haven’t got them all working in harmony together, you’ll end up disappointed. It’s all about balance between the ingredients, something we have really striven for with the new Nokia Lumia 928, as well its predecessors.” Juha concludes. Stay tuned for more in-depth coverage on the Nokia Lumia 928 . Follow Nokia US on Facebook and Twitter .
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Nokia Lumia 928: ingredients for the purest picture
All you need to know about your smartphone’s white balance
Tweet Have you ever thought your whites aren’t white enough? No, don’t worry, this isn’t an advert for washing powder, this is about the temperature of your lighting and why exactly it’s measured in Kelvins. There is a lot of hardcore science involved in why one colour is a bit blue and another a bit more orange, but as a user interested in the artistic output rather than the scientific reasoning, I’m going to concentrate on the practical realities of white balancing your smartphone photos. A little bit of background Colour temperature is the measurement of the colour of a light source. It is measured in Kelvin (K) and named after the Baron Kelvin, William Thomson, (1824 – 1907) who worked on the first and second laws of thermodynamics and also determined the correct value for absolute zero. Baron Kelvin was not only a genius scientist, but also had good photographic credentials for in 1899, he was elected as Vice Chairman of the British division of Kodak Limited. What colour is light? All light sources have a colour temperature. Those with a colour temperature closer to direct sunlight appear as white (around 5000K); those with a lower temperature have a red or yellow hue (warm colours); and those with a higher colour temperature appear more blue (cool colours). Thinking about your light source The next time you are about to take a photo, have a quick think about where the light is coming from? Are you indoors? And, if so, what sort of lighting is there? If you’re outside, is the light bright sunlight or diffused overcast light? Back in the day, these considerations would have to be made well in advance. Photographers either had to arrive with a range of film types or a set of filters to counteract the type of lighting they might encounter. These days, due to our uber-clever digital devices, these changes can be made in the press of a button. Not only that but all digital cameras have the capability to work off an auto white balance based on the most likely lighting conditions – usually somewhere between 3000K and 7000K. So, how does this effect us taking photographs with our Nokia smartphones? Here are four photographs taken with the Nokia 808 PureView. The scene is lit with a tungsten studio lamp (around 3200K). As you can see, the auto white balance copes quite well with this light source, since it no doubt falls well within its auto capabilities. Both of the artificial white balance settings, (fluorescent and tungsten) also produce acceptable images. However, the cloudy (or overcast) setting can not cope with this light source and turns the image orange. Here’s the same set of shots again, but this time lit from natural (albeit indirect) sun light. Once again, the auto setting copes admirably with the light source and is almost impossible to differentiate from the Cloudy setting. But both the Tungsten and the Fluorescent settings, (which would be used for a light source of 2000-3000K), tinge the image blue. This is because the actual light source is already quite blue (probably around 7000K-8000K) and by setting a tungsten white balance, we are more than doubling the blue light the sensor receives. What does this mean in the real world? Now we know how the camera judges the whites in a scene we can make a judgement, when necessary, to deliberately override the automatic settings in order to help set the mood or get a more realistic set of colours in our photos. For example, if you want to create ‘warmer’ images, you can set the white balance to cloudy when you’re in sunny conditions. Or if you want to create ‘cool’ lighting, you could set the white balance to fluorescent in sunny conditions. There will also be occasions when the auto setting won’t quite give you the correct colours or true whites and knowing how to override it to a more appropriate setting will help you get your whites whiter! Hopefully, this overview will help you take even better smartphone photos. However, if you have any questions about anything, please ask in the comments below. Image credit: Vassia Atanassova
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All you need to know about your smartphone’s white balance
Nokia Lumia 928 Spotted at Private Nokia Concert
