Understanding your Windows Phone Camera

While the camera on your Windows Telephone may not take been a key factor in the by, with the HTC Titan 2 sporting a 16mp camera and the Nokia Lumia 900 using a Carl Zeiss lens these little cameras are being seen in a new light. Where in the past many saw the camera as a nice accessory or fifty-fifty a novelty, as technology improves the Windows Telephone camera'south performance it'south becoming a more influential feature.

Additionally, as our Windows Phone camera evolves so does the software that drives it. Yous have more control over the camera these days along with special settings to use effects, adjust exposure settings, and plan settings. From your children at play to a stunning sunset to your new pet the camera on your Windows Phone is a great tool for capturing and sharing memories.

With all the advancements nosotros've recently seen with our Windows Phone cameras (along with a few suggestions from our readers) information technology's fourth dimension to offering our guide to understanding the basics of your Windows Telephone camera and a few tips on taking pictures.  After the break, we'll embrace the principles of photography, the terminology involved, what some of your Windows Phone settings volition do, and a few tips to take better pictures with your Window Phone.

Windows Telephone Camera: The Basics

The basic concept of digital photography is that an image is captured by passing light waves through a lens that somewhen hits a imaging sensor. Light is regulated by shutter speeds and apertures to achieve proper exposure. Briefly, the shutter speed is the time a photographic camera's sensor is exposed to light and the aperture (or f-cease) is the size of the opening in the lens where lite passes through.

Your Windows Phone lacks a mechanical shutter or aperture so exposure is regulated by a fixed aperture and the duration your sensor is powered up. Instead of opening a mechanical shutter for 1/125th seconds your Windows Phone photographic camera sensor is powered on for 1/125th seconds.

While some cameras volition let you regulate exposure manually, your Windows Telephone controls all of this based on the amount of light present. You can manipulate exposure on your Windows Phone by tweaking some of the settings (more on this in a minute) but for the almost part your Windows Phone runs with it.  Once exposed or captured, the prototype is processed by the camera's image processor and eventually saved in .JPEG format.

Along with exposure controls, your Windows Phone is probable equipped with digital zoom feature to allow you movement in closer to your subject without worrying with your pes zoom. Digital zoom is accomplished past cropping an image down to a centered area with the same aspect ratio as the original. In a nutshell you are cropping to simulate an increase in magnification. The finish result may pull you closer to your bailiwick simply in the procedure you sacrifice paradigm quality.  Optical zoom (e.g. your typical zoom lens), which isn't available, provides an mechanical increase in focal magnification without sacrificing image quality.

Ane final bones chemical element is the wink. Well, it's actually a light. Traditional flashes send a pulse of lite the case the shutter on the camera is fully open. The light on your Windows Phone follows the aforementioned principle just lacks the accomplish and brightness of traditional flashes. The calorie-free on the Windows Phone also doubles as a focus assistant lamp. When lighting is low and your subject lacks the contrast to let the autofocus work, the lamp sheds enough light on the subject to attain proper focus.

I'm not a fan of the camera lights and prefer natural lighting. There is a sweet spot where these lights piece of work work similar a amuse. Likewise close and your subject gets done out, also far and things get underexposed. Finding that spot takes practice and when yous do, the light can come in handy.

Windows Telephone Camera: Post Script on Digital Zoom

While I have my reservations on the digital zoom feature on our Windows Phones, the HTC Titan II may accept changed our minds a bit.  In comparing the 16mp sensor of the Titan Two to the 8mp sensor on the Nokia Lumia 900 with the digital zoom applied to its fullest, the prototype quality was rather impressive on the Titan Ii.

There is more than real estate on the 16mp sensor to adjust the digital crops the zoom characteristic creates.  Resulting in less quality loss to your images.  We've besides noticed that the zoom on the Titan II is noticeably more than smoother (feels more like an optical zoom) than what yous notice on any other Windows Phone.  For example on the Samsung Focus S, the zoom seems choppy or jumpy equally the zoom increases.

While the technology behind digital zoom has improved, I'grand yet inclined to rely on my pes zoom than the zoom on my Windows Telephone camera.  Nevertheless, if the Titan II is the sign of things to come, I may have to re-recollect that position.

Windows Telephone Photographic camera: Settings

There are several controls at your disposal that will influence how an image is taken and processed. While these settings may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, here'due south a listing of the more common settings and what they control.

ISO Level: An paradigm sensors ISO (International Standards Organisation) determines how sensitive to light your sensor is. The lower the ISO the less sensitive the sensor is. For example, outdoors on a bright sunny twenty-four hours you may only need an ISO of 60 where indoors in lower light you'd utilise an ISO of 200 or higher. Most Windows Phone cameras ISO settings are prepare to automatic merely if your images are coming out dark, you may attempt manually raising the ISO. The downside to higher ISO levels is that they tend to produce more prototype racket or grain that results in poor epitome quality.

And then to become the best images possible, you tin manually lower your ISO for cleaner shots (peculiarly useful on Nokia's phones). But remember, this is only good for still objects every bit the exposure time volition be longer resulting in blur if non held steady. If indoors with low-calorie-free, aim for ISO 200 or 400 if you tin can steady the camera. Bonus tip: utilize the tap-to-focus feature to snap that photo instead of the concrete shutter button.

