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"Light" camera


Inazuma
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Some incredible technology in this camera. There are multiple sensors and lenses in the body. The lenses are actually laid out sideways within the body and light enters through mirrors. It takes multiple photos at once and stitches them together. You end up with 52 megapixel photos with, apparently, amazing low light performance and full-frame shallow depth of field which can be controlled in post. 

Oh, and it takes 4k video.

https://light.co/camera

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I appreciate the thought and effort., but just like the Lytros I don't think you want to be an early adaptor at a premium price...

Give these developments some time and I'm sure they'll be nicer implemented and actually worth considering. Just not quite yet. That's what I think.

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

I applaud the people who spent time designing such new inventions. I know it's not easy to materialize an actual product, so well done.

I understand using multiple small high resolution sensors and lenses and combining them with software, a great idea for deep DOF super high resolution shooting,

 but I don't understand how they change the depth of field in post, Lytro style? that takes this camera into a different world. 

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You guys are missing the point. This is not aimed at the video crowd. This is meant to be the next step in smartphone photography and I applaud it. The form-factor is there, now we just nee to wait a few iterations for the hardware to be perfected. And obviously, a mobile chip can be added easily, but battery life is probably a big issue with the first generation.

You probably heard of multi shot noise reduction - burst of shots to reduce noise. Now imagine using multiple sensors and the same principle is applicable to moving subjects since they all fire at the same time. Also the slight difference in the capture angle gives info on the 3D characteristics enabling more realistic software bokeh?

The difference of this and Lytro? This could just replace your smartphone while Lytro would replace your camera - and camera sales are declining. Also Lytro sacrifices so much resolution for a single trick (refocusing). I believe this will leave Lytro in the dust.

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 but I don't understand how they change the depth of field in post, Lytro style? that takes this camera into a different world. 

i think it's due to the sheer amount of data they get from the multiple sensors shooting at different angles and focal lengths. 

Im really impressed by the technology in this but of course we need more sample photos first. The one's on the site show really nice tonality but are too small to make any further judgements really

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

i think it's due to the sheer amount of data they get from the multiple sensors shooting at different angles and focal lengths. 

Im really impressed by the technology in this but of course we need more sample photos first. The one's on the site show really nice tonality but are too small to make any further judgements really

But don't you think multiple focal lengths and DOF on each lens would never combine into a high resolution consistent image? plus they'd need one of those lenses to have FF DOF, unless multiple deep-ish DOF lenses can be combined to create a shallow DOF shot, I don't think so.

I get the concept, great, but not the FF DOF part. Perhaps they're just blurring the background with software? (but the example looks too good for it to be that)

Any official link?

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It's a great idea, but they botched the explanation of it.  There are two problems they're solving.  

NOISE:  By using multiple sensors they are working with a higher sample of readings.  A full-frame DSLR uses larger sensels to sample more light.  Keep in mind bayer sensors have inherently color problems  because each pixel only samples one channel.  More pixels gives a cleaner image.

FOCUS: By using multiple shots at different depths of field, and advanced stitching algorithms, they're able to composite an image that shows a shallow depth of field; however, these shots will not be as good as a DSLR because only the optics can perfectly get the focus/blur at each length.  However, combined with the lower noise, they will be much better than the algos on single sensor cell phones.

My guess is the first market for these cameras are event photographers.  Discreet cameras, lower noise and subject differentiation.

 

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IMO those messages are too techie for the crowd they're targeting. Their core message seems to be: you can get big camera quality with phone size portability. They even call it "light" for the name. I'm sure they'll fine tune the messaging depending on response and as they (if ever) expand into other versions of the camera.

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Stu Maschwitz has an excellent blog piece on this: http://prolost.com/blog/lightl16

We're moving to computational photography based on reconstruction algorithms (such as superresolution, light field etc.) - where much of the contents of an image will be software-computed from incomplete/deliberately non-matching partial image data. The DxO One goes a similar (if less radical) path with its 'SuperRaw plus' feature. There's also some speculation that many of today's consumer 4K cameras already use such algorithms (super resolution in particular) since their image are often aliasing-/moire-free even if they physically shouldn't.

It could mean that in 10, 15 or 20 years, today's high quality, hardware-based camera technology - including large sensors and complex optical lens constructions - will become a thing for traditionalists much like reel-to-reel tape recording machines vs. mp3 players today. With cameras like the Light L16, we may get a first glimpse into that future, comparable to the Logitech Fotoman as the world's first widely marketed digital camera in 1991. (The Fotoman had a picture resolution of 376x240 pixels in 8bit greyscale...)

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But don't you think multiple focal lengths and DOF on each lens would never combine into a high resolution consistent image? plus they'd need one of those lenses to have FF DOF, unless multiple deep-ish DOF lenses can be combined to create a shallow DOF shot, I don't think so.

I get the concept, great, but not the FF DOF part. Perhaps they're just blurring the background with software? (but the example looks too good for it to be that)

Any official link?

Wouldn't that work sort of similar to a brenzier method? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenizer_Method 

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Stu Maschwitz has an excellent blog piece on this: http://prolost.com/blog/lightl16

We're moving to computational photography based on reconstruction algorithms (such as superresolution, light field etc.) - where much of the contents of an image will be software-computed from incomplete/deliberately non-matching partial image data. The DxO One goes a similar (if less radical) path with its 'SuperRaw plus' feature. There's also some speculation that many of today's consumer 4K cameras already use such algorithms (super resolution in particular) since their image are often aliasing-/moire-free even if they physically shouldn't.

It could mean that in 10, 15 or 20 years, today's high quality, hardware-based camera technology - including large sensors and complex optical lens constructions - will become a thing for traditionalists much like reel-to-reel tape recording machines vs. mp3 players today. With cameras like the Light L16, we may get a first glimpse into that future, comparable to the Logitech Fotoman as the world's first widely marketed digital camera in 1991. (The Fotoman had a picture resolution of 376x240 pixels in 8bit greyscale...)

What about using today's high quality, hardware-based camera technology with computational photography. There is no reason they can't work in tandem to up the game. 

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