Nokia hosted a small, private concert last night with artist Ed Sheeran (headliner for Taylor Swift) in New York City. I expected a launch for the rumored Nokia Lumia 928, but Nokians told me when I got there that we wouldn’t see anything new. I later found out they weren’t telling the whole truth. The audience was a select group of media and influencers. I talked to some tech bloggers, fashion bloggers, and culture bloggers. Many of them were given Nokia Lumia 920 smartphones to check out, take photos and shoot videos. I thought the event was about the Nokia Lumia 920, but it wasn’t. I noticed several devices covered in black cases on tripods, monopods, and even carried by a few people walking around. It matched the description of the rumored Nokia Lumia 928 . The xenon flash was unmistakable. I think the event was was set up to be filmed with several Nokia Lumia 928 devices. Nokia will probably publish this video during the launch. Here are some photos of the devices: Observations The back of the devices at the event matched what we’ve seen on the Nokia Lumia 928 leaks already. It has xenon flash and roundish speakers on the back. The top of the Nokia Lumia 928 has the audio jack on the left and a microUSB or HDMI port in the center. I stood next to one of the guys holding the Nokia Lumia 928 and noticed a white light go on for about 2 seconds every time he took a photo. The flash wasn’t brief so it couldn’t have been the xenon flash. I think it was the focus assist light. It was a great night. I wish I got to play with the Nokia Lumia 928, though. We probably don’t have to wait long before it goes official. If you enjoyed this article, you might also like… Nokia Lumia 928 Screen And Digitizer Leaked Nokia Lumia 928 Rumored to Have Xenon Flash Nokia Lumia 928 Sample Photos of Motorcycles on Flickr Zemanta
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Nokia Lumia 928 Spotted at Private Nokia Concert
How to help Windows Phone grow even bigger and better
Tweet If you’re anything like us, when you first got hold of your Nokia Lumia you fell head over heels in love. Whether it was the sleek design or the awesome camera, Nokia Music or the Windows Phone OS, or any one of a dozen other reasons, it made your heart beat faster. Unsurprisingly, you’re not alone. A recent online survey conducted by Amplified Analytics, which asked over 142,000 people in the US about how happy they are with various smartphone brands, found that Nokia Lumia owners are the most satisfied . And like all passionate people, we want to share our enthusiasm with others. Question is how? What are the best ways to spread the Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone love, so more can enjoy our fantastic tech? Rate, review, read We all know that apps help an eco system flourish. The better the apps the more likely people are to use them, share them and talk about them. So, when you find an app you love why not tell the developer by rating it and reviewing it. If you think it needs improvement tell the developer why. These guys and girls work hard to create amazing innovations. We should do all we can to support and encourage them. Share your passion Another easy way is to share your passion . When someone asks about your Nokia Lumia, rather than giving them a simple answer, ask them why they’re curious? Once you get them talking you’ll get the chance to showoff the features they’re most likely to enjoy and you can chat about the things you love most. A smartphone win-win for both of you. Showcase your creativity Nokia’s the world’s largest manufacturer of digital cameras and it shows. Not only do Nokia Lumias’ have some of the best smartphone imaging tech on the planet, but some of the most original imaging apps too. So why not dazzle your friends and family with some low light photography action , a Cinemagraph or an incredibly smooth PureView video. Ask for apps Windows Phone Store already has over 120 000 certified apps and games, but if there’s one you want that’s not currently on the Windows Phone platform, why not ask for it? Developers love to hear people’s opinions and most are really easy to get hold of. If enough people tweet or email or Facebook message a developer, they’ll know it’s worth their time and effort to work on a product version for us. Use it to the max By putting your Nokia Lumia though its paces you’re helping to improve software updates and the next generations of devices. Send Microsoft usage reports. Submit bug reports for any applications that have issues. Make use of the Nokia Feedback app . All this goes towards making the Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone experience better. That’s some of our suggestions to help more people enjoy the Nokia Lumia Windows Phone experience. But what about yours? As ever, we’d love to hear them in the comments below.
