How to take better photos with your Lumia 900

[FrankieA]

After talking to a lot of new Lumia 900 owners... it seems that many people are struggling to take decent looking photos with their new phone.

Is the camera hardware crappy, or is it just the software? Hard to tell - but after spending a lot of time fiddling with a lot of camera settings, I've found a few simple tips that might help new Lumia 900 owners out:
Camera Tip: Taking better photos with your new Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone | My Windows Phone Story

I'm still playing a lot with the camera, and I'll try to update the post if I find more tricks. If anyone has any tips of their own - let me know and I'll add it to that list.

 

[moc426]

I had no idea it had a macro focus mode! I put the scenes mode on macro and it wouldn't focus, didn't know I had to set this too, that is pretty dumb.

After talking to a lot of new Lumia 900 owners... it seems that many people are struggling to take decent looking photos with their new phone.

Is the camera hardware crappy, or is it just the software? Hard to tell - but after spending a lot of time fiddling with a lot of camera settings, I've found a few tips that might help new Lumia 900 owners out:
Camera Tip: Taking better photos with your new Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone | My Windows Phone Story

I'm still playing a lot with the camera, and I'll try to update the post if I find more tricks. If anyone has any tips of their own - let me know and I'll add it to that list.

 

[cwmont13]

Good tips if you have the time to make the changes.

Problem is when you want to just " capture the moment " and send it off to Mom, Dad, Grandma, or social sites you're not going to have time to change settings and will end up with a subpar shot.

The camera is the one thing stopping me from getting the 900. I can't see moving to a lesser camera then I have now. I'm keeping watch out for a software update from Nokia and then will see about making the move.

 

[moc426]

Macro focus completely misses the focus of small things, but it helped for other items up close.

 

[FrankieA]

Good tips if you have the time to make the changes.

Problem is when you want to just " capture the moment " and send it off to Mom, Dad, Grandma, or social sites you're not going to have time to change settings and will end up with a subpar shot.

The camera is the one thing stopping me from getting the 900. I can't see moving to a lesser camera then I have now. I'm keeping watch out for a software update from Nokia and then will see about making the move.

Totally agree with you. It just bugs me that OTHER Windows Phones didn't require any manual adjustment.. it just "worked". It's almost backwards to see the Lumia 900 not do things automatically for me.

 

[dkp23]

After talking to a lot of new Lumia 900 owners... it seems that many people are struggling to take decent looking photos with their new phone.

Is the camera hardware crappy, or is it just the software? Hard to tell - but after spending a lot of time fiddling with a lot of camera settings, I've found a few simple tips that might help new Lumia 900 owners out:
Camera Tip: Taking better photos with your new Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone | My Windows Phone Story

I'm still playing a lot with the camera, and I'll try to update the post if I find more tricks. If anyone has any tips of their own - let me know and I'll add it to that list.

One thing that helped me get better pictures is tapping the screen instead of using the camera button. it will auto focus and snap the picture for you.

I tend to shake the phone somewhat when using the camera button which causes blurs at times. The advantage of the camera button however is that you can focus an object longer as opposed to the screen where it will focus and snap the shot within a few seconds.

 

[HillBillJr]

I agree with you..once I started playing with the settings, the pictures are waaay better even indoors. Good thing is you can save the settings.

 

[hellomiggy]

My settings seem to make the pictures on my phone look good. I've been taking test shots with different setting's to see which ones I like the most.

I notice that the pictures are normally "Over Saturated", so I lowered that down. I noticed on pictures that they are a little "contrasted", so I lowered that as well. For me, it's like having a camera, so of course if you have it auto it will look good, but you want to find the perfect settings. Which is why I really like this camera.

The ISO seems to be a perfect fit at 400. Everything else is practically at normal the Flicker Reduction is at 50 Hz.

The pictures look awesome with it. These are just my two cents maybe other people have their settings which they like.

