The MOST TRIUMPHANT Vox

Nokia cameras need shortcuts

2008-05-02T22:39:57Z

Nokia N-Series phones often win shootouts against their Sony Ericsson rivals. However, there's an edge Sony Ericsson has over Nokia N-Series camera phones.

It's the camera user interface.

SE phones have keyboard shortcuts and memory settings. This is a major reason SE has so many fans who prefer their camera phones to Nokia phones.

I don't know the exact buttons, but turning off the flash is as simple a pressing the * button.

If you have the settings set to night portrait when you close the camera, the night portrait settings return when you activate the camera again.

Nokia N-Series camera phones have been around for 3 years now. Its really surprising that the UI hasn't caught up with SE. Its more surprising there is no 3rd party software to pick up the slack.

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N95 8GB: Where did the video editor go?

2008-03-19T05:25:14Z

Many N95-1 owners upgraded to the N95 8GB because there is so much more RAM. With 90MB free at boot, they were counting on being able to make and edit movies without out of memory errors like on the N95-1. They were then disappointed that their N95 8GB has no video editor at all.

It turns out, the video editor has been moved to the N-Series PC Suite under the Nokia Photos application. You can create Muvee's and have more easier control over the video editing compared to the on device version, since you have a full keyboard and mouse.

Nokia Photos with Muvee editing is free software for Windows. However, if you are going to do video editing on a computer, you are probably better off using Adobe Premier, but that is very expensive software. Either way, you'll probably need a strong cpu, since video editing is very processor intensive.

If you're on a Mac, you'll probably be using iMovie regardless since there's no PC Suite for Mac yet.

You can download the N-Series PC Suite here

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N95 NAM -

2008-03-05T22:29:24Z

While at BarcampLA5, Ralf Pieper gave a demo of the N95-3. He won it back at MobileCampLA.
He gave a demo of his prize and sang its praises and aired many grievances.

He likes the wifi and SIP capabilities.
He likes the ability to add applications and task manager.
He likes the loud speakers.

He doesn't like the steep learning curve or slowness of the UI
He loaded too many wifi locations and has run out of memory every time the wifi wizard loads.
He hated how slow the camera loads.

I think that's the most important annoyance about the N95 NAM. The camera is very slow. The N95 NAM has a terrible 7-8 second load time.

A typical end user like Ralf is not going to want to climb the learning curve if the one of the N95's main features doesn't perform well.

How can this be fixed?

NEW FIRMWARE

On the original N95 (with v20 firmware), the camera application loads very quickly. It takes about 4 seconds for the camera to load after opening the lens shutter. On the N95 8GB, its even faster with 2 second load time. This is due to a combination of new camera optimizations and demand paging.

Demand paging would fix a lot of the problems Ralf or anyone else might have with the N95 NAM. It speeds up the loading time of the camera and speeds up the whole UI as well.

The N95 NAM hasn't seen an update in almost 3 months. That is long overdue.

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Camera Settings Suggestions

2008-02-26T01:39:37Z

I think I found the best camera settings for concerts and sports.

1) Landscape mode
2) Adjust the light settings, if you are indoors, check fluorescent or incandescent
3) Set the ISO to high
4) Turn off the flash

These are the settings I used to capture this shot of wrestler Candice LaRae performing a moonsault.

PWG ¡Dia de los Dangerous!, originally uploaded by Al Pavangkanan.

I also used these settings for this concert photography set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drtran/sets/72157603985517716/

In the future, I'd love to see Nokia manage a higher ISO mode, like 800 or higher. This will lead to less blur in action shots. Another suggestion would be for a faster burst mode. Right now, the S60 imaging software takes a picture every 5 seconds or so in burst mode. I'd like something faster, like to be able to shoot 4 pictures per second like Sony Ericsson's Best Pic feature. And one more thing I'd like to see in future camera phones: RAW mode.

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Where all da metal faceplates at?

2008-02-20T01:01:23Z

A lot of N-Series fans complain about the plastic materials of their handsets.
Chinese manufacturers continually pump out new plastic face plates in non-oem colors.
How come they dont make metal non-oem face plates?

Just a thought...

