Geek Break: Lytro Is a Photographic Revolution
[Geek Post by Lee Stranahan]
A camera that allows you to focus AFTER you shoot? Click on the part you want to focus on. Go ahead.
This is amazing.
Light field technology captures all the light rays in a scene, which allows photographers to focus a photo after it has been taken. In traditional photography, photographers have had to focus the camera first and then snap. Lytro cameras, the company claims, will be able to be perfectly focus photos after the fact, forever into the future.
Here’s a good video summary.
This official video is kind of dumb but stick with it.
Adding – Allah is on this, too – and has some interesting uses for it.
– Lee Stranahan
I’m waiting for the Canon ADHD-1 Digital Camera where I don’t ever have to focus at a… Hey, look at that shiny thing!
RB (af34db) — 6/22/2011 @ 7:21 pmThat blew me away. Real innovation when we getting bored with the megapixel race. I can’t wait to get one!
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9ed903) — 6/22/2011 @ 7:23 pmi was thinking of posting on that, so you took der words right out of my mouth. or computer. or something.
🙂
my question is this. why have focus at all, then? is it possible to make the whole picture sharp, at once?
maybe i just don’t understand how things work, but i am curious.
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 6/22/2011 @ 7:35 pmbtw, the term “geek break” suggests that ordinarily the stuff i am posting is not geeky, an obviously misleading suggestion…
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 6/22/2011 @ 7:36 pma) how are you embedding the clickable (focus-able) image on your page? I’d like to post one on Facebook.
RB (a07239) — 6/22/2011 @ 7:41 pmb) I have same question as Aaron: will the camera/software allow you to enlarge the depth of field (front-to back focus zone)?
Hey, cool. Two RB’s. Sweet.
RB (3a32bf) — 6/22/2011 @ 7:55 pmI’ve taken photos for more than 50 years, started with a Kodak Brownie, moved on to 4″x5″, then 35mm, then digital. Digital photography is sometimes an improvement on film. This is a WOW!
htom (412a17) — 6/22/2011 @ 7:56 pmThis is just amazing technology.
Aaron, I like focus because that’s how my eyes work, and it helps highlight one aspect of a photo instead of another.
Yeah, an infinite focal length with perfect sharpness leads to more information, but something about that just doesn’t look right to me.
We both like PS3 games. One of my favorites is Gran Turismo (Which is not exactly a perfect game, but I don’t care). Here’s a good example of how focus helps. You get a sense of what’s going on in the photo. Distance, closeness, motion, relevance. The photo is much more real, and conveys an information beyond the pixels when some of the photo is blurry.
GT5’s photomode seemed lame to me when I first got the game, but its surprisingly addictive playing with all the camera settings and learning more about photography. I bet when this technology becomes more universal, amateurs try to make the entire photo in focus, and yet the most appealing photos will carefully tweak what’s in and out of focus to actually keep the photo interesting.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/22/2011 @ 8:05 pmRB – go to the Lytro gallerypage and htere’s an embed option there.
Lee Stranahan (708cc3) — 6/22/2011 @ 8:16 pmDustin
well, maybe we wouldn’t want to put the whole photo in focus… but i am curious if they could do it.
btw, i hear that need for speed shift 2 is another simulation driving game that is very good. frankly it sound better that GT5.
I frankly suspect that that what will happen is that by GT6, they will figure out how to put a good game in with the obsessive simulation.
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 6/22/2011 @ 9:08 pmDepending on what you’re looking for, NFS could be a lot better than GT5. A LOT better.
I do love the obsessive simulation, but I think GT5 really screwed itself up in a few ways. In Europe, where they love DTM style racing, I think it’s more of a hit. For sheer entertainment value it’s not really put together well.
And the online races are an atrocity.
I’m still really happy with it, but I have a different set of tastes than most people.
That’s a very interesting prospect. There are plenty of instances where total focus is helpful. Any time you strictly want the information from the photo, such as for history or war fighting or science, it would be very helpful.
What I predict is that they will make little photo displays that can follow your eyes (with IR) so that whatever you look at is in focus. The possibilities presented by this kind of camera are pretty awesome.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/22/2011 @ 9:16 pmCould have come in handy for the Weiner drama…
vor2 (68c8bb) — 6/22/2011 @ 9:21 pm^ LOL
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/22/2011 @ 9:22 pmWell, I went to the Lytro website and clicked on “Read our CEO’s Dissertation”. I don’t pretend (at all) to have understood very much of the calculus included, but many of the chapters dealing with the mechanics of photography were well within my, and I imagine your, scope of knowledge.
Aaron, to answer your question of “can they focus the entire picture?”. Yes, they can, by extending the depth of field. The author provides several examples of depth of field extension using both light field manipulation and traditional “stopping of the camera” – something I have done as a teenager with my minolta SLR to obtain a grainy effect as well as a greater depth of field.
while a completely focused picture has its uses in medical, military, and scientific fields, aesthetically, it becomes boring and static, lacking three dimensionality. IMHO, anyway.
One surprising thing in the dissertation was the revelation that a hologram was successfully rendered using the light field data captured by a prototype camera! Opening the door to one-shot holography, according to the author. Just WOW! Mr. Ng, you are the man!
felipe (2ec14c) — 6/24/2011 @ 12:14 am