Nokia Lumia 928 - Review

Model in normal studio lighting.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the beauties to play with for the past few weeks. I will state for the record that I have never used a Windows OS in my entire life. It had me a little bit worried when I opened the box.
It took me about 20 minutes to feel comfortable with it, but after that -- I was able to navigate with ease. The interface is quick and the touch screen was extremely responsive. However, it wasn't so fast or so responsive that if I barely touched it the menus would fly all over the place.

It also helps that the phone is very sleek. It's a thin and beautiful design that is not only a good size but fantastic in terms of design.

What I was most focused on, of course, was the camera. In the past, I have struggled with phone cameras because of their slow shutter or the struggle with focusing to make the picture clear. 

Makeup for the shoot under fluorescent

I brought it to a shoot a few Saturdays ago to grab a few shots in different lighting and found that the Lumia was one of the most amazing camera phones I have ever used. It adjusts to the scene immediately and doesn't give the strange glow that other camera phones do. With it's 8.7 MP camera, it is quite close to my very own DSLR that I used for this shoot. The pictures are sharp, clear, and in the correct lighting. I thought that the White Balance was set to Auto, but it was in fact already adjusting to the conditions it was given.  

The one thing I noticed before playing with the editing tools that were preinstalled was how perfect the colors were. Usually, even if the White Balance is adjusted perfect, it will still completely be off. One shot was all it took to grab the right colors and the right lighting. 

I was also very impressed with the quality. The images were sharp, even under low light. Even in some settings, DSLR cameras struggle with the quality when under low light. However, the Lumia compensates for it by providing quality photos no matter what the light condition.
   

Fluorescent Lighting - Unedited

 



After I took a few photographs, I tried out the preinstalled editing software. I ended up having to download a few free apps before proceeding. The phone's editing options are limited but that is to be expected with every phone. The amount of free applications from Windows makes that problem go away very quickly. 

The quality once again stayed the same through the editing process as well. 

 
I continued on my journey with the Lumia and went back upstairs to get a picture or two of my model in studio lighting. I had my model stand in front of the studio light and was amazed by the result. She wasn't blown out in the least bit as I had expected with brighter light. Instead, it was a lot softer and the brightness/contrast didn't need to be adjusted. I tried it with another filter just to add a little bit more depth to it. But, overall, I was amazed to see how detailed and how flat the light was on the model with the Lumia.
 I once again was impressed with the sharpness and quality of the photograph once again. It was almost comparable to my DSLR.

My last test was to see what would happen if there was a lot of sunlight used in the shot. Usually, sunlight can completely blow out any details in a photo from a phone. The sun was bright and coming right through the door of the house. 

I pulled the phone out and sat down. Once the door was in frame, the phone's camera immediately adjusted and kept the quality of the blinds. I was impressed with how the detail kept and the sun didn't completely destroy the photograph. 

Another great bonus was how quick I was able to upload the photographs across social media. Of course, being on the Verizon Network, the photos were uploaded almost instantly and I was able to share them with my groups.

At the end of the day, I would absolutely want to keep this phone and use it as a secondary tool in my line of work. The Nokia Lumia 928 proved to me that Windows phones are not in the least bit terrifying and I would be happy to use them again. The camera is absolutely fantastic and I hope to use it more in the future. If you're not a fan of the presets, there are a lot of different applications to choose from to make your photography experience more fun.   

Ohio.

Ohio was this past weekend. I went to One World by Night's Grand Elysium/BaneKlaive. Needless to say, my picture taking was very scarce for the first time in my life.

I was pretty excited, otherwise. I finally dusted off my camera from the weeks of it sitting ever so wonderfully on my shelf. I would have loved to take more, but in the long run -- I was overall happy with these guys. 

Trent's photograph of him smoking outside was my first favorite. It's very him. I have learned recently that he looks absolutely brilliant in black and white, regardless of lighting or composition. He poses well naturally, too. Which is also a huge bonus.






I remember telling Zeb last year that I wanted to get a picture of him in one of his amazing costumes. When he strolled into the room in this number, I knew I had to take a picture. I waited patiently and when he was under better light rather than florescent. I needed some amount of light that didn't blow him out completely. He was speaking to someone about the recent scene and once he started to listen to a response, I used Mike as a tripod and just took this shot. I absolutely love the light and I love the costume even more.   

This one was something that I haven't done in a very long time. Not a portrait for once. Caity had gotten this peacock dress that we both have been watching and saying we would get.

Two other girls had the same dress in red and blue, but Caity wore it the best in my opinion. She was sitting down on the hotel bed and was waiting patiently 

I really cannot capture the beauty that was this dress. The details of the feathers, the material -- all of it was awesome. I shot this with the light of the hotel room -- which made things a little difficult in post but I am happy with it.