Shooting with Nokia Lumia 1020: the all-in-one solution for a mobile photographer
So, you’re one of the lucky owners of Nokia Lumia 1020. We know, it’s kinda bulky and the lens module is sticking out like a camel’s hump but holy crap, what a camera! Even though iPhone has pulled up its pants lately with the 5S, the mighty 41 MP sensor on the 1020 and a host of customizable settings, which will make your head spin, just makes the Nokia cam superior in every sense. In other words, if it’s not just fiddling around you want with your camera phone, if you want the photo industry professionals to raise a brow in appreciation of your mobile shots, and most of all, if you want to be able to make money selling them, you need the best tech at your disposal and you need to know how to use it. And Nokia Lumia 1020 is definitely it. Don’t worry, we’ll help you sort it out.
Xenon flash. It’s actually dual and 1020 has it. This means that you are now able to freeze frame just about anything out there – from supercars whooshing around to your granny falling down the stairs (what a shot!). Now, since flash settings are just as flexible as that stream of water you just freeze-framed, we recommend that you make a habbit of dropping your EV value to at least -1.3 if you’re “forcing” flash onto the scene; you can always pull up the blacks in post prod a little bit since you have all those extra pixels, but in order to illuminate everything and avoid the white-out, you’re going to need to lower the exposure value.
Apps. Nokia ships 1020 with two awesome mobile photo apps and when you learn to use them – there’s no stoppng you. Once you’ve pushed the camera button, right off the bat you end up in Pro Cam mode, which allows you to (get this) edit your image as you’re lining up the shot – something even pro DSLRs don’t have. Slide your on-screen “camera” symbol to the left and there is a whole array of settings which you can customize, and then WATCH IN REAL TIME, on screen, how your image evolves. We can tell you, it’s real fun to mess with WB, ISO, shutter speed and EV and observe the progress the future picture makes, you’ll love it too. Once you’re satisfied, just press “camera” again and snap the picture. Zoom, reframe, adjust without EVER leaving the shooting mode and going to the gallery. What a joy.
Credit: CBSi
Another great Nokia app is the Smart Cam app. It is absolutely unbelievable even to a seasoned pro photographer who scoffs at camera phones, let alone somebody who’d just started with mobile photography. The app is mostly for motion shots and once you’ve taken the shot, it shows you the “best shot”, the “action shot”, the “motion focus” and it allows you to REMOVE objects from the frame. It’s actually so great, it’s kind of freaky. For instance, select an object in “best shot” mode and put it in “motion focus” – you have a fast moving scater in the pit, even though he was never there. Tons of fun!
Credit: CBSi
The bottom line. Well, we guess, Nokia has done it. They’ve put a lot of time and effort into R&D of its PureView tech and it’s been shining for about two years now. Camera on 1020 delivers such stellar optical performance, it’s hard to think of what can be done to improve it. We would definitely put some time into rolling the two apps – the Smart Cam and the Pro Cam – into one mega tool and work on the size of that strikingly unpretty bulge in the back, but other than that, 1020 is an unbridled perfection that will give any mobile photographer a great chance to take amazing and sellable pictures.
