

Lytro plenoptic light-field camera pre-orders begin today at $399 - pavlov
http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/19/lytro-plenoptic-light-field-camera-pre-orders-today-shipping-2012/

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beambot
This is (yet another) good example of a computational camera: where you can
exploit megapixels, physics, and computation to build more capable cameras.
There was a really good plenary talk by Prof. Nayar (Columbia) about other
techniques a few years back:

[http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/06/26/computational-
cameras-...](http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/06/26/computational-cameras-
exploiting-megapixels-and-computers-redefine-modern-camera)

My personal favorite is the "flexible depth of field," where you can actuate
the imaging element during image acquisition and then use DSP techniques to
create an image that is in focus across all depths simultaneously.

Also... if you'd like to get involved in these type of projects, a team from
Stanford is working on the "FrankenCamera" -- a open-hardware and open-source
effort:

<http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/fcam/>

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bradleyland
I rather like the design. It reminds me of using a scope, rather than a
camera. Holding it up, looking at the end, and seeing what's on the other side
has a very retro-telescope kind of appeal to me. Plus, I'm not sure people
will recognize it as a camera, so it might be good for grabbing candids. Kudos
to them for trying something new.

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piinbinary
I am hoping to see some cool hacks be created using this. I imagine that with
a few pictures from different angles, you might be able to make a nice 3D
model with pictures taken with the camera. I'm sure that folks will come up
with other cool things.

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jamesbritt
Check this out:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cclpQ1pI0xQ&feature=playe...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cclpQ1pI0xQ&feature=player_embedded)

Very cool video of Adobe tool for playing focus and deriving 3D info from an
image.

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chwahoo
I've been pretty excited about the idea of light-field photography/Lytro, but
this thing looks pretty awkward to carry/use :(. I look forward to seeing
reviews when they start to trickle out. Hopefully Lytro can figure out how to
make it more compact in the next iteration.

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sp332
This is about the same size as a normal point-and-shoot, isn't it?

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chwahoo
Perhaps in length, but it looks much thicker. It seems like it would be
awkward to carry in a pocket.

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iag
I understand the reason for its shape is because of the giant lens it has, but
I do admit it's a bit awkward to carry because it feels like you're carrying a
giant lens. Anyway, I'd love to play with it in person and have a realistic
feel for it.

Does anyone know if you can refocus on the camera screen itself? Is it touch
screen?

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jodrellblank
_Does anyone know if you can refocus on the camera screen itself? Is it touch
screen?_

Oh come on, you only had to read the first paragraph of the linked article!

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int3
Their picture gallery is worth checking out:

<http://www.lytro.com/living-pictures>

(Click on any part of the image to set focus there)

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kgen
The one with the reflection off the car bumper is CSI-amazing. Can't wait till
we have this in normal DSLRs.

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adyus
I think they went all in with this. Not only are they revolutionizing the
concept of what a digital photo is and how it can be captured, they decided to
introduce a new form factor for cameras.

Is it the most comfortable, ergonomic grip out there? Certainly not, but it is
definitely memorable.

My hunch is that the lens assembly and light field technology requires a long
barrel, and this is the best they could do. Perhaps if the next version were a
tube?

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bri3d
They could easily have added a grip system, and based on the linked hands-on,
which states that shake-induced blur is an issue, they should have.

I think the design is novel to prevent mental comparison with a "real" camera,
which presumably performs much better in terms of image quality (especially in
low light).

Avoiding "real camera" thinking also highlights the device's unique aspects
and lets them sell this first version as a less-serious novelty at a
relatively low price.

I really hope this isn't their end-game play and that they'll introduce
something more "prosumer" in an intelligent, useful form factor next (and
something that doesn't require integration with a bogus social network).

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huhtenberg
Cool tech, but the design is... I don't know... dorky? At the very least it
attracts attention, which is something that in great many cases not needed
when making photos.

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wlievens
To people complaining about the form factor: _most cameras look like this_.
It's only consumer cameras (low and high end) that have the typical form you
can hold in your hands comfortably. Industrial cameras for machine vision
often have this "rectangular tube" form.

That said I don't know what their target market is...

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leoh
I like this technology, but it's really a rare occasion that I've taken an
out-of-focus photo. In fact, I can hardly think of one out of nearly a
thousand pictures I've taken the last year, except for a few where I've used
manual focus.

Are there any other photographers that really would find this useful? The only
thing that I could gain from it is the fact that it looks like it has a
relatively shallow DOF, which is a nice effect. But in some ways, it makes the
camera feel gimmicky to me -- the DOF on all their photos is extremely shallow
(aperture size???)

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anoother
It's a constant f/2 lens, but that's fairly irrelevant as, given the way the
camera works, you could use focus stacking to get the whole frame in focus if
you wanted.

Of course, that depends on either software features or a lot of manual labour,
which is why my main question about the device is how open/hackable the image
format is.

I'd love to see the applications that come out of this - eg. ultra high-res 3d
scanning from only a handful of photos - so I hope they've created it with a
view to encouraging indipendent development.

It seems the examples are there just to showcase after-the-fact focusing, and
that's clearly most easily done with a shallow DoF.

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jberryman
Just watching that thing being used gave me carpal tunnel. For Christ's sake
its an LCD screen and can go anywhere. Why not put it on the side/top of the
camera?

This makes me so grumpy.

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colanderman
Optics.

(There's more to a camera than just a sensor and an LCD screen...)

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rorrr
Notice how resolution isn't mentioned anywhere. It means it's low.

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int3
It's unconventional, not low:

"Light Field Resolution: 11 Megarays: the number of light rays captured by the
light field sensor."

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rorrr
It doesn't matter how it's represented internally. The end goal is a digital
photo that you will print or post on facebook/flickr.

What I don't get it who their market is. If you aren't taking serious photos,
nobody really cares if it's perfectly focused. And I doubt pro photographers
will want it because of the low resolution.

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pavlov
I don't think it's about getting print resolution or perfect focus.

The idea seems to be to add a playful kind of interactivity to photos. With
their Facebook app, you can click around a photo and "discover" different
views. "Look, there's Mark in the background. What _is_ he doing? I didn't
even see that before..."

I don't know if it will be a success, but I really like this concept. It's
sort of like Instagram but with amazing science behind it.

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AndrewMoffat
cool but doesn't look very ergonomic. grasping rectangular blocks isn't very
comfortable

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dgrant
Why not just use a normal camera and focus it right the first time?

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ent
because there might be more than one type of right

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vogonj
to some extent, though, this devalues lytro pictures as "photograph-as-
artistic-statement" in favor of the much more contemporary "photograph-as-
infallible-chronicler-of-the-coffee-you-got-this-morning."

(that said, I really want one of these.)