White Balance: Different types of light produce varying shades of white. Warmer lite often produces an orange or brownish tint while cooler lights results in blue tints. A camera's white balance merely balances the dissimilar light sources to produce whiter whites. Most Windows Phone cameras volition be defaulted to an automatic white residuum with options to select a white balance based on detail lighting conditions such as florescent, incandescent, daylight, cloudy, etc.

Sharpness, Saturation, Dissimilarity, etc.: These settings tell your camera how much of that item processing aspect you lot want applied to an image. For example, if you accept Saturation set to high the paradigm processor will raise the color saturation levels equally information technology processes your image.  You tin can used these settings to increase or decrease the amount of these processes are applied to your photos for effect or to compensate for harsh lighting, brilliant colors, etc.

Metering: This is how y'all're camera measures the lite and adjust the shutter speed, discontinuity and ISO (when set to machine) to achieve proper exposure. There are various metering modes that include spot metering (meters on a specific spot that's ordinarily the center of your viewfinder or your focal betoken), center weighted (concentrates the metering to the collective expanse in the center of your viewfinder), matrix or multi-zone (meters several points in the viewfinder and combines the results for a collective reading).

EV or Exposure Bounty: This setting allows you to manipulate the exposure settings your metering determines will produce proper exposure. The compensation or EV adds or subtracts from this exposure settings. For example if your discipline is back lit y'all may compensate for greater exposure by using a positive EV number (the greater the number the more exposure compensation). If yous're bounty for a lot of glare, you would use a negative EV number to lessen the exposure.

In addition to the basic exposure settings, some Windows Phones take additional settings that influence how your photographic camera performs. In addition, in that location are third party apps now available that will help you in a similar mode.

Panoramic Imaging: Panoramas are wide angle views often equanimous of several images stitched or pieced together. HTC provides a simple, straightforward panoramic characteristic with their cameras. For the others, you take third party apps such as Motorcar Panorama that volition allow you to take several landscape images and run up them together to create that panoramic prototype.  The fundamental to taking skilful panoramas is simple, keep your camera steady and on a constant plane.  A tripod is a swell tool in helping you lot have improve panoramas.

Burst Mode: Burst mode tells your Windows Phone camera to shoot a serial of frames or photos quickly. The HTC Windows Phones take this setting built in to let you to shoot v frames in outburst mode.  Burst Mode tin help capture action shots or help capture impromptu expressions. Say your son interim goofy, doesn't think yous can take the picture fast plenty and you desire to capture as many bribery photos as possible.  If your Windows Telephone lacks a burst mode, check out Turbo Camera as an alternative.

Image Stabilization: While fairly new to Windows Phone cameras, image stabilization has been around for years. With most stand alone cameras, you have pocket-sized motors that hold the lens or image sensor however when slight movements occur. This reduces the take a chance of images being blurred past camera movement when slower shutter speeds are used.  With your Windows Phone camera, the image stabilization simply raises the ISO to allow for a faster shutter speed to reduce any blurring caused by slight movement of your Windows Phone equally you take the picture.  The downside is that considering yous are raising the ISO, yous may see more than epitome noise or grain when you apply the paradigm stabilization.

Red-eye reduction: Ruby-red middle is acquired by light reflecting off the back of your pupil when a wink is used. Red-center reduction sends a small pulse of lite towards your subject field to acclimate their eyes to the brighter lite and so the full discharge of the flash occurs.

Macro: On your Windows Phone photographic camera, macro is simply shut up focusing. It is not a traditional macro setting (recording the subject at life size magnification) only will go y'all closer to your subject to tape finer particular. Your macro setting is great for flowers, coins, and other small objects.  The challenge with macro is making sure enough light gets to your subject because of the close distances. Ready to macro, your Windows Phone camera volition focus about half dozen to ten inches away from your subject. Your Windows Phone tin easily cast a shadow over your subject area at those distances.

Geo-tagging:I overnice feature with your Windows Phone camera is that it tin can tap into your Windows Telephone's location services to geo-tag your pictures.  Geo-tagging but adds your GPS coordinated to your paradigm's EXIF file.  This is a prissy tool to remember where y'all took the picture and with Windows Phone apps such as Prototype Map, y'all tin can pin these locations to a NAVTEQ map.

The downside to geo-tagging your pictures is that if yous go on this information on any uploaded photos, with the right software, everyone can see the location.  If you prefer to proceed your locations private, you can become into your Windows Telephone settings under Applications and Pictures + Camera and turn off the option to continue location information on uploaded pictures.  Now yous can share your pictures while keeping your locations individual.

Smiling Detection and Face up Detection:  Hither'due south a couple of interesting settings that I've only seen on the HTC Titan Ii.  When turned on Smile Detection will identify your subjects face and when they smile, the camera will accept the motion-picture show.  Face Detection will detect any faces in your photo and adjust the focus to make sure the faces are dialed in just right.