Scenes
Landscape

White Balance
Auto (had it on Daylight and they looked great as well)

Exposure Value
0

ISO
400

Metering Mode
Center Weighted

Effects
Normal

Contrast
Normal

Saturation
Low

Focus Mode
Normal

Resolution
8MP 4.3

Flicker Reduction
50Hz

Again, my two cents. I'll be posting some pics on the Post your Pics Thread.

 

[dkp23]

My settings seem to make the pictures on my phone look good. I've been taking test shots with different setting's to see which ones I like the most.

I notice that the pictures are normally "Over Saturated", so I lowered that down. I noticed on pictures that they are a little "contrasted", so I lowered that as well. For me, it's like having a camera, so of course if you have it auto it will look good, but you want to find the perfect settings. Which is why I really like this camera.

The ISO seems to be a perfect fit at 400. Everything else is practically at normal the Flicker Reduction is at 50 Hz.

The pictures look awesome with it. These are just my two cents maybe other people have their settings which they like.

Scenes
Landscape

White Balance
Auto (had it on Daylight and they looked great as well)

Exposure Value
0

ISO
400

Metering Mode
Center Weighted

Effects
Normal

Contrast
Normal

Saturation
Low

Focus Mode
Normal

Resolution
8MP 4.3

Flicker Reduction
50Hz

Again, my two cents. I'll be posting some pics on the Post your Pics Thread.

Did a test using your settings...I will have to upload later, but there is a lot of color sacrifice vs default mode and not sure if it actually looks clearer or not.

 

[dkp23]

This is default

This is the settings with 400 iso and other ..

Quite the difference in color quality.

Hopefully we can find good settings that can be used for everything.

Both still have that dusty look indoors though

 

[FrankieA]

Here are my saved settings:
Everything Default, except..
Exposure: 1.0
ISO: 200
Focus Mode: Macro (yes, always on macro)
Flash: OFF
Then SAVE SETTINGS, and shoot!

Let me know how this works for the rest of you! I find this works for most situations perfectly.

 

[dkp23]

Here are my saved settings:
Everything Default, except..
Exposure: 1.0
ISO: 200
Focus Mode: Macro (yes, always on macro)
Flash: OFF
Then SAVE SETTINGS, and shoot!

Let me know how this works for the rest of you! I find this works for most situations perfectly.

Maintains color, but a tad too bright, but on the right track i think with still the dusty look..

 

[wasonamit]

Definitely removes the yellowish tint

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[FrankieA]

Maintains color, but a tad too bright, but on the right track i think with still the dusty look..

Click to view quoted image

So I don't think it's so much "dusty" .. but rather just a "softer" image than other cameras which tend to be on the sharp side. Personal preference I guess, but I like it soft, and slightly on the brighter side (hence the exposure at 1).

@Wasonamit - The best way to remove the yellow tint is the turn down saturation.

 

[nokia4life]

Thanks that foes the trick and if you auto fix afterwards it enhanced it even more

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[dkp23]

Thanks that foes the trick and if you auto fix afterwards it enhanced it even more

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

Autofix creates more noise in the background...Autofix is good if you would like to get a good picture a little brighter, but if you autofix a dark very low lighted picture, it looks quite bad.

 

[dkp23]

Took pictures inside in and out burger and my friend did as well with this samsung galaxy nexus phone which has a 5 mp camera.

What he sees on his screen prior to the picture is what he gets once the picture is taken.

I showed him my phone and what happens when taking a picture, the colors will change once the picture is taken to a blueish/greenish type fade...He found it pretty odd..

What he saw on screen is what he got, with my phone, what i see is what i get in a blue/greenish version

 

[KingCrimson]

Just switching to macro mode alone improved the sharpness of text on nearby objects.

 

[cckgz4]

The white balance helps as well in night shots. Yeah folks are really just upset that the auto settings doesn't work. Tinker. That's what some of you prefer to do right?

 

[anon(5335877)]

The white balance helps as well in night shots. Yeah folks are really just upset that the auto settings doesn't work. Tinker. That's what some of you prefer to do right?

Not when it comes to the camera, apparently.