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 5
54 39 0 
Email this page Previous Story Strike 'em down with Ninepin Bowling for Windows Phone 8
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 - 13 hours ago Reply
Mngotu says: Hopefully Nokia will integrate it into their future phones.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:28 pm - 15 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 - 14 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 - 14 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 - 14 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 - 8 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 - 14 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 - 14 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 - 8 hours ago Reply
1_RF1 says: Doesn't work on the Samsung Ativ S.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 7:45 pm - 10 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 - 8 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.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 10:40 pm - 8 hours ago Reply */Tip Us On News! Shop accessories Browse All Accessories Cases and Skins Chargers Cradles Bluetooth Headsets Batteries See all accessories Browse Accessories For Your Phone
HTC 8X Cases Chargers Batteries & more 
HTC 8S Cases Chargers Batteries & more 
Lumia 920 Cases Chargers Batteries & more 
Lumia 820 Cases Chargers Batteries & more 
Lumia 822 Cases Chargers Batteries & more 
Lumia 900 Cases Chargers Batteries & more Shop For Other Phones & Tablets T-Mobile Lumia 710 Arrive Titan II Trophy Shop accessories View All Phones STORE AD CONTENT Latest Discussions Instagraph Official Discussion about 4 min ago by Paladinleeds 279 replies ASCEND W1 system update about 9 min ago by oscarxvita 0 replies Debit card about 24 min ago by WuhJett 1 reply Lumia 920 to a Nokia N8 to 808 PureView about 25 min ago by mister2d 37 replies Ahoi Folks! about 25 min ago by gerzhwin 2 replies Ban the post above you! Game! about 28 min ago by Dave Blake 898 replies See today's posts Latest Articles 
IM+ gets bumped for Windows Phone 8 & Indigo gets some minor improvements too 13 hours 10 min ago by Daniel Rubino 
Apply even more cool effects to images with the new Nightshot filter in Nokia's #2InstaWithLove 13 hours 43 min ago by Rich Edmonds 
Both Tumblr and NBC News updated, anything new? 13 hours 54 min ago by Sam Sabri Refocus app brings Lytro-like effect to Windows Phone 8, impresses us 15 hours 23 min ago by George Ponder 
Strike 'em down with Ninepin Bowling for Windows Phone 8 22 hours 5 min ago by George Ponder 
Marblie: Marbles Reinvented, a challenging little puzzle game 1 day 22 hours ago by George Ponder 
Effectual is one of the best to-do apps for Windows Phone 8 2 days 8 hours ago by Sam Sabri 
Trivia Buff, a cornucopia of facts for your Windows Phone 3 days 20 hours ago by George Ponder Latest Comments The now "old" Microsoft Facebook app received bug fixes...about 1 sec agoby wptom Pretty sure that the beta testers website uses a seperate...about 1 min 22 sec agoby AndyAndyAndy Lol "Mr. & Mrs. Average Consumer". +1 sir ;)about 2 min 1 sec agoby naosuke I agreeabout 12 min 9 sec agoby naosuke Hmm, loads fast and is really smooth on my L920. Much...about 14 min 56 sec agoby futtawuh See all recent comments Download wpcentral official appListen to Our Podcast Follow WPCentral RSS facebook twitter you tube google plusHave a tip or site suggestion? Please contact us!
Mobile Nations YouTube Channel Follow Us on Twitter Join us on Facebook Mobile Nations RSS Feed 13,102,764 Readers Per Month Mobile Nations brings you the very best of Android Central,CrackBerry, iMore, webOS Nation, and WPCentral
IM+ gets bumped for Windows Phone 8 & Indigo gets some minor improvements too
Apply even more cool effects to images with the new Nightshot filter in Nokia's #2InstaWithLove
Both Tumblr and NBC News updated, anything new?A behind the scenes look at the "Don't fight. Switch" Windows Phone adAT&T is giving you at least $100 for your old smartphone 
HTC dropping HTC Watch support for 6 countries in Europe come May 31Google I/O 2013 session schedule now availableMadfinger Games bringing titles to OUYA, Moga and Gamestick this yearGoogle releases Glass intro video to help us all get startedMophie announces Juice Pack for the HTC One, on sale now for $99.95 
I highly doubt Thorsten Heins thinks the tablet market will dieBlackBerry Jam rocks BotswanaTELUS BlackBerry Q10 unboxingLinkedIn v2.2 for BlackBerry OS smartphones brings BBM integration and company pagesPopcornFlix arrives for BlackBerry 10 - Watch free movies on your BlackBerry smartphone 
App Giveaway: Othello StockWatchLast call! Verizon Pre3 60-second video entries close tomorrowMonday Brief: WWDC sells out, BlackBerry Q10 review and the Samsung Galaxy S4 has arrivedPhoenix teams up with OpenMobile to Kickstart the ACL for TouchPadIsis Web doesn't bring new WebKit to the TouchPad, but it's still betterThis is the WindsorNot - the webOS slate smartphone that never was Windows Phone ForumsAndroid ForumsBlackBerry ForumsiPhone / iPad ForumswebOS Forums Copyright 2013 Mobile Nations ? Terms and Conditions ? Privacy Policy (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=161262480631740"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); 
No comments:
Post a Comment