Lumin
Lumin is an electronic magnifying glass for your iPhone or iPod. Not only does it magnify items, it can also lock the image, increase magnification even further when locked and can save or share images.
The camera on your iPhone or iPod is great, but it’s not optimized for simple, and useful, magnification tasks. Lumin takes locked images at the highest camera resolution, then allows you to zoom and pan the image to display detail you never knew was there. Images can be shared to your photo library on the device or you can send either (or both) the larger image as well as the zoomed area via email or Twitter to others.
Lumin also controls the camera flash on your device, so you can magnify dark, hard-to-reach places with ease.
Lumin is:
- a set of high-resolution reading glasses, always with you
- a versatile magnifying glass that works with either camera on your device
- a quick-capture camera that does not store images to your library unless you want to
- a quick-share mechanism for sending captured images via email or Twitter
For such a simple utility, the uses you’ll find for Lumin are endless:
- read restaurant menus with ease, even in low light
- read and share wine bottle labels
- zoom the fine print on contracts
- grab the serial number – in the dark – on the back of that cable box
- check your teeth, or makeup
- capture quick images you don’t want in your photo library, but do want to send somewhere
- look bugs in the eye
- see what’s under the couch, or the seat of your car
- send a close-up of your kid’s bruise to the doc
Your imagination is the limit!
* use of the camera flash/torch is limited to iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s models.
January 10, 2012 at 3:01 am
[...] Lumin app for the iPhone allows the use of the phone’s camera as a magnifier, with or without [...]
January 10, 2012 at 7:23 am
Love the Lumin app. I have one feature request, however, which would be either a ‘timed’ shot, and/or the ability to use the volume button to ‘lock’ the image. When you can’t see your screen (if you are taking a picture of the underside of your couch for example) it can be very difficult to hit the little ‘lock’ icon at the right time. I realize focussing time is an issue, so perhaps a ‘lock next focus’ option or something. Or even the ability to just tap anywhere in the middle of the screen to lock.
January 10, 2012 at 10:31 am
We’re investigating difference ways to do this. For now:
- turn focus beep on in the Settings App under Lumin
- holding the lock button down and wait until you hear the focus beep
- release the lock button
This should help when you are holding the iPhone out and not looking at it.
Unfortunately, Apple is still not allowing the use of the volume buttons for our purposes. I understand that that may change soon.
-mz
May 28, 2012 at 11:13 am
I just tried to use lumina for the first time and cannot get the instruction/help screen off and therefore cannot use the app. What am I doing wrong
May 29, 2012 at 1:03 am
Just tap anywhere outside the border of the help text, or in the extra space showing through to the view below.
May 29, 2012 at 5:47 pm
Thanks for new Lumin interface. Use it everyday to photograph Jewellery. Was surprised you moved the “send to” button to the lower right side of the app interface window. It was much easier to have the “send to” button in the lower left hand corner, as you do in the Photo Gallery on the iPhone 4.
Also, was saddened to see that after capturing the image, Lumin no longer allows you to move it left and right or resize to recompose it using the pinched or expanded two finger method which made it really great to get an accurate picture without retaking the image.
Please, revert to what it was regarding the above two points!
Otherwise, great app! I love it!
May 29, 2012 at 6:03 pm
I think your second issue is resolved if you set a different default initial magnification, as set in the Settings App, under Lumin. That should allow you some flexibility to zoom out and pan, when you first lock an image.