
Idea: Multifocus Photography - pw
http://www.graphpaper.com/2009/08-21_idea-multifocus-photography
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stan_rogers
The idea represents a fundamental misunderstanding of optics. Multiple
pictures would only be required under low-light conditions when a suitable
tripod is unavailable or to capture a subject in motion (both cases require a
higher shutter speed, and therefore a larger aperture). In either case, a
single camera could not capture the same subject in the same position and with
the same framing, either due to subject or camera movement. The continuous-
focus problem was solved a long time ago, first by the pinhole camera, then
(when faster films began to appear) by photographers such as the members of
Group f64.

If you want to learn a bit more about the subject, there is a great book
called "The Ins and Outs of Focus" that is now available as a free download:

<http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/download.html>

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hiroprot
Interesting. This reminded me of a thought that I had when I was watching
Avatar in 3D: the 3D effect was always focused on a specific part of the
scene, and if you focused your eyes on a different part, it looked blurry.

After I thought about it, it made sense: they can only create the 3D effect
for a specific focus, otherwise they'd have to provide an individualized
effect for every viewer.

I wonder if/when we'll see a solution for this.

~~~
hiroprot
Good analysis of the 3D focus problem:
[http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2009/12/avatar_3d_headach...](http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2009/12/avatar_3d_headaches_look_at_th.html)

