Lytro+Light+Field+Camera

= Lytro Light-Field Camera = toc The Lytro Light-Field Camera marks a major innovation in home photography. A light-field camera captures the entire light field including the color, intensity, and direction of light rays. With one click it takes a snapshot of the entire light-field without having to worry about depth of field, focus, or aperture. It accomplishes this feat by having a central lens with a microlens array in front of the sensor. Capturing the light field creates a “living photograph” allowing the photographer to manipulate the focus with software. A photograph can be taken at any aperture then adjusted upwards to manipulate the focus. Theoretically it would make it even easier for the user to take perfectly focused photographs every time. The technology is not new finding its origins in the early 1900s and more recently in “bullet time” from the matrix. But these examples required a large array of cameras. The Lytro on the other hand shrinks the technology down to a hand held device. Ren Ng developed the device from his postgraduate studies at Stanford. In 2006, Ng established Lytro to bring a consumer grade light-field camera to market. On October 19, 2011, Ng launched his first camera for the point and shoot market. Lytro’s camera has the potential to be the first truly point and shoot camera.

Breakdown of Lytro-Light Field Camera Technology
The Image Below is a cross-section of the Lytro light-field camera.

The Lytor Light-Field Camera Future and Infromation Centers
Lytro light-field cameras offer the average consumer a new photographic tool. The technology is scalable enough to be implemented in smartphones and other consumer electronics. The idea is to simplify the interface and ability to take perfectly focused pictures with every shot. The Lytro is good for an average consumer, but professional photographers require the adjustable settings that the digital single-lens reflex cameras offer. Photographers do not always need a perfectly focused photograph but the ability to capture the picture they envision. But, consistently could also be useful for some professional photographer. Lytro gives you the ability to adjust the focus after the fact which would allow each photograph taken to be adjusted for the occasion. Conceivably one photograph could become a series of photographs just by adjusting the focus and aperture but it has not been shown how adjustable the picture truly is. Ideally Lytro would release a camera that combines the capabilities of a DSLR with Lytro’s light-field technology. Professional Photographers are more deliberate with their photography than your average consumer and would not be comfortable with a point and shoot configuration. Lytro does not offer the tools that attract professional or amateur photographers.

The light-field camera cold be considered ideal for digital collections because the photographs taken are both high resolution and adjustable which could take some complication out of photographing objects. Ng wants to extend the Lytro for, “ applications in medical and scientific microscopy, where shallow depth of field is an intimately close barrier”. T he Lytro is the first real innovation in photography since the first CCD sensor. The only other major advance in digital photography is the Foveon sensor which is an alternative to the Bayer filter. The Lytro is a fundamental shift in how cameras take pictures while the Foveon is a more elegant addition to C-Mos sensor. They both suffer the same problem of being propriety and only being produced by one camera manufacturer. Light-field photography is still an immature and unproven technology that sounds profound but has not had time to mature into a viable alternative to traditional DSLRs.

**Lytro in Action**
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**References**
Anthony, S. (2011). How the Lytro no-focus light field camera changes Photography. ExtreamTech. Retrieved from []

Griggs, M.B. (2011). The Lytro light-field camera: How it works. //Popular Mechanics//. Retrieved from []

Lytro. (2011). The science inside. Retrieved from []

Martinet, D. (2011). Lytro light field camera revealed. //All Things D.// []

Ng, R., Levoy, M., Brdif, M., Duval, G., Horowitz, M., Hanrahan, P. (2006). Light field photography with a hand-held plenoptic camera. //Stanford Computer Graphics Laboratory: Technical Publications//. []

Pachal, P. (2011). How the Lytro Light-Field camera works. //PCmag//. Retrieved from []

Paul, I. (2011). 5 Coolest Lytro light field camera features. //PCWorld.// Retrieved from []