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How to help Windows Phone grow even bigger and better
Underwater photos and videos from a Lumia 800
Click here to view the video on YouTube . Tweet Gone are the days when you had to buy a separate camera and a phone. Now, we all buy phones knowing that the built-in camera will be the only one we will ever need – or until the next smartphone, at least. So, when I went snorkelling off The Great Barrier Reef a few weeks ago, I wasn’t going to fork out for an underwater camera. Instead, I used my Nokia Lumia 800 , with a waterproof accessory from a local seaside shop. When it comes to beautiful underwater environments, the Great Barrier Reef is renowned for being home to a large variety of marine life, including fish, mammals and most of all, spectacular coral. I knew the experience would be memorable enough that I could remember the day fondly for years to come, but to capture it on camera myself would be a rewarding achievement. To be honest, though, I hadn’t really planned it well. It wasn’t until the day before the excursion that I thought I’d better go equipped. I jumped into a few local stores looking for something very specific, but something I’d only seen online. I was looking for this: It’s called a dripouch (just one particular brand, there are others) and it’s basically a plastic pouch where I can put my Nokia Lumia 800 inside. There were a few important factors that led me to purchase this item, and the description on the package explains some of them: Ideal at the beach or pool, on your boat or anywhere wet! – Now, the sea is wet. I saw this an invitation to test how wet of an environment it could be. Splash, sand and dust proof – I’m aware the difference between a splash and complete submergence but I decided to remain optimistic. Clear front panel allows for touchscreen use – I hadn’t actually thought about using the touchscreen. Instead I was going to press and hold the camera button for activation, but using the touchscreen was an added bonus. Clear back panel enables you to take photos – This was an absolute must! Without it, I may as well not bother. Adjustable neck strap – Again, this was essential. A pouch is fine, but it needed to attach to my body somehow. With all the flapping, kicking, and drowning I’d be doing, I wouldn’t want to make matters worse by clutching onto a pouch or phone. My wife and I took to the seas on an unfavourably overcast day. However, with the pouch around my neck – with my Nokia Lumia 800 inside – I was ready for some underwater photography. While I wasn’t deep-sea diving, the phone remained around my neck for the best part of five hours and underwater for most of that time. Here are some photos I took. I also managed to capture a couple of videos – one at the top of the page, and one below. Click here to view the video on YouTube . During that time at sea, the pouch (and Lumia within) was quite a discussion point between me and some fellow snorkellers who were interested to see how (or if) it would work. I’m pleased to say that my phone didn’t come into contact with any water, which came as a huge relief to me if I’m honest. I took a gamble and it paid off*. It’s great to know that with a little thought and pre-planning, I can use my Nokia Lumia in all kinds of situations to capture some once in a lifetime moments – albeit sometimes risky ones. Have you used your Nokia Lumia in an extreme environment and did it work? Share your experiences with us, below. *But it might not have done. If you try anything similar, it’s at your own risk.
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Underwater photos and videos from a Lumia 800
Developer interview: Creating the Fhotoroom experience
Tweet With a mother who is a painter and a father who is a programmer and systems specialist, it makes perfect sense that Thomas Lock should have found the middle ground between his parents to create the Fhotoroom app. He first remembers coding when he was just six years old and now 37, living in Toronto, Thomas says he got into the Windows environment ‘by accident’ after he happened to download the SDK and experimenting with it in Visual Studio . “I wanted to create a product that didn’t seem to exist. You have photo-sharing apps and image editors, and a lot of them are just features of one thing: the photography experience. I wanted to put them all together,” Thomas told Conversations. “I wanted to give people a well-thought out experience from capturing an image, to editing and being able to share it right across the spectrum.” The portfolio Launched publically in 2011, Fhotoroom, as well as the mobile app, also consists of a website and desktop photo editing tool, and across its portfolio has over 3 million users. There have been 1.5 million downloads of the Windows Phone app alone. The latest version of the app has just been optimised for Windows Phone 8. “We rebuilt our camera from the ground up and that took us a while. We introduced the lock screen, the tiles and the updates on the tiles and the lenses integration,” said Thomas. “We really wanted to bring out the features of Windows Phone 8 rather than just use a straight code conversion.” The paradigm shift The growth of camera phones has been a massive fillip, not just for Fhotoroom, but plenty of other websites and services too. This is what Thomas has to say about the influence of camera phone photography: “Photography has always been an extraordinarily populist hobby. There must be something in human nature that drives us towards the visual.” “Look at this history of most Internet sites, such as Flickr or Facebook, a lot of their enormous growth came from image sharing. Today, it’s just a different paradigm with the mobile phone. Now rather than point and shoot, we have a smartphone.” Lumia expertise It’s not just the quantity of photos that are now taken with our phones that has made a difference but the quality too. This is an area where Nokia can take a lot of the credit, says the Fhotoroom creator. “People like to take sunset photos and for most camera phones they can get washed out, but with the Nokia Lumia 920 , you can capture magnificent sunsets and sun flares because it has a really good dynamic range . It’s amazing the photos you can take with the Lumia 920 – whether at night or during the day. “ As for Fhotoroom, Thomas says they’re just getting started: “We want to keep pushing the technology, we want to do things better than anyone else and being more innovative. We’re leaving no stone unturned from when you capture to when you edit, to processing, to sharing it and we will even consider printing – that’s all for the future.”
