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Refocus is one of the cooler Windows Phone 8 camera apps we've run across. The camera app operates very similar to the Lytro Cameras or the Pelican Imaging that Nokia is investing in that allows you to choose the focal point after you capture the image.
Refocus lets you shoot now and focus later by capturing a RFI image file (SPEFO Stellar Spectra Analysis file) that can be manipulated to shift the focus point. When you get things just right, the image file is saved in .JPEG format. While we are a little shaky on the science behind Refocus, it's an awesome camera app that is a must have for all the Shutterbugs in the crowd (or anyone else who likes to take photos for that matter).
Before we go too far, Refocus is a Windows Phone 8 app but may not work on every Windows Phone 8 device. There are a few hardware requirements that have to be in place for Refocus to work. The Windows Phone camera must support manual focusing, high resolution captures, and have a light that can be used to illuminate dark scenes. If you don't have one of these three elements, Refocus won't work. I'm not sure on the other Windows Phone 8 devices but Refocus worked fine on the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC 8X.
Refocus's main page displays your image files captured by Refocus that can be retrieved, adjusted accordingly and re-saved. At the bottom of the main page is your camera button to launch your Windows Phone camera to capture a new image.
You can capture new images by using the shutter button or just tap the screen. Once captured you can adjust the perspective or focus point by tapping the screen or by using the focus adjustment arrows to the side of the image. Tapping the screen to adjust the focus works but the adjustment arrows are more precise. When the image is just right, tap the save button and your completed image is saved to your Pictures Hub camera roll. Images are saved at 1280x720 and 96dpi.
In addition to giving you the ability to re-focus images, Refocus will let you:
Share the completed images (Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.)Upload the completed images to your Skydrive accountOpen RFI files you find on the 'net or receive through emailView completed images on Refocus's Live TileThere were a few bugs present with Refocus. Nothing that will cause small children to run crying from the room but hopefully easily fixed.
First, when the RFI file is re-opened from the main page of Refocus you can adjust the focal point, share the image but for some reason can't save the re-focused image. This feels like the developer simply forgot the "save" button in the programming.
The other bug dealt with the camera initialization. I did have a few occasions where the camera failed to initialize or the dreaded green screen fill the camera viewfinder. Turning on/off the Windows Phone set things right so the camera can initialize properly.
All in all, Refocus is a really neat photo app that only adds to the creative capabilities of your Windows Phone 8 camera. There is a trial version available for Refocus to let you see if your Windows Phone's hardware is compatible. The trial version does have a limit on the number of images saved.
The full version of Refocus is running $.99 and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store.
Thanks, everyone, for the tip!
George Ponder Reviews Editor 2846 Filed in: Apps""A good photograph is knowing where to stand." - A. Adams"
Tags: photography, Windows Phone 8 apps, Refocus, Camera, coolness 4
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Comments There are 15 comments. Sign in to comment
dalydose says: I started playin with this yesterday and it's a good start, but to be a paid app, I think they NEED to:
1. Allow higher resolution images
2. Let me choose the focus points. This would take fewer pictures, saving space and let me get the shots that I want.
3. Have export options like animated GIF of the various focus points or even just a built-in collage to show focus progression
4. Stich together different focus point to have a perfectly focused shot at all depths (OK, this one might be ridiculously ambitious, but a guy can dream, right?) :)
rui.silva450 says: 1. Higher resolution can be achieved but the rate of fire (fps) will decrease and can lead to taking longer to get the shot(s).
2. Agreed but the OS and firmware have some limitations at the moment to do fine-tuning to the manual focus, so the app can't do minor refocus.
3. Agreed.
4. Key feature to success!
dalydose says: Please keep in mind that I have almost ZERO coding experience! I can only think of the logic behind the task at hand.
1. I'm OK with that...maybe as an option. I would likely use this sort of app in a set up shot.
2. Damn OS/firmware limitations. :)
3. I love agreement, but a small part of me hates to see the convo end. :)
4. Can you imagine having a macro shot where everything is in focus? I love the crazy, blurred effect of depth of field in some shots, but I'd like to have something new to play with in that image.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 5:15 pm - 11 hours ago Reply
Mngotu says: Hopefully Nokia will integrate it into their future phones.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:28 pm - 13 hours ago Reply daveh101 says: Ok, the app is cool.....BUT
Jay (or anyone else), any idea how they made that tile move like that????
daveh101 says: Think I've worked it out...just hadn't thought of doing it....very cool though
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:41 pm - 13 hours ago Reply Nik Rolls says: It's one of the new tiles available in 7.8 & 8. Other apps are also using it, like Photostream. There's no trickery, the app just provides a few photos to the tile and the OS does the rest.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:42 pm - 13 hours ago Reply Nik Rolls says: The 'science' is simply that it takes multiple photos from all focal ranges and allows you to select the one you want afterwards. The tap-to-select feature woks just like it would in the normal camera -- it finds the shot that has the sharpest version of the point you tapped.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:41 pm - 13 hours ago Reply
oscargodson says: Yeah, this doesnt quite feel like Lytro. Its just multiple photos.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 10:19 pm - 6 hours ago Reply yetanotherguy says: They are most probably using focal stacks to do this. The basic idea behind this is to capture multiple images with different focal points, and then when the user clicks at a particular point, it figures out which one (or more) images to blend together to get the necessary object/point in focus. Probably why this can only support low res photos. Will be interesting to see how well this works when objects in the scene are moving. Just to play the devil's advocate... :)
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:41 pm - 13 hours ago Reply DenniSundaY says: Works fine, it feels a little bit like the Lytro camera. I bought it so maybe the app can get a little support so it could be much better!
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:41 pm - 13 hours ago Reply
Techblogger says: It is exactly how I show support for the devs. Besides, I hate how ads make an app look like it split its pants.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 10:06 pm - 6 hours ago Reply
1_RF1 says: Doesn't work on the Samsung Ativ S.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 7:45 pm - 9 hours ago Reply Z3MN says: I hope the developer will made it available in Indonesia region. I want to buy this app with my operator billing...
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 10:16 pm - 6 hours ago Reply moc426 says: It does take multiple shots with different focal points, to see that use it on a moving target. But this is still a great app.
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