Nokia Lumia 1020 Camera and the Camera Pro App

808 Pureview on Windows Phone is a reality now and the most interesting part is the Camera. The phone houses a 41MP camera based on Nokia’s Pureview technology. It also has a dedicated ISP i.e. Image Signal Processor which makes lossless zooming possible. One thing unique about 1020 camera is that it has two kind of flash. Xenon Flash for taking pictures while LED Flash for video shooting.

The Camera:

Today at, NYC, Nokia showcased how clear the picture remains even when it is oversampled from 38PM to 5MP, thanks to the lossless zoom technology. Using the dual capture feature, the Lumia 1020 simultaneously takes  high-resolution 34 MP (16:9), 38MP(4:3) megapixel image and a 5 megapixel picture (oversampled) that is easy to share to social networks. Another advantage of 5MP picture is that it is best suited for printing.

The full resolution image is like a master copy which you can always edit and create another picture. Both of these images are stored in the camera separately.

Nokia 1020 Pureview is second generation camera. It uses the latest generation 1.1 micron back-side-illuminated (BSI) pixels which results in better image quality and less noise.. The sensor format is 1/1.5”  and it is up to five times larger than typical smartphone sensors. The redesigned sensor provides all the imaging innovations introduced with Nokia 808 PureView and  new innovations in a revised, more modern camera module.

The sensor also has backside-illuminated sensor which allows the camera to capture more light making even low light areas brighter. The OIS which was introduced with Lumia 920, has been improved. As the sensor was pretty big compared to 920, it was redesigned with small motors and tiny ball bearings.

Image Credit

New Apps and SDK Announced

Nokia today also announced couple of apps for Nokia 1020 and has partnered with many third-party developers who can make use of the Nokia’s own SDK and take advantage of the camera processing power in their own way. The new partners are Yelp, Path, Flipboard, Oggl, Foursquare.

Hipstamatic, is the same company which showcased their app during Lumia 925 launch,  showcased Oggl PRO, an exclusive application for the Nokia Lumia 1020 offering the most advanced smartphone camera controls for their creative community.

Official Vine App has also been announced today but there is no details on when it is going to be officially available.

Nokia Pro Camera App ( Image)

It’s a redesigned camera app which displays the settings in concentric circle system that can be easily accessed with your thumbs and without moving your hand from the camera grip. You have easy access to settings like  flash, focus, ISO, shutter speed, white balance and exposure. Once you select any of the settings rest are faded away. This app is different from Smart Camera app which was announced with Lumia 925.

What is most interesting feature which was also demoed during the event was changing the focus between the front and object behind it. You can just slide the focus cursor. This is a great welcome because we never had zoom in Windows Phone. Apart from this, all the settings that are changing, get instant preview when you change it.

The camera will show you when you are about to over- or under-expose, by showing a value beweent-3 and +3 in the EV field on the top right. Some values of ISO and Shutter speed might result in noisy images or a lot of blur due to hand-shake or movement. This is indicated in the dashboard by an underlined value.

Video Demo

Watch on YouTube

Nokia Pro Camera App ( Video)

• Even when shooting a video, the camera records video in two different resolutions, 1920×1080 (Full HD) or 1280×720, and also supports three different frame rates, 24, 25 and 30 frames per second (fps).
• The video mode also offers zoom, which can be used while recording by sliding a finger up or down the screen.
• Full HD Video Zoom is 4X while 720 p is 6X and its completely lossless.
• Edit the video with three manual control where you can turn on or off the lights, set white balance and lock the focus manually.
• If you’re in a concert with a seat far away from the stage, you can zoom in while recording video to see more than you can with your own eyes.
• The video can be uploaded straight from the phone to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
• You can also edit the video straight from the phone before uploading.