Windows Phone Camera: Scenes and Effects

Most Windows Phones volition have settings for scenes and effects. Scenes are basically a drove of programmed settings or modes designed to tackle a detail photographic scene. For case, the HTC Titan Ii has xviii scene choices ranging from portraits to dark to food.  In my experience, nearly Windows Telephone cameras will take enough scenes to cover the basics; portrait, landscapes, macro, sports, night, etc.

In addition, to illustrate how the camera software has adult, the Titan II has an Intelligent Auto setting that considers the variables detected past the camera (lighting, distance to subject, focus shifts, etc.) and automatically selects the all-time scene for that item moving picture.  Other cameras will have an machine setting under the scenes settings just the Intelligent Auto seems more refined.  Such features help have the guess work out using your camera.

Effects are a collection of filters and image processing effects that can be applied to a photograph while the camera's processor is processing the image. For example, the Lumia 900 has five effects that can exist practical to images that includes normal, blackness & white, sepia, negative, and solarized. If you lot're looking for an old time experience to your movie you may choose the sepia effect. If y'all like gray scale images, and then black and white might be your cup of tea.

Photographic camera effects are a not bad style to add together a bit of creativity and uniqueness to your photographs. If your Windows Phone lacks enough effects to your liking, in that location are plenty of third political party apps available, such as Sketch Camera, Pictures Lab, and Clever Photo to give you plenty of options.

Windows Phone Camera: Tips on taking meliorate pictures

I think the key to taking meliorate pictures with your Windows Telephone is lighting. Information technology's primal for any photography just because of the limited control yous have over the camera and the smaller sensor, it seems more influential with a Windows Phone camera. Granted the BSI sensor HTC is using has helped, yous even so need to try to smooth ample light on your discipline.

Besides shining ample low-cal on your subject, another consequence that plagues Windows Phone photography is the lack of a steady hand. Information technology is really, really, really important you hold your Windows Phone steady when you have a moving-picture show. At that place are times, due to low light, your camera will use a slow shutter speed. If y'all move your Windows Phone before the shutter is airtight, you lot're going to blur your image. Think, tap the screen to select a focus region and to snap the photo instead of using the defended camera push. The lack of concrete movement will help steady the shot and reduce mistiness (plus y'all get selective focus on some Windows Phones).

I would highly recommend getting a tripod mountain for your Windows Phone if you are going to exercise any mural or low light (beyond a snap shot) photography. If yous have a tripod that is used with your video photographic camera or stand lone camera, why non accept advantage of it with your Windows Phone photographic camera. Fifty-fifty a pocket-sized Gorillapod tripod can be used and is compact enough to fit in your back pocket.

Practice is key. When I'm teaching classes on photography I urge my classes to experiment and practice equally much as they can. With digital photography you become instant results and if they aren't to your liking, you can delete the images and endeavour again. Dorsum in the day when film was the only game in town, results took an 60 minutes to run into and if you messed upwards, experimenting could exist very plush. And then my advice is to experiment with angles, lighting, cropping and your imagination. If you lot take a bad picture, run across what can be improved, delete it and endeavor again.

When you're taking photos experiment with angles and different crops/framing. Don't always center your subjects. Sometimes having an off-center subject will improve an image's composition. Your Windows Phone camera is mobile and easy to accept to the footing level or elevate above your subjects. Also, tinker with still objects. While coins and figurines are easy subjects for sample photos, they tin too serve as decent subjects to learn with.

Look for every twenty-four hours items and see how photogenic y'all tin brand them. From a lamp to a volume to your car keys, you've got enough of subjects just lying effectually the firm.  A sink total of water and a drippy faucet tin can also brand for an interesting photographic subject.

My final piece of advice is to larn your way around post processing software. Whether it'due south Photoshop, Picasa or another editor. At that place are likewise a scattering of decent editing apps for your Windows Telephone that can help fine melody your images.

Editing your images will allow you to crop your images for effect (getting rid of the dead space), fine tune the exposure of your images, and sharpen things up a bit. While the internal processing within your Windows Phone does a decent job of things, post processing volition improve a marginal photograph and make a practiced photo shine.  For example, this is the prototype taken straight from the Windows Telephone photographic camera.

In using Photoshop Elements (Adobe's bones photo editing software), I cropped off the dead space above the subjects and tweaked the exposure and sharpness a little.  Hither is what I came up with.

If you're non inclined to use desktop editing software, accept a wait at some of the Windows Telephone photography apps that allows yous to perform basic editing tasks.  Thumba, Pictomaphone, and Fhotoroom come to mind every bit possible photograph editing apps for your Windows Phone.  Which e'er way you go, I think you will find a photo editing tool volition help improve the quality of the photos you capture with your Windows Telephone photographic camera.

The cameras on our Windows Phones have improved dramatically over the years and we accept every indication that the technology will go on to ameliorate with the PureView cameras Nokia is developing. 1 day we may even see mechanical shutters and apertures to help meliorate exposure control. Who knows, nosotros might even see optical zooms on Windows Phones.

If you have any tips and tricks to offer on using your Windows Phone camera, feel complimentary to sound off in the comments.

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