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Developer interview: Creating the Fhotoroom experience
10 quotes about the Nokia Lumia 920′s camera you need to read
Tweet Incredibly, over four billion people now have mobile phones, making the camera phone the most widely used type of camera in history. Nokia’s been at the forefront of this photographic revolution for over a decade and since 2008 it has been the world’s largest manufacturer of digital cameras. No surprise, then, that the Nokia Lumia 920 has one the finest smartphone cameras on the planet. We love ours, but what do the Internet’s best tech blogs think? Read for yourself below. “Everything from contrast to color reproduction in low-light imagery was truly superior in the 920 to any other shooter we sampled it against, living up to Nokia’s claims on that front.” Engadget “Image results from the Nokia Lumia 920 are spectacular, with the Finnish firm’s smartphone camera pedigree shining through on this Windows Phone 8 handset.” Techradar “The Lumia 920′s camera is exceptionally good, including a f/2.0 8.7-megapixel sensor, but the magic is in its optical image stabilisation and low-light sensitivity.” The Next Web “The Lumia 920 has a 26mm wide-angle lens by Carl Zeiss and a dual-LED flash, but it’s unique in the mobile phone world – it’s the first one to feature true Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) instead of digital tricks that try (and fail most often than not) to achieve the same result.” GSM Arena ”In the week I’ve used the phone I’ve taken quite a few photos with the handset that rival what I’d be able to achieve using a digital SLR camera.” Mashable.com ”It’s the first smartphone to have a floating lens which means video footage, which can be recorded in full-HD, is extremely smooth.” PC Advisor ”The Smart Shoot mode takes a rapid series of photos – burst mode – then lets you edit in a face from any of the images into the final chosen shot.” It’s pretty neat.” ZD Net “Video on the 920 looked great. Colors were natural, and the 1080p HD picture was crisp and smooth at 30 frames per second.” CNET ” If you are fond of taking videos on the move, or just have the hands of a drunken sailor like us, you’ll love the Nokia Lumia 920′s cameras.” NDTV Gadgets “The 920′s camera is brilliant at snapping photos in pretty much every lighting condition we tried. Even using it in a room with zero to no light. We found the 920 was able to take crisp, vibrant photos thanks to its dual-LED flash and Carl Zeiss lens.” V3.co.uk Needless to say we’re very happy to see that so many of the Internets biggest tech-heads love the Nokia Lumia 920′s camera too. But, more importantly, what about you? As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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10 quotes about the Nokia Lumia 920′s camera you need to read
Create perfect and arty profile photos with Nokia’s Glam Me app
Tweet The craze for taking self-portraits on your camera phone, the so-called selfie, is being taken to another level with Nokia’s Glam Me camera app. This is Nokia’s first ever front-facing camera application that uses highly accurate face detection to transform your self-shot photos with arty effects or beauty enhancement features. Download Glam Me for Windows Phone 8 Press the Search button on your Nokia Lumia and then tap Vision Scan the QR code Tap on the link when it appears on the screen Install the application from the Windows Phone Store Glam Me is being launched in tandem with the Nokia Lumia 720 , which just happens to have a fantastic front-facing camera so the results are certain to look stunning, whether you’re creating a formal profile image or something fun to share with your friends. Smile for yourself Taking a ‘selfie’ is a true phenomenon with young people in Asian countries, especially in China. Fittingly, Glam Me was developed by Nokia in Beijing using new technology, such as accurate face detection and auto face enhancements. However, it is an artistic app that is sure to appeal to young, social and design-conscious people all over the world. With just one click of the button, you can take flattering self-portraits or use the intuitive user interface to quickly and easily apply different high quality effects to turn those portraits into a work of art. The different artistic effects include sketch, water colour, mint, oil paint, poster, retro and magazine cover. Furthermore, we’ve all had days when we’ve looked less than our normal, and wonderful, best. Perhaps it might be a lack of sleep, too much sun or because you’ve just got back from three days camping at a music festival! Whatever the reason, Glam Me can come to your aid with its slick