Nokia rolls out more control for phone-cam photographers

Nokia’s Lumia 1020 grabbed a lot of attention not just because of the 41 megapixel sensor inside, but also because the software it came with meant that you could control the phone-camera just like a more manual inspired one. Good news, though, because this idea is coming to more Nokia phones.

If you’re a Windows Phone owner with a recent device and you want to upgrade your camera, listen up, because Nokia’s Camera is now in beta for more than just the big megapixel devices like the Lumia 1020.

The same software that makes it possible to control ISO, shutter speed, and white balance easily on the 1020 is coming to other devices, however, as Nokia releases its Camera app in beta for other Windows Phone 8 devices that weren’t equipped with PureView sensors, like the Lumia 1020 and 1520 smartphones.

There are some patches Nokia Lumia owners will have to go through in order to even try the app, which lets you control more than just the focus point, and if you have a 620, 820, 920 or any other recent Windows Phone product by Nokia, make sure you grab all the updates you can, bringing you up to the Lumia Amber operating system level.

Once you’ve done all that, and it could take a few minutes, head to Nokia’s Camera Beta page (which we’ve linked in this sentence) and install the Camera Beta app on your phone.

If you have a device without PureView, you’ll be able to shoot with manual controls, and if you have one with PureView (which means a Lumia 1020 or 1520 smartphone), you’ll not only get the controls of your regular camera, but also the ability to shoot in Adobe’s Digital Negative RAW format, something no other smartphone we’ve seen has been able to do.

ISO control, shutter speed, white balance, and a shaky cam picture of a Mr. Messy mug. That last one is all us, though.

The app is still in beta, which is a stage of development and means there could be bugs and slow-downs, and in the test we’re currently doing with our review Lumia 1020, we couldn’t get the Adobe DNG format to work.

That said, it’s still a great idea for other Nokia owners to have, especially since the camera app and its manual controls are one of the better parts of the new Lumia software, so if you have one, it’s something you might want to try out.