GLOBAL – When the Nokia N9 PR1.2 software update started rolling out last week, we saw a heap of improvements and features delivered to the Nokia N9. Part of the enhancements concentrated on the camera. Today, we’re taking a closer look at those,  with some help from Camera Program Manager at Nokia, Jens Wilke.

We asked Jens why so much time was spent on the N9 camera software?

“These improvements have been in the works for a while and the whole team is really passionate about the Nokia N9. We wanted people to have a great camera experience, and while there were many challenges, we overcame them and are confident people will enjoy these updates.”

After you’ve updated your Nokia N9 to PR1.2, head over to the application settings and look for the gallery. There you’ll see the option to switch on a breakthrough feature – yes, the Nokia N9 is the first smartphone with integrated automated face recognition.

Now, once you’ve take a photo of somebody, you’ll see a little question mark on the person’s face. When pressed, you can search through your contacts list to tag them. After a couple of times tagging the same person, your phone will suggest their name to you the next time they get papped by you. Double tap to confirm their name.

Not only does this help you find your favourite people quicker in your gallery, it also provides a seamless uploading experience when you post these photos on Facebook. Your friends will automatically be tagged, saving you time doing it later.

When it comes to taking photos of non-static subjects, like people or animals, for example, it can be tricky to get that perfect shot – without ending up with a blurred image. That’s why Nokia enabled continuous shutter, so you’ll always get the shot.

Taking a series of three frames per second at 5.5-megapixels with zero shutter lag, your phone will capture every single moment in an instant. Holding down the capture key will take a total of nine images in three seconds, more than enough to flick through later.

Sometimes, things can look great if you take a photo at a unique angle. But most of the time having everything lined up and in shot is the best way to capture a scene. That’s where the camera grid comes in handy.

Open the camera, line up the horizon up with the horizontal lines on your viewfinder and you know you’ve got the perfectly straight shot. Also, if you’ve got a building in the view, you can line up the edge of the building with a vertical line. Keeping everything square and straight.

Once you’ve taken all those perfectly straight, tagged, non-blurry photos, over time your gallery will start to fill up, which is why it now supports fast scrolling to allow you to jump to certain points in time, shown in months and years.

The improvements aren’t just reserved for photos, there’s something for video too. If you want to make any edits, like cutting out the end or the beginning of a film just trim them, from the phone itself. And why not add a tune to the video, for extra effect. This makes filming and editing much faster than before.

If all those camera improvements weren’t enough, then stay tuned. We’ve received word that FCam with HDR is coming and that the FCam library is already available on the Nokia N9. That means that if you’re a developer, you can start using that library to create new apps already. Plus, a Panorama app is coming very soon, via the Nokia Store. We’ll bring you an update hen we have it.

Have you enjoyed using the new Nokia N9 camera updates PR1.2 has brought? Let us know, below.