range of beauty enhancing effects, such as teeth whitening and skin smoothing. The Glam Me experience Glam Me adds to Nokia’s exciting range of digital camera lenses such as Smart Shoot , Cinemagraph and Panorama. It can be launched as its own standalone application or selected through the viewfinder, although remember that Glam Me currently only supports the front-facing camera. There is a useful ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison function so you can see the difference between the raw photo and the new enhanced version. Once you’re happy with the final result, it’s then similarly straightforward to share your Glam Me selfie by sending it via email, SMS or through social networks like Facebook or Weibo in China. Glam Me is a true social app in another sense also: it can detect and enhance two faces in the frame so a friend can join you in the action. Glam Me makes self-portraits more fun and more social than ever before. It can make you look more beautiful, it can put you on magazine covers and you can let your imagination run wild with the different effects. That’s what I call an app! Glam Me is available from the Nokia Collection for all Nokia Lumia smartphones running on Windows Phone 8
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Create perfect and arty profile photos with Nokia’s Glam Me app
New Camera Extras and Cinemagraph rolling out to all Nokia Lumia smartphones
Tweet It’s time to unleash your creativity with the Cinemagraph digital camera lens and updated Camera Extras with object remover rolling out to all Nokia Lumia smartphones. Download the apps Use the search button on your phone and then the ‘eye’ [Bing Vision] button to scan the QR codes and get the apps. Camera Extras Cinemagraph Nokia Lumia 900 , 800 , 710 , 610 and 510 owners will be able enrich their pictures with increased freedom and fun thanks to these amazing camera features first seen on our latest Windows Phone 8 smartphones. The new Camera Extras is available for everybody already. Cinemagraph is also now available for Nokia Lumia 900, 800, and 710 smartphones, and will be arriving for the Nokia Lumia 610 and 510 in the coming weeks. When combined with the great new features on Windows Phone 7.8, your Nokia Lumia will feel like a new phone with a wealth of new experiences to play with. If you haven’t had chance to explore what these camera features bring, here is a quick run through. Cinemegraph is like a piece of Hollywood magic in your pocket, and lets you bring your pictures to life by animating a part of the picture, as this example shows. Cinemagraph allows you to share on your favourite social media sites like Twitter and Facebook using the memories.nokia.com site. Here’s our guide to creating a Cinemagraph . Second up is the Camera Extras app, which offers Smart Shoot, Panorama, Action Shot and a self-timer. The updated version uses burst mode to take a sequence of photos so you can choose your favorite shot and then remove unwanted moving objects. With UI improvements it really feels like the Smart Camera found in our Windows Phone 8 range. Here’s our guide to using ‘Smartshoot’ . We hope you enjoy these new features as we continue to bring new experiences for all Nokia Lumia owners. Windows Phone 7.8 is rolling out now so keep an eye out for the update , you can get Cinemagraph and the latest Camera Extras on your Nokia Lumia by following the links. Click here to view the video on YouTube .
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New Camera Extras and Cinemagraph rolling out to all Nokia Lumia smartphones
Nokia Lumia 928 Rumored to Have Xenon Flash
Sources have told The Verge that the Nokia Lumia 928, which is yet to be announced, will include xenon and LED flash along with the 8 megapixel Pureview camera found on the Nokia Lumia 920. It is also rumored to have an aluminum body and is expected in April for Verizon. Xenon flash is much brighter that LED flash, so it’s great at lighting up objects in low light situations. While the Nokia Lumia 920 is awesome in low light using Optical Image Stabilization and dual LED flash, objects that are moving in low light will appear blurry in the photos. The rumored combination of Xenon and image stabilization should be interesting. Here’s a breakdown of previous Nokia cameraphone flashes and see that Xenon beats LED flash. If you enjoyed this article, you might also like… Nokia N82 vs Nokia N85 vs Nokia N95 8GB vs Nokia N96 Camera Flash Test in Darkness Why Is Xenon Flash Missing on Nokia N97? Nokia N82 Performs Well in the Club Zemanta
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Nokia Lumia 928 Rumored to Have Xenon Flash
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