Lytro light-field camera

Lytro: A trick of the light

This light-field camera has fancy technology, but do you need it?

by June Yang

Updated 06:40 PM Oct 16, 2012

The Lytro light-field camera. Photo courtesy Lytro

SINGAPORE - Several months ago, the photography world was rocked by the announcement of the Lytro light-field camera, a camera where you can change the focus of a picture - after the picture is taken. This, people said, is the camera that will save us all from wasted out-of-focus shots.

Certainly it felt like I was holding something revolutionary when I first laid hands on the Lytro.

A palm-sized oblong device with no visible dials or buttons, it looks more like a flashlight than a camera. There's a power nub, a shutter nub and a strip that serves as a zoom. Everything is else is controlled via the 1.52-inch backlit touchscreen, including the manual controls (shutter speed, ISO, AE lock, neutral density toggle).

But this un-camera-likeness turns out to be a drawback. There is no viewfinder, no flash, no expandable memory slots. The screen is too small to use comfortably, and certainly not under direct sunlight.

That's all right, you won't be doing much action photography, given that the maximum shutter speed is only 1/250 and the picture quality is grainy. It works best on automatic mode.

The square photos shot by the Lytro save as a special light-field format. The bundled software, which you absolutely need to process your pictures, requires at least Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.6.6.

Once you've gotten the pictures on your computer, you can export them as JPGs or upload them to the Lytro site, where others can play around with the focus of your pictures. For print outs, you'll have to first select the focus you want.

The refocusing effect works best with shots that have a well-established foreground, midground and background. If you're shooting flowers, people at a party, or items on your desk: It works great. Landscapes and tourist attractions, not so much.

In the end, the things you can do with the technology in the camera are quite limited. Have no doubt, the Lytro is unique. As a concept, it looks at photography in an entirely new way. But it doesn't solve any real problem faced by real-life photographers. Until then it will remain a novelty item.

The Lytro light field camera retails for S$648.00 for an 8GB version, and S$778.00 for a 16GB version.

It will be available at Challenger Store, EpiCentre @ 313@somerset, Parisilk Electronics & Computers, South Asia Computer, SONG Brothers and Sprint-Cass Duty-Free Shops. 

See more sample photos: https://pictures.lytro.com/TODAYonline



Specifications:

Lens: 8x optical zoom; f/2 lens

Display: 1.46-inch back-lit LCD display with glass touchscreen

Light-field resolution: 11 Megarays: The number of light rays captured by the light field sensor.

Shutter speed: 1/250 of a second to 8 seconds

ISO: 80 to 3200

Neutral Density (ND) filter

Auto Exposure (AE) Lock

Weight: 214g

Dimensions: 41mm x 41mm x 112mm

New colours Seaglass and Moxie Pink added to its current range of Red Hot, Electric Blue and Graphite camera colours online.

Source: www.todayonline.com