Freely refocusable camera, Lytro

karl

I wonder why plenoptic cameras have only recently been hyped - is that just because Lytro announced to sell a toy version of them?

If you want to buy a decent plenoptic camera, with much higher resolution, decent software, just visit the Web pages of Raytrix, a company that has been selling such cameras way before Lytro even announced one.

Unlike Lytro, Raytrix targeted its offerings primarily towards industrial applications, which can actually make good use of the plenoptic feature (while for private snapshots, this is a just a gimmick for an hour, IMHO).

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@karl

Thanks for link.

Do you have some personal expirience using this cameras?

karl

I have not personally taken photos with one of the Raytrix camera models, but I attended a presentation they did when they received the "CHIP award". Unlike Lytro, they were pretty open regarding exact specs, pricing and so on of their products, it's all published in here: http://raytrix.de/tl_files/downloads/products.pdf

Besides the industrial clients, there is one guy known who actually uses Raytrix cameras for artistic work, Martin Häusler, he published some stuff on his page.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Also it looks like Nokina is not too far from making such things

Today Nokia has announced the completion of its acquisition of technologies, developers and intellectual property from Scalado. But why should Nokia fans be excited? Well: the precise details of the deal are secret. And will probably remain so until they emerge into products.

Via: http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/07/24/nokia-boosts-imaging-know-how-with-exclusive-technologies-brains-and-ip-from-scalado/

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Lytro is now in stock on Amazon, with $400 and up prices

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_photo?_encoding=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=Lytro&node=172282

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Perspective shift

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Pelican Imaging camera

More details at http://www.extremetech.com/computing/152761-pelican-imaging-promises-freedom-from-focusing

Vitaliy_Kiselev

First price drop of Lytro cameras, $349 now

http://www.amazon.com/Lytro-Light-Field-Camera-Graphite/dp/B0099QUSGM/

GravitateMediaGroup

Lytro makes obsolete all photo/video skills...................................GO.

combine Lytro technology with 8K,RAW, and a 5 axis stabilizer, and yes.....need for skill will basically be obsolete.

Is this the same camera/technology that was being shown off maybe 2 years ago? The demo video was footage of several people in a room and the cameraman was walking up to each person then showing the "focus in post" ability.

eatstoomuchjam

Since Lytro needs something like an 11 megapixel sensor to create a 1 megapixel image, I think it'll be a long while yet before it's ready to create a 32+ megapixel 8k image, much less do it at 24 frames per second. :)

driftwood

Update on this:

http://petapixel.com/2013/07/19/dslr-add-on-brings-features-like-lytro-style-refocusing-to-any-camera/

The invention is to be shown at the SIGGRAPH conference in Anaheim, CA.

http://s2013.siggraph.org

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Lytro, Inc., creator of the world’s first consumer light field camera, today announced that it has raised a $40 million round of financing from new investor North Bridge Venture Partners along with existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Greylock Partners. Jonathan Heiliger, a partner at North Bridge Venture Partners, will join the company’s board of directors.

“The opportunity to build a new set of creative tools for 21st-century storytelling is monumental and we’re excited to embark on the next phase of our journey,” said Jason Rosenthal, CEO of Lytro. “This additional funding will help fuel Lytro’s continued growth and the expansion of Light Field photography with new products and audiences.” Founder Ren Ng added, “We're thrilled to continue our momentum unleashing the full potential of Light Field Photography and living pictures.”

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131120005223/en/Lytro-Raises-40-Million-Funding-Expand-Picture

Vitaliy_Kiselev

The Lytro Light Field Camera is a rather unique digital camera with an impressive feature, that of being able to re-focus the images after you have taken them. It's managed to produce this in a compact, but strangely shaped, digital camera with an 8x optical zoom lens with a bright f/2.0 aperture.

The ability to choose your focus and have the rest of the image out of focus, gives the subject excellent separation from anything else in the frame, producing quite attractive results. However, using the camera, it feels as though you have to deliberatly setup the scene and shot to produce the correct effect, otherwise, you may as well be taking the photos on a standard camera, as the low resolution images of the Lytro are quite disappointing. Even when viewed at the full resolution of 1080x1080 the quality is quite poor, and although a firmware update improved image quality the images are still very low resolution.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/lytro-light-field-camera-review-20354