Lumia Camera on Microsoft Lumia 640: How to use Brightness

The Lumia Camera app is exclusive to Microsoft Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1, such as the new Lumia 640. In this guide we show how to make use of the Brightness setting.

Lumia Camera is a fantastic tool for beginners and experienced photographers alike, allowing you to take control of your Lumia phone's camera and get the best results possible. With the Lumia 640's 8-megapixel camera to draw from, you can capture some fine images using this app.

For those times you simply want to snap and go, there's an Automatic mode offering limited options. However, the Lumia Camera app truly comes to life when you switch to Manual mode, where you'll find the full array of features comprising Brightness, Shutter Speed, Sensitivity (aka ISO), Focus, White Balance and Flash.

Find out more about Lumia smartphones at Microsoft UK

Brightness is one of the simplest and most transparent modes to adjust. Tweak this, and your pictures will either be brighter or darker! Here's a little more on how to make use of it.

Adjusting the Brightness setting in Lumia Camera is better than just brightening your image after the fact because it lets you preview the effect of your tinkering, letting you get the desired effect from your live image. This is especially true when it comes to taking photos in difficult settings, such as at night or in dark spaces. At these times you need to tap into the Brightness settings on your Lumia.

Adjusting Brightness is a great way to take control of how light affects your photos. This is especially useful when you have one very strong source of light, like a window in a dark room.

Increasing the brightness will allow you to see a subject inside the room, but you won't be able to see what's outside the window. Decreasing the brightness has the opposite effect by making what's inside the room darker while emphasising what's going on outside in the bright light source.

When it comes to taking photos with the Lumia Camera app on your Lumia smartphone, you'll find the Brightness controls as part of the full array of manual controls. It's the setting with the plus and minus symbol on it.

By default it is set at 0.0 giving you an even balance between light and dark. If you want to make images brighter, emphasising what is happening in the darker potion of your image, then push the slider up, moving the controller into the plus settings between 0 and 3.

If you want to make images darker then you can move the slider down with settings between 0 and -3. It pays to experiment with Brightness so you can instinctively start to feel what your image needs.

The Lumia Camera app can be found on the Lumia 640 and all Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1.

Source: Lumia Camera on Microsoft Lumia 640: How to use Brightness