Camera
Taking photos is one of the most popular uses for modern smartphones, after texting and apps. Windows Phone 8 allows you to take fantastic photos with its built-in camera functionality, view and edit your snaps, and then share your favourites via social media sites, email or Bluetooth. Here’s our guide to taking the best possible photos on Windows Phone 8.
Instant Access
You can access the camera app by tapping the tile as usual or, if your Windows Phone 8 handset has a physical camera button, simply by holding it down. This will take you straight into the camera, even if your phone is hibernating
Photo finish
Tap this arrow or flick your finger right across the screen and you’ll find yourself in the photo gallery. From here you can check out your handiwork, edit your snaps and share with the world
Get flashy
The flash icon at the right edge of the screen shows you the current flash setting. To cycle through the various flash options (on, off or auto), tap this icon until you find the one you want. Most of the time the ‘Auto’ option will do you fine
Focus
Tap anywhere on the image and the camera lens will focus on that section. This is a great way of ensuring your subject is sharp, or doing arty close-up shots with blurry backgrounds
Movie magic
Tap the Video icon at the top of the options bar to switch from still photos to movies. In video mode, tap it again to return to still photos
Self-portrait
Tap this to switch to your phone’s front-facing camera, if you have one. This allows you to take self-portrait shots (perfect for Facebook and other social media purposes), or record yourself ranting for YouTube
Lenses
These are a new addition to Windows Phone 8, and you can download more from the Windows Phone Store. The Bing Lens allows you to take photos of text, barcodes and more, which are then scanned by your phone. Scan some text to copy directly into an email or document, or to translate it
Settings
To dive into the camera’s settings, tap the three dots in the top right corner and select ‘photo settings’. From here you can change the picture resolution (bigger means sharper pics but larger file sizes), as well as ISO, Exposure, Contrast and more, if you’re a professional photographer
Share and backup your photos
1› On the photo, tap the three dots in the bottom right corner
2› The first option is ‘Share’. Tap this for a list of options
3› Email, post online or in your family room
4› In the previous menu, you can backup to SkyDrive
5› Add a caption and tag your friends, then click ‘upload’
Camera Tricks and Tips
Edit to perfection
When viewing a photo, go to the options menu and select ‘edit’. You will see four new icons appear at the bottom of your screen (or right if held horizontally).
› Magic wand: A tap of the ‘fix’ icon automatically adjusts brightness and saturation levels, to rescue dull, dark or over-exposed shots. A marvellous tool!
› Slice ‘n’ dice: The ‘crop’ icon allows you to cut down a photo, removing pointless bits at the edges. Adjust the crop box by dragging the blue corners, then tap the tick to save
› You spin me right round: The ‘rotate’ icon does what it says on the tin, spinning the photo 90 degrees clockwise
› Job done: When you’re happy with your tweaking, hit the ‘save’ icon to preserve your work. Be warned that your original photo is overwritten! Simply quit out of the photos app to avoid saving if you don’t like the edit
› ISO – The ISO rating determines how sensitive the camera is to light. A higher ISO means the camera is more sensitive, which brightens up dim scenes. But a high ISO can also result in grainy or ‘spotty’ photos
› Megapixels – a way of measuring photo resolution, this is the number of pixels in each shot you take (found by multiplying the number of horizontal pixels by the number of vertical pixels). Don’t assume that bigger is better – unless you’re blowing photos up to poster size, you’re unlikely to notice any difference beyond about five megapixels. Also, as you increase the megapixels you also bump up the size of each file
› White Balance – Photos can look dramatically different depending on the lighting involved, be it natural sunlight or dingy disco bulbs. White balance is your camera’s method of compensating for weird lighting conditions. You can adjust it manually with preset modes such as ‘cloudy’ or ‘sunny’, to reflect your environment
› Slice ‘n’ dice: The ‘crop’ icon allows you to cut down a photo, removing pointless bits at the edges. Adjust the crop box by dragging the blue corners, then tap the tick to save
› You spin me right round: The ‘rotate’ icon does what it says on the tin, spinning the photo 90 degrees clockwise
› Job done: When you’re happy with your tweaking, hit the ‘save’ icon to preserve your work. Be warned that your original photo is overwritten! Simply quit out of the photos app to avoid saving if you don’t like the edit
Jargon Buster
As with all good hobbies, photography is bursting with jargon. Here are a couple of options you may see buried in your camera’s settings› ISO – The ISO rating determines how sensitive the camera is to light. A higher ISO means the camera is more sensitive, which brightens up dim scenes. But a high ISO can also result in grainy or ‘spotty’ photos
› Megapixels – a way of measuring photo resolution, this is the number of pixels in each shot you take (found by multiplying the number of horizontal pixels by the number of vertical pixels). Don’t assume that bigger is better – unless you’re blowing photos up to poster size, you’re unlikely to notice any difference beyond about five megapixels. Also, as you increase the megapixels you also bump up the size of each file
› White Balance – Photos can look dramatically different depending on the lighting involved, be it natural sunlight or dingy disco bulbs. White balance is your camera’s method of compensating for weird lighting conditions. You can adjust it manually with preset modes such as ‘cloudy’ or ‘sunny’, to reflect your environment
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