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The Nokia Lumia 925 doesn’t just look great. It’s beautiful inside too, with special attention paid to capturing great photos and videos, both day and night.

It comes with all the ingredients that make the camera on the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 928 so great, and introduces some excellent new software improvements as well, delivering an even better camera performance in all conditions.

Part One: Nokia Smart Camera for clever captures

On the apps and interface side, you can now capture and edit images using the new Nokia Smart Camera. This brings together the functionality from the existing Smart Shoot lens, together with the brand new Best Shot, Action Shot and Motion Focus options.

action-shot

Nokia’s approach to imaging is all about solving real problems. So what is the Smart Camera here to solve?

Nokia Smart Camera lead, David Fredh, told Conversations, “This is all about capturing objects in motion.” It’s a constant problem – you want nice photos of a family celebration – but no one will stay still long enough for you get that perfect shot.

“Plus, you don’t have the time to search for the right app and adjust the settings,” David continues. “Smart Camera lets you focus on the action and then see what editing or creative options you need afterwards.”

On the Nokia Lumia 925, Nokia Smart Camera takes ten shots in a short burst at a resolution of 5 megapixels and stores all ten for as long as you need them. Best Shot will automatically find the sharpest picture from the set for you to share, or you can go through them yourself to find a personal favourite.

Or mix and match heads and other details to prevent blinking eyes or flapping hands from spoiling the picture with Change Faces.

[rpsb_youtube]http://youtu.be/BkPM9pPO9NI[/rpsb_youtube]

There’s also Remove Object to ensure that nobody gets in the way.

[rpsb_youtube]http://youtu.be/mLazXhAB4rA[/rpsb_youtube]

Alternatively, Action Shot highlights motion and brings together each picture in the series to create a unique effect that’s best described in the example below.

[rpsb_youtube]http://youtu.be/pTZ3em5U84k[/rpsb_youtube]

Lastly, Motion Focus could be described as ‘superhero mode’. It simulates action by keeping your chosen subject still while blurring the background, giving the illusion that they’re moving at super speed. The best part is that a person taking the photo doesn’t have to physically move or follow the action to create the effect. Again, pictures speak louder than words to describe this.

Smart Motion

You can set Nokia Smart Camera as your default camera interface if you want it to open straight from the dedicated camera hardware button. The regular camera mode is recommended for low-light and for best picture quality when capturing stills.

Nokia Smart Camera will ship on the brand new Nokia Lumia 925 to begin with, and will be made available to all Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 smartphones both pre-loaded and over-the-air Nokia Lumia Amber update in the coming months.

Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 will capture 10 frames at 5 megapixels per photo like the Lumia 925, but on the Lumia 520, Lumia 620 and Lumia 720, the number of frames (7) and image resolution (1MP) will be lowered to ensure the overall experience remains great. More specific information about timings will be shared following partner testing and approvals.

Nokia Smart Camera will not be made available for Nokia Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 7.5 or 7.8 due to hardware and software requirements. But, these phones will continue to receive support and updates.

Look out for part two of this post, when we’ll be looking at further improvements to the Nokia Lumia camera first seen with Nokia Lumia 925.

NB: The sample pictures in this post were taken with prototype software and hardware.