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Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is clearly going all out to please those who decide to pick up one of its Lumia smartphones.
The company has been churning out some high quality free apps for Lumia owners of late, including Nokia Reading for eBook lovers and Nokia TV to bring on-demand TV content to their customers.
Photography is one of Nokia’s areas of expertise and has been for some time, with the company recently renewing its partnership with camera company Carl Zeiss. Earlier this year Nokia announced a Creative Photography app for Lumia smartphones, which offered the ability to take 4 images in a flow and stitch them together to create a panoramic image.
That clearly was just the start, and photography-loving Lumia owners are soon to be in for another app treat. Nokia Lumia Camera Extension is on its way to all Lumia smartphones in the range – the 610, 710, 800 and 900 – adding several cool new features and shooting modes.
Rather than being a standalone app, this appears, as its name would suggest, to be an extension of the existing Camera app in Windows Phone 7.5. It adds four new camera modes: Panoramic, Smart Group Shot, Action Shot and Self-timer.
The panoramic mode stitches together 5 photographs to create a flowing image, ideal for getting a super wide angle in to one shot, or cramming one room into a sort-of 360 image.
Smart Group Shot again takes 5 images in one go, allowing you to review them afterwards and choose the best option for each individual person. Once you’ve done that, the Camera app will stitch together the best shots for each person and make one perfect image. Nokia knows that when taking a snap of several people, you might have to continually retake to make sure everyone’s eyes are open and all looking at the camera, and this sounds really useful.
Action Shot is a burst mode which takes around 8 shots in one go, ideal for capturing something fast moving, where you can then select the best shot afterwards and discard the rest. A burst mode is usually pretty processor-intensive, so we’re not sure just how well this will work on the entry-level Lumia 610, but the other three models should breeze through it.
Finally, the Self-timer mode is exactly what you would expect: Choose the countdown time, sit the phone down and get into place ready for the shot!
Nokia hasn’t explained exactly when the Camera Extension will launch, but stay tuned for an update when we get it.
Nokia’s new flagship Lumia smartphone, the Lumia 900, is now out in the UK. Why not check out our “Compare Phone Prices” tool for the best Contract, Pay As You Go and SIM free deals by clicking the tab above.
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