In this article we’ll take a look at Nokia Camera Extras, a Lumia-exclusive app that adds four unique features to the Windows Phone camera app.
What is Camera Extras?
If you’re into mobile photography, the chances are that you’ve used a range of different applications to help get that perfect shot.
On a Windows Phone 7 device, the basic camera app is just that – basic. It does have a few features that you can adjust, such as exposure, ISO, and flash, along with a few filters, but that’s it.
Nokia has come along with Camera Extras, which outfits the basic camera app with four additional features that are both useful and fun.
1. Smart group shot
If you’ve ever tried to take a group photo, you’ll know that it’s not an easy task. There’s always someone blinking, not looking, not smiling, or something else going wrong.
Smart group shot helps you by taking multiple group shots at the same time, and then it uses some clever software to recognise the faces and lets you mix and match from the various photos to make one perfect group photo.
2. Action shot
Let’s face it, it’s not always easy to get a photo of someone jumping, or to get a good photo of a speeding car or boat.
This feature takes multiple shots at short intervals same time, and then lets you chose the best one from the collection of shots. It’s a real time saver, and it’d be nice to see this feature default for all photography on the Lumia in the future.
3. Panorama
Fire up this feature and you’ll be making cool panoramic (wide) photos in no time at all. Simply tap the screen to take your first shot, and then move the camera as prompted on the screen, from left to right.
The photos it turns out are quite fun to look at, although I did notice that the resolution was quite low.
4. Self timer
The final feature of Nokia Camera Extras is the Self timer, which is very self-explanatory. Again, you simply tap the screen to start and the phone counts down from 10 seconds before taking the final shot. No more self-photography styed shots!
Conclusion
If you own a Nokia Lumia, then Nokia Camera Extras is a great addition to your phone’s app collection. It integrates well into the basic camera app, and gets you the features you might want or need at zero cost. It’s not perfect, and at times a little slow/clunky, but it certainly does what it promises.
Of course, the real magic will likely happen with future revisions of this software. Windows Phone 8 will allow third party apps to further integrate into the basic camera app (meaning a one-click entry thanks to Windows Phone’s hardware camera button), and Nokia seems committed to making their Lumia devices stand out in the Windows Phone crowd.