First look at Nokia's Lumia 1020 with National Geographic's Stephen Alvarez
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 1:59PM 
Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Nokia's Lumia 1020 is the latest Windows Phone 8 flagship that improves on last year's Lumia 920 by slimming it down but also adding an improved 41 Megapixel sensor from the PureView 808. Nokia Canada showed off the new smartphone, features and accessories today with the help of National Geographic photographer Stephen Alvarez who took the Lumia 1020 on an amazing photoshoot in the American West.
Groundbreaking: The Lumia 1020 features a 41.3-megapixel FSI CMOS image sensor, 1/1.2-inch image sensor Aside from the impressive sensor, the Lumia 1020 also has Carl Zeiss optics with f/2.2 and some stunning software apps from Nokia that allow various settings and almost professional DSLR-like level of control
Photographer Stephen Alavarez showed off large prints made from his stunning photographs while he demoed the Lumia 1020's features in various stations set up at the Thompson Hotel in downtown Toronto.
One demo showed the Lumia 1020's low-light capability in capturing images of objects in extremely dark conditions. There was a diorama with miniature figures as well as various items and fabrics that you could thest the manual focus features of the Lumia 1020.
Alvarez explained how he was initially skeptical when asked to go on a shoot using nothing more than a smartphone but soon realized how powerful the Lumia 1020's camera and features were. As a professional photographer, Alvarez has tons of pro cameras, lenses and equiptment but also used to carry a micro four thirds camera everywhere he went. He has since ditched the M43 gear in favour of the Lumia 1020.
Chad Saliba, Senior Portfolio Collaboration Manager at Nokia sets up the Lumia 1020 on a tripod
The Lumia 1020 demo models were set up around the rooftop so they could demo the zoom functionality of the 41-megapixel camera as well as show the accessories that will help enhance the device's experience. Nokia has a camera grip that doubles as a battery for more comfortable picture taking, a wireless charging case and a wireless charging adaptor.
The Lumia 1020 comes to Canada in October via TELUS and Rogersl. Yellow is the preferred colour although it will likely be available in Black and possibly white.
In terms of specs, the Lumia 1020 has a 4.5-inch 1280×768 LCD display, 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, 4G-LTE connectivity, 41MP PureView camera with Xenon Flash (LED auto-assist flash, Carl Zeiss lens, OIS), 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, 1.2MP front-facing camera, 2,000mAh battery and weighs in at 158 grams. It is currently running the latest Amber Update of Windows Phone 8. Stay tuned for a full review of what this groundbreaking smarpthone and camera can do.
Reader Comments (1)
As an avid photographer and contributor for a local magazine, I'm really happy that Nokia has launched the Lumia 1020. I no longer have to carry my digicam along with me as the Nokia Lumia 1020 offers the same image quality and clarity.