Nokia 8 gets Pro Camera update for Lumia-like manual controls

HMD Global

Back at MWC 2018, HMD Global announced that the Pro Camera update would be coming to its smartphones, starting with the new Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 8 Sirocco. Now, last year’s Nokia 8 has received the camera update as well.

The announcement was made on Twitter by chief product officer Juho Sarvikas, who added that the Pro Camera update was available now.

The Pro Camera update delivers manual controls for white balance, ISO, shutter speed, and focus. Manual controls aren’t new, but the UI is an exact copy of the intuitive interface seen in Nokia’s Lumia smartphones. HMD can do this because they actually acquired the patents for the Pro Camera interface from Microsoft last year.

It’s unclear whether the manual controls are available for both rear cameras or if the monochrome shooter is left in the lurch. We’ve asked the company and will update the article when we get a response. Update: HMD’s representatives have come back to us, saying the Pro Camera mode “operates both cameras together.” In other words, you can’t choose between color and monochrome cameras, as it’s taking data from both cameras into account in this mode.

Don’t hold your breath for the update to hit cheaper Nokia devices, as HMD is keeping it for phones with Carl ZEISS optics. So that means the new Nokia 2.1, 3.1 and 5.1 will have to make do with the standard camera app.

Now, about HMD grabbing the Lumia line’s Moment Capture and Rich HDR camera features…