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Details of the Computational Camera “Lytro” are finally emerging, and it’s combining an Apple sense of minimalistic style with some high-end photo processing features, all into one tiny sleek package. Engadget was lucky with the first hands-on:

Right off the bat, you’ll notice its diminutive size. If we’re frank, we were expecting something more akin to a DSLR — visions no doubt conjured by the immense arrays used to do this sort of wizardry back in the day. Its small, beautifully made, anodized aluminum body reminds us of a cross between an iPod Nano and an iSight camera — inspiration that isn’t only skin deep, as Lytro’s desktop software (which you’ll need to open and export .lfp files) is currently Mac only, with a Windows version in development.

I must admit, I’m also surprised by the form factor but it truly is beautiful.  Given how much can be done after the moment with this camera, it kinda makes sense that it would have almost no on-device controls.  Also, they’ve created a neat flash/javascript based viewer that you can play with on their website, letting you export the raw LFP files to sites like twitter and facebook so that viewers can adjust the focus on their own.

Hopefully they’re working with groups like Adobe to create Photoshop importers for their format, so that eventually we can do some even more amazing things like photos with multiple focal depths (put the foreground and background in focus at the same time) or pseudo-HDR.

via Lytro.

Hardware camera, lytro

TechCrunch’s Devin Coldewey has a early article about the Lytro camera, based on some early photographs made by Eric Cheng.  He agrees that the camera itself is fascinating, but believes that it’s more damaging to photography that beneficial.

Speaking from the perspective of a tech writer and someone interested in cameras, optics, and this sort of thing in general, I have to say the technology is absolutely amazing. But from the perspective of a photographer, I’m troubled. To start with, a large portion of the photography process has been removed — and not simply a technical part, but a creative part. There’s a reason focus is called focus and not something like “optical optimum” or “sharpness.” Focus is about making a decision as a photographer about what you’re taking a picture of. It’s clear that Ng is not of the same opinion: he describes focusing as “a chore,” and believes removing it simplifies the process. In a way, it does — the way hot dogs simplify meat. Without focus, it’s just the record of a bunch of photons. And saying it’s a revolution in photography is like saying dioramas are a revolution in sculpture.

I disagree with him.  Of course this first version won’t offer much to professional photographers, but just as early digital cameras were nothing but toys but eventually became the mainstay of photography, so will computational cameras like the Lytro.  The first offering is too limited and resolution-shy to be of much use to professionals, but as the resolution climbs and people come up with more fascinating feature that can be done with the plenoptic photographs, I’m sure they’ll eventually become the new mainstay of photography.

via Doubts About Lytro’s “Focus Later” Camera | TechCrunch.

Hardware lytro, photography

The brains at Stanford University that brought us the SynthCam app and the Frankencamera are about to spin off into a separate company and offer their first commercial option: The Lytro.  Boasting the same plenoptic lens shown at other events, it allows you to snap a single photo, a single instant in time, and then post process it later to change parameters like exposure, focus, and more.

The main lens is fixed in place; there is no auto-focus, auto-aperture, or other gubbins. This limits the number of moving parts which need to be adjusted every time a photo is taken, and which cause a lag between pressing the shutter-release button and capturing the image. Lytro’s snaps, by contrast, will be truly instantaneous, just like old film-based snapshot cameras. The light-field approach means they will always be in focus (since the plane of focus can be moved at will after the photograph has been taken). And the main lens is preset so that it always captures the greatest amount of light possible. This means that exposure time can be extremely short even in poorly lit conditions.

Unfortunately, this first offering will be useful only for hobbyists thanks to its 525×525 resolution.  It’ll be perfect for home use (I can only imagine how many photos I could have saved if I could have adjusted the focus after the fact, and I’m actually somewhat knowledgable about cameras), and is actually targeted at internet sharing sites.  They’ve already raised $50m in venture capital, so hopefully they’ll start ramping up production soon.

via Computational photography: Candid camera | The Economist.

Hardware, Science camera, computational photography, lytro, plenoptic