In a pursuit to replace BlackBerry as third largest mobile OS
ecosystem, the software giant Microsoft has jumped into the cut-throat
competition already ruled by the likes of Apple’s iOS and Google’s
Android. Unfortunately, many people have abstained from adapting to
groundbreaking technology due to lack of apps and games present in WP7
marketplace. However, many of us have failed to realize that it takes
some time for an ecosystem get out of the incunabulum stage.
This post is aimed to focus in enlisting some of the
best Windows Phone apps to take Panoramic pictures.
With panoramic capturing enabled apps, users can swiftly take panoramic
pictures or elongated photos without the need of any special skills or
equipment.
Third-Party Panorama Apps
[Free] Baked in its own backyard, Photosynth by Microsoft is amongst the
most downloaded panoramic apps
from the Windows Phone marketplace. Photosynth has a capability to take
full 360-degree panoramic images which is a must have feature in any
top-notch application. What sets it apart from other is that it allows
you to take 360 degree panoramic captures both horizontally and
vertically.
Afterwards, users can stitch these images together according to their
needs. The other notable feature is its sharing option. It lets you
share those screenshots to Twitter, Facebook and even on Bing. Sharing
your screenshot on Bing may give you wide exposure and a much needed
thrust to your photography career.
[Free, Pro: $0.99] AutoPanorama is a third-party app that gives you
total control over images. It provides a transparent layer of previous
images, which you can align with the next screenshot to create the
perfect panoramic photo. This, of course, requires you to have steady
hands while capturing the image. However, it also results in a better
image alignment.
Unlike other applications of this category, it takes Auto Panorama
almost no time to stitch the images to form your panorama. It also comes
with functions like transparency-level adjustment, flash mode on/ off
and red-eye reduction. There is also a plan for automatic picture-taking
capability in the next iteration. You can save panoramas to the camera
roll, upload them on Facebook or send them to friends via email/ text.
[$2.99] Pano lets you unleash the photographer in you. Already an
award-winning iOS app, it now comes to the Windows Phone community. Pano
lets you take 360-degree panoramas with up to sixteen photos to stitch.
It also provides a semi-transparent guide to align each photo perfectly
– the end result is something you want to brag about.
Advanced alignment, blending and the colour correction algorithm
ensure that you get near-perfect quality photos in all kinds of
exposure.The absence of transparency control is an impediment when you
take panoramic screenshots in an outdoor environment. Do note that it
also takes a while for the stitching to complete.
[Free] Instead of stitching the images automatically, Ztitch places
them in a 3D space from where you can pick and stitch them to create a
360-degree panorama.
It also serves as a Panoramic image viewer. Users can export images
to Photo Hub or share them on Facebook, Flickr etc. Overall, Ztitch is a
decent application that serves the purpose.
OEM Exclusive Apps
Samsung
Photo Studio is a dedicated photography app
for Samsung Windows Phone users. It comes with heaps of options along
with the capability to take Panoramic pictures.
Nokia’s exclusive product,
Creative Studio is by far
the best app that exists in Windows Phone ecosystem. It has an
abundance of filters and effects to make your photo stand out from the
crowd. It also offers the panorama image capturing function. Users are
also given an option to either share it via social networking sites or
save them to the phone’s internal memory.
HTC has an in-built
panorama tool integrated into
the main camera app. It provides a horizontal line as a separator
between two consecutive shots. There are no settings to play with. It
will stitch three consecutive images to turn into a panorama then it
will be saved into Pictures Hub automatically. From there, you can share
it with social networking sites or save it to SkyDrive.