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Guide to N-Series HDR photography

2007-12-09T07:30:16Z

Los Angeles River

Originally uploaded by DrTran

High Dynamic Range imaging, better known as HDR, is a great way to make your digital photos look awesome. Normally when you take pictures of subjects with a sky background, the sky will have lots of color and the subject goes dull. Alternatively, you might get a good picture of your subject, but the sky will just be a white mess. With HDR imaging, everything in your picture have more color.

HDR imaging uses multiple pictures with different exposure settings and combines them with Tone Mapping to make awesome pictures. Check out the HDR wikipedia entry here for more info.

Normally, you need a DSLR camera and equipment to pull off such great pictures. I will show you how to pull off such pictures with an N-Series phone.

You need equipment beyond your N-Series phone. Let's start with the tripod. You can get the Nokia Tripod DT-22. It costs about $30 and looks great with the N93 or N95 8GB. Alternatively, you can get a Sunpak Versipod off Amazon for about $15. A great thing about the Sunpak tripod is that you can twist off the head and attach it to a full sized tripod or the very flexible Gorillapod.

The next piece of equipment you will need is a bluetooth keyboard. The key to HDR photos is to keep your camera steady. With a bluetooth keyboard, you can operate the camera menu's without touching your phone, keeping your phone very steady. The Nokia SU-8W or Think Outside Stowaway Keyboard are recommended. Check out the reviews at MobileBurn to help you make a choice.

Now that you have your equipment, let's take some pictures!

First set up your N-Series phone with your tripod.
Next, activate the camera.
Adjust your phone set up your shot on the screen. This should be the last time you touch the phone.
Using your keyboard, go into scene modes and select Landscape.
Next, go down the menu and set the white balance.
Now set the Exposure compensation to +2
Go up the menu to Self timer. Set the timer to 10 seconds.
Activate the timer.
You will now have you first shot. Now press back.
Now set the Exposure compensation to 0 and take another picture using the Self timer.
Next, take a third picture with the Exposure compensation set to -2.
And now you're done. Pack up your stuff and go home.
After you have finished taking pictures, upload them to your computer.

The last thing you need for HDR photography is computer software. You can get Adobe Photoshop, but that is really expensive as well as complicated.

I recommend getting Photomatix from HDRsoft. It costs $99 and has a great tutorial on how to make HDR images.
Simply follow the directions and you can get great pictures like mine.

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The Nokia N82 is here

2007-11-14T14:02:32Z

Finally, the phone I have waited 5 years for is here. A real combination of a camera and phone and a whole lot more than I could have dreamed for back in 2002.

03n82lowresdl7

The tech specs from Forum Nokia can be found here
Mobile Diva Darla Mack has the press release
James Burland posted amazing image samples on his Nokia Creative blog
And an excellent review of a prototype model

There's a 5MP camera with a xenon flash. Instant uploads to Flickr or Vox. There's the S60 OS to run N-Gage games. The S60 browser built on webkit that can surf the web over wifi. There are no boundaries for this puppy.

I love that there are speakers along the right side of the device. When you view videos in landscape mode, the sound is presented in stereo. With the headphone jack on top, it makes an excellent and unobtrusive mp3 player. There's a lens protector to keep the camera scratch free.

There's an accelerometer in there too. When you take a picture with the phone oriented in a vertical fashion, the picture you get will be in portrait rather than horizontal. There will be a UI option so that menus and applications also rotate according to how you hold the phone. People are already cooking up applications to take advantage of the accelerometer, such as a light saber or Wii-like d-pad emulator.

The N82 has an MSRP of 450 euros and is already available in select markets. I guess that means its only available in Lichtenstein. (wow, I spelled that right on the first try)

I really want one for Christmas.

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N-Series and the EZFetch media streamer

2007-10-30T02:41:46Z

With the EZFetch media streamer, you can stream all your media from somewhere on your home network to your TV.

Big deal, there are plenty of other things that can do that, right?

Wrong.

EZFetch can also stream content from wifi-enabled N-Series devices. Additionally, N-Series devices can also work as a remote control for the EZFetch.

Check out their site for more details.

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Nokia N-Series LA Party

2007-10-04T17:39:58Z

ZoneTag Photo Thursday 7:31 pm 9/27/07
Originally uploaded by DrTran

ZoneTag Photo Thursday 7:31 pm 9/27/07

I think everyone who showed up took this picture

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