Windows Phone Photo Panorama Round-up

With the recent release of Microsoft's Photosynth to the Windows Phone Marketplace, there's really no excuse for anyone not to capture decent panoramic images. Photosynth joins a nice collection of in-firm panorama apps and a decent third party app. But how do these panorama tools measure up against one another?

Nosotros took our handy-keen tripod out to come across if one shined brighter than the other. There's actually not a bad panorama app in the lot only a few lined upwardly a fiddling better than others.

For our set-up we ready a tripod, leveled it out, and mounted the Windows Phone with an iStabilizer tripod mountain. Due to limitations in some panorama apps, nosotros shot three or four images on a horizontal plane to create the panorama. We gave each panorama tool a couple of tries, chose the all-time and did a picayune mail-processing with each image for publication.

We chose a fountain (single image above) with bricked side walks and columns in the groundwork. With all the vertical and horizontal lines, we figured this would be a nice exam to see how well each panorama app stitched the images together.

Lastly, we make mention of vertical panoramas in our comparison. Vertical panoramas may non be the traditional landscape styled photographs most are accustomed to. But if yous're in an urban area and want to capture tall buildings, vertical may be the simply option. Vertical composition is a key element of ane of these apps so it's merely fair that we see how the others compare in this respect.

Samsung Photo Studio: Photo Studio is an exclusive app for the Samsung Windows Phones. Information technology has a few editing and special furnishings tools but it too has a panorama tool. The panorama tool will let you take upwards to six pictures on either the vertical or horizontal plane (can't combine the movements). If y'all shoot less than half-dozen frames, just pan backwards and the app automatically goes into stitching mode.

As far every bit features beyond creating panoramas, Samsung'southward Photo Studio has the ability to edit the panorama and share information technology via Facebook, Photobucket or Picasa.  Editing covers the basics such as exposure, cropping, etc.  Panoramas are saved to your Windows Phone Pictures Hub where it tin be further edited or shared as any other picture could be.

Autopanorama: Autopanorama (here'southward our review) is a tertiary party app for building panoramas. While the other apps in this round-upwardly calls for you lot to take the commencement paradigm then the app takes the remaining shots automatically, Autopanorama relies on you to non only take each epitome just as well marshal the frames upwards. Y'all take ane picture show and an alignment window will appear to let you line upwards the next shot with the tail finish of the picture show you but took. The image pan/movement is from left to right.

While there isn't a limit on the number of photos you tin can sew, Autopanorama is restricted to either horizontal or vertical shots but it can be tricky. To shoot vertical panos you'll need to hold the Windows Phone vertically and shoot top to lesser.

Boosted features with Autopanorama includes a small-scale grouping of settings to command the transparency level of the alignment window and flash settings. Once saved to your camera curlicue the image the panoramic paradigm tin be shared or edited every bit whatsoever other epitome in your Pictures Hub can. Autopanorama is a free app that can be establish here at the Windows Phone Market.

HTC Panorama Tool: HTC is the only Windows Phone that has a built in panorama tool that is accessible from the main photographic camera app. The panorama tool allows you to shoot iii images on the horizontal aeroplane and stitches them together. A horizontal line runs downward the center of the screen to act as a guide and when you pan across one of the 3 points on this line, the camera automatically takes the photo.  Yous can pan the camera left or right to build your panoramas.

As with Autopanorama, you can shoot vertical panos by holding the HTC Windows Phone vertically. It'southward a little tricky but possible.  Across capturing a panoramic prototype, the tool doesn't have any additional features.  Once saved to your photographic camera roll binder in the Pictures Hub, you tin can edit it or share information technology as you would whatever other film.

Nokia Creative Studio: As with Samsung, Nokia offers an exclusive photograph editing app that includes a panorama tool. The Creative Studio's panorama tool allows you to stitch 4 images together to create the wide angle flick. You take the kickoff image, pan to the right and the photographic camera automatically takes the next three images.

The Creative Studio pano tool can work vertically merely as with Autopanorama, you need to shoot from pinnacle to lesser. One time you create the panorama in Creative Studio you can edit the paradigm through the app'south bones editing tools, share it via Facebook, Flickr or Twitter and and then save the image to your Pictures Hub.

Photosynth: Photosynth could easily be the ultimate panorama tool for your Windows Phone. While the other apps are capable of producing fantastic panoramic images, Photosynth is the but pick to take and stitch together a combination of horizontal and vertical images. You can create 360 degree, spherical images that can be rendered on your Windows Telephone or through Photosynth's website for a realistic perspective.

The process is rather simple. Tap the screen on the Capture Page of Photosynth to showtime the process and and then slowly pan the camera in whatever direction y'all desire. A framing box guides you through the process equally well as a horizontal guide line. When you've taken enough pictures, tap the "check" button and the stitching begins.

Across creating the panoramas, you can share the images via Facebook, Twitter, Bing Maps, or email; upload the images to your Photosynth account and view them online at Photosynth.net; and crop the image then relieve information technology to the photographic camera roll folder in your Pictures Hub.

So which is better?

Difficult to say.  Each of these apps take the potential to create very prissy panoramic images. Autopanorama is the most challenging considering so much is dependent on the lensman.  You manually align the images and manually capture them. The stitching procedure does a decent job of compensating for pilot fault only some errors tin't exist overcome.  This isn't to say you can't take a skilful panorama with Autopanorama just it takes a little more practice, patience, and a sturdy tripod.

HTC's in-house panorama tool is simple only the most restricted in terms of how many frames you can stitch. The HTC app does a nice job of not only stitching the images with regards to alignment but also exposure.  All the same, it would be squeamish to encounter the three frame limit increase a niggling.  Perchance have a settings option for 3, 4, or 5 images?

The Nokia and Samsung in-business firm apps are very like in design and function just Samsung lets y'all capture up to 6 images while Nokia's Creative Studio calls for yous to capture iv. Because of this, Samsung's Photo Studio has a little more flexibility. Quality of stitching is better with Nokia'due south Creative Studios though.  I do similar Samsung's interface a piffling meliorate with the use of frames to outline each image as information technology'southward captured.  Nokia has a directional arrow that slowly appears as you pan.

Photosynth has the most flexibility with its ability to combine vertical and horizontal sequences. It'south not a perfect panorama app with some stability issues and some stitching issues nowadays. Simply more times than not, Photosynth hits the nail on the head.  I would have liked to have seen more editing tools but what's in identify helps make clean the crop up when sharing and I can ever utilise 3rd party editors once the image is saved.

Which is best may be a subjective measure but the HTC panorama tool and Nokia Creative Studios panorama tool seems to do the best stitching. But it's awfully hard to discount the flexibility and features of Photosynth.  While some of these panoramic options are restricted to sure devices, all are free.  Which means you can take as many every bit possible and not take to settle on just one panoramic tool.

So what say our readers? What is your panorama tool of pick?

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-panorama-round

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