14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Nokia made available for download a new application for the owners of PureView-capable Lumia smartphones, namely Nokia Refocus.
Just as its name suggests, the software was designed in such a manner so as to provide users with the possibility to capture images first and only then set a focus point.
Furthermore, the app enables them to focus and re-focus as much as they like so as to come up with interactive photos to share with their friends over social networking sites, like Facebook.
Nokia Refocus is available for all PureView Lumia handsets that run under the Lumia Amber software update.
To take advantage of the app’s capabilities, users will first have to focus on the object that is closest to them, which will appear blurry when looking through the viewfinder.
However, moving the phone nearer to the object makes it clear, while also offering users the possibility to learn how close to the object they can go before snapping a photo.
As soon as the object is in focus, simply tap the screen, and the app will begin the capturing process, which usually takes a few seconds. The app performs a focus sweep, creating a depth map.
Basically, Nokia Refocus shoots between 2 and 8 photos, each at a different focus, and each at five megapixels. These photos are then aligned and stitched together to create a single image.
“By tapping on any part of this final image you’ll be able to shift the focus to that particular part. The great thing here is that you can achieve a variety of different shots from just the one photo,” Nokia Conversations explains.
“By also being able to focus on everything, the Nokia Refocus app can also put the whole scene into focus at the same time to provide extra clarity; that includes the object only inches away from the lens. Not even a DSLR can do that.”
The app also comes with color pop, so that users can do more with their photos. Simply select it from the dropper icon in the viewfinder, and then tap the screen where you want to focus.
Color pop will keep the colors on the focus point, but turn the rest to black and white, while also slightly adjusting the contrast.
Shared photos allow other users too to change focus points, Nokia explains. Images snapped with Refocus are uploaded to the user’s SkyDrive, after which a unique page over at refocus.nokia.com is created, for easy sharing over SMS, email, or Facebook.
The Nokia Refocus application is available at the moment exclusively for the Nokia Lumia smartphones, and can be found on this page in the Windows Phone Store.