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Lumia
June 29, 2015

Tips and apps to take the perfect action shot with your Lumia



In this fast-paced world, capturing anything on camera can be challenging. Fortunately, your Lumia has the power to take great action shots.

If you’ve purchased a new Lumia, such as the Lumia 640 or Lumia 640 XL, here are some useful tips and apps to be an action-shot hero.

Move with your target

action 1

If you’re taking a photo of an athlete running around a track, just keeping your phone still and taking a photo may not be the best approach as you’re limiting the window of opportunity.

Instead, move your Lumia and try to keep the athlete in the shot–all the while taking photos as the subject passes in front of you.

Try not to run or move the camera too much, but pivot your body to match the speed.

You’ll increase the amount of time the subject is in the frame, plus possibly create a nice blurry background and perfectly focused subject.

Blink, and you’ll miss it

Microsoft Research’s recently updated Blink app (free) also captures a burst of images, but manages to do it before you even press the shutter, and continues to capture more after you’ve released the shutter key.

By doing this, you can select from a bunch of images–all taken within microseconds of each other–helping you to find the perfect shot.

Additionally, you can create an animated Blink and share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, OneDrive and Blink.so.cl.

Lumia Camera (free)

The latest version of Lumia Camera (v5) boasts a faster startup, meaning that it takes less time to load the camera when a sudden action opportunity arises. The time between shots has also been reduced.

snap it

Take advantage of the Burst mode for action photos. Activate it from your camera settings and under the “camera key press and hold” option, select photo burst and you’ll be able to take 15 quick-fire photos. You’ll then be able to pick out the best one, or you might even get a couple of great shots. Bonus! 

If taking a photo is not an option, you can also record a video and use the Lumia Moments app to extract great action shots from your videos or 4K/HD Moment shots on your Lumia smartphone (available for the Lumia 830, Lumia 930, Lumia Icon, and Lumia 1520 with the Lumia Denim Update).

Snap It! (free)

Have you ever missed a great shot because you were too busy setting up your camera? If so, let Snap It! pre-program and save your camera settings, which you can then pin to your Start Screen.

Set as many modes as you want (for both front and rear camera) so the next time you wish to click a falling meteor or a UFO flying in the sky, you’re ready!

Turbo Camera (free)

Turbo Camera takes lots of photos with just milliseconds between each shot. Keeping your Lumia stable, press the onscreen camera button to take fast consecutive photos at over 30 frames per second.

turbo camera

Upgrade to the full version ($1.29) and enjoy features such as built-in delays and GIF creation.

SloPro (free)

slopro camera 1

Switch up your action videos by recording them at normal speed and viewing them in slow motion via the SloPro app. What better way to show exactly how you landed that sick aerial trick on your skateboard? Change your speed with ease and share your recordings on Facebook.

Hyperlapse Mobile (free)

hyperlapse

If slow motion isn’t for you, speed up the action with Microsoft Hyperlapse Mobile. Want to condense a 12-mile hike into a sharable bite-size video? This free app lets you create a smooth and stabilized time-lapse version.

Are you into action shots? Share your best shots here and tell us how and where you captured them.