Nokia Pro Cam isn't all that (for everyday use)

[Chris Sandiford]

I guess this is a "minority report" and I may be risking heresy and expulsion here, but is Nokia Pro Cam really that good for your average snapper?
If you can be bothered to fiddle and adjust you can probably get some decent results but all that takes time and effort and everything I have taken with it has been blurry or flared. So for everyday use it's useless for me. I've followed the tutorials and not got anything half as decent as they show you can get. Even with Auto.

Basically I want to point and shoot not have to tweak a screen all the time.

"Quick get a picture of the cat abseiling"
"Hang on.. erm, spin, focus"
"Too late.."

Ultimately I'm not a photographer, so the excitement of hacking it onto my 820 and the novelty of a snazzy interface with concentric circles soon faded when I realised I was better off as I was.

 

[Doctor Pork]

Why not use auto? I don't find that slower on my 920 than the regular app so I don't see a reason not to use procam.

 

[gsquared]

There are other camera apps out there. I use ProShot on my L920 and its great.

 

[Chris Sandiford]

Why not use auto? I don't find that slower on my 920 than the regular app so I don't see a reason not to use procam.

Isn't that defeating the object though? That's like buying a ?600 SLR camera and only using Auto.

 

[Chris Sandiford]

There are other camera apps out there. I use ProShot on my L920 and its great.

There certainly is, but Pro Cam is touted as the dogs bollocks by all and sundry and the scramble to get it or hack it onto handsets is overhyped (IMO). If you're into you're photography then that's great, crack on and use it and all its features, but I use my phone as a phone.. that has a camera, not the other way round :grin:

 

[Dratwister]

Just use auto if you want a quick snapshot No need to wander around the settings for a snapshot. That's what a compact or phone camera's made for. The ProCam app is there for one who don't want just snapshot but ability to control their photos, and that control isn't for snapshot.

Well, even a dSLR needs time to setup if you want to go with settings. The difference here is that the dSLR can "remember" the settings of previous setup and the ProCam doesn't (unless you don't close ProCam app). I'd buy a compact with manual setting option rather than just some Auto modes, even if I rarely use it It's just there in case.

So, in the end, using proCam:
Auto, forget all the rest = Snapshot
Manually setup settings = Not snapshot (unless you didn't close proCam before)

 

[N_LaRUE]

I get where the OP is coming from however I have to disagree.

I live close to London. I go in rather frequently and I see many people running around with a DSLR strapped around their neck and I can probably guarantee that the majority of them don't adjust their camera for every shot they take and that most probably have it on auto for the 'quick' snap. The same would go for any professional. They would set it up beforehand.

ProCam is what it states it is. It's an app that allows access to professional settings if you want them. You have an 'auto' setting for everyday quick snaps and then the ability to muck with the settings for those that you have more time for.

The reason I can relate to you is that I uninstalled Oggl as I just couldn't be bothered mucking about with the filters prior to the shot. On top of that I didn't like the idea that I had to pay a subscription to get more filters. So I've started to use filters after the shot now with other editing software. I would like more effects but on the whole I'm happy.

 

[Chris Sandiford]

Is the ProCam on Auto as good as my 820's built in camera or does it provide extra goodness?

If so, I'll probably use it then, if not I won't.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Is the ProCam on Auto as good as my 820's built in camera or does it provide extra goodness?

If so, I'll probably use it then, if not I won't.

Well I have a 920 so I can't say for certain. I have installed ProCam on my wife's 820 but I haven't tried any pictures on it yet. I think the pictures are better on ProCam personally though there are people who have had issues. Nothing wrong with installing it and see what you think. If it doesn't work for you then uninstall it.

 

[hopmedic]

I am a photographer with a nice big camera, and to me the ProCam app has one giant flaw that keeps me from setting it as my default camera app. The need for entering the lockscreen PIN if using the camera button to start the camera from a locked state. One of the things I like about Windows Phone is the ability to take a pic from a locked state. So to me, the default camera app works for most of my "quick" shots, but I've pinned the Pro Camera app near the top of my home screen for those shots where I want more control. The Pro Camera app is great, but that kind of control isn't needed most of the time, so until they make it so that you can get to the app with the phone locked, I'm using the default app a good bit of the time.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I am a photographer with a nice big camera, and to me the ProCam app has one giant flaw that keeps me from setting it as my default camera app. The need for entering the lockscreen PIN if using the camera button to start the camera from a locked state.

I don't use a PIN but I see what it frustrates you. But it's also rather interesting you can do that with the standard app. I have a feeling that will be fixed sometime in the near future.

 

[hopmedic]

And here - since I just posted it on a thread over on Mobile Nations, here's a pic of me with my "big rig".

 

[N_LaRUE]

And here - since I just posted it on a thread over on Mobile Nations, here's a pic of me with my "big rig".

Very nice. There's a couple of guys at my work who are into their photography with similar (I know they're not the same) type of lens.

 

[chezm]

Man, thankfully someone brought this up. I am by no means a photographer, i wouldnt even go as far as to say i dont know what im doing with a camera (all the settings are left Auto)...so i consider myself a general mainstream user when it comes to the camera. With that said, i do not like the way my pictures come out using the Pro Cam App. On auto settings i find the default does a much better job with color capture and clarity...plus i hate that stupid "picture taken with Nokia Pro Cam" footer on every picture. If i adjust and play with the settings (manually) with the Pro Cam, the actual picture looks very different than the before shot (when you're setting up the manual settings)...so that confuses me.

In the end, i still love and use the default app all the time...im sure maybe the Pro Cam works great with 1020, but with my 920 im not too impressed. but that may be more i have no clue what im doing hehe.:evil:

 

[hopmedic]

One thing that the Pro Camera app is good for is reframing. You can't do it to the extent that you can with the 1020, since there aren't 41 million pixels, but if you are taking a picture that you think you may want to reframe and get more than one "picture" from the original image, use Pro Camera. Take the picture unzoomed, then later you can tap the reframe button (that's where tapping the "Picture taken with Nokia Pro Camera app" comes in. Open the image in Pro Camera, tap reframe, zoom in/out or pan, then tap the save button. The image that is in the camera roll will now be the new perspective, which has replaced the original. But if you go back into the Pro Camera app with that new zoomed-in image, you'll find that you can tap the reframe button and zoom back out if you wish. In this way, you can save, then share, multiple "images" from the same image. I think this is quite handy - and not a "permanent" alteration of the original image as it would be if you used the default image editing app and crop.