If it turns out to be practical and doable, it will be revolutionary. It reminds me of this vaporware: http://cultureandcommunication.org/dead ... licon_Film (it would have done the same thing, as film SLR bodies would still be produced (en masse).
I actually come over here to post a topic about this but it looks like someone beat me to it. Apparently some sort of genius out of Stanford invented this technology and it was written about in USA Today A camera that couldn't care less about focus: Introducing Lytro The USA Today article had an embedded picture from the new camera in the article for you to play with and a link to the Lytro website where there are even more pictures that you can play around with. Lytro Picture Gallery To me this would be revolutionary if all you have to do it click the button and the camera takes in all the data and you can compose your picture in the lab (computer). ; The website claims that this camera will revolutionize the lowlight photography without needing a flash to get better picture. ; Also, I've read the camera will theoretically be in a point & shoot body format. The downside will be that if this technology is in an affordable price point and does all that is currently being advertised (post process focusing, better post-processing light control, etc) it'll really be a devastating blow to photographers who make a living off their talent in controlling their camera. ; The control would be put in the hands of the nut behind the camera not the nut behind the lens
No mention of pricing though. ; And he has raised a TON of venture capital for this idea. ; Should be interesting. ; Pro photogs shouldn't worry too Mich because this camera still doesn't control light or posing subject matter although it does make controlling depth of field easier I would suppose. ; Posted from my htc Thunderbolt.
I'd think if anything pro photographers might embrace it. ; Pros often aren't in photography because they love it and love manual controls and long setups...those who make a living from it often view it not too differently than the rest of us view jobs - anything that can make it easier to do or more efficient, go for it. My lament would be for photography enthusiasts - anyone who loves the whole process of taking a photo as much as the end-result photo itself. ; Taking focus out of the equation when shooting just doesn't sound fun to me - taking a photo with no concern of focus at all, then sitting on a computer and choosing my focus after the fact? ; No thank you. ; I love the process of achieving focus and manipulating focus while shooting far too much to want to lose that.
From further reading on their website, as it stands now, their target demographic is the point & shoot crowd who greatly lament all those badly focused pictures they manage to capture. ; I have also heard some ruminations that they may be working on a way to put this technology into smart phones. ; Basically areas of photography that are greatly plagued by badly focused pictures. Also, it appears they are developing a new photo file format that will allow you to pass the pictures around and let each person "recompose" the picture using focus and lighting control. ; They didn't put a lot of empasis on it in the news pieces, but Lytro claims their technology will also let you manipulate the lighting of the photo based on all the data it captures about the light in existence. I personally am wondering if this will be the great step I've been hoping for that helps a camera more accurately replicate the human eye's functionality in low-light situations. But Tim is right. ; There is more to professional photography than just snapping the shutter. ; Composition is key. ; But if your target demographic is people who are wanting to capture memories (which appears to be this company's goal), composition isn't as important as capturing pictures that are not fuzzy
Reviving an old thread: Scott Bourne recently got his hands on one of the new Lytro cameras and discussed it with Richard Herrington on the 3Exposure podcast. ; Some of the features they discuss sound very interesting. The sample image they mention is available on Scott Bourne's Photofocus.com blog. Would I buy one? ; Probably not. ; But I definitely expect to see the images start popping up all over the interwebs soon after the cameras make it into the hands of consumers.
