Living Pictures - PHENOMINAL PHOTO GAME CHANGER!

[Gerry]

I just saw this on CNN and just had to share it.

I was totally blown away by the presentation on CNN as well as their website.

Essentially, in a 3D sense, nothing is EVER out of focus with this camera *to be released later in the year*. What we traditionally call depth of field is light fields to this camera. Nothing is EVER out of focus. Those distant backgrounds, the foreground, that party picture...you selectively click on the spot you want to be in focus. And you can change it as many times as you want. Most of all, this is embedded into the photo so that no matter who you share that photo with can STILL change focusing areas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7babcK2GH3I&feature=player_embedded

Look around on the web site and look at some of the pics in their gallery.

Immersive 3D: Using the full light field, Lytro cameras will allow you to easily switch between 2D and 3D views or shift the perspective of the scene.

On of the biggest advantages is speed! In other words, since the focus comes after the picture is taken, all the heavy stuff is done in the software and not in the photo sensor.

Unparalleled speed: This is fast. Since the camera doesn’t focus before a photo is taken, you don’t miss important moments due to autofocus shutter lag.

 

[Tia Wood]

What does that actually mean – “focus later”?

The FAQ’s will politely defer to the Picture Gallery to answer this question......Just click on a point on any picture. You will see this point suddenly become much sharper.

It's not doing anything for me? Tried it in Firefox. Won't load for me in IE.

 

[Gerry]

It's not doing anything for me? Tried it in Firefox. Won't load for me in IE.

I use FF.

Here is the link to the gallery:

http://www.lytro.com/picture_gallery

 

[Gerry]

Saw another news segment last night with a couple of major university's photography department trying these out.

The cameras are housed in a non descript sealed box so no one can steal the technology.

The images were stunning. This is truly a camera that you take the picture and focus later - meaning that the entire image is selectively focused to what you want to be focused.

Already big manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Apple have all sought to buy the technology. But the company is going to remain private and release a camera. I am sure that will be heavily patented, copyrighted, and TM'd from every single fragment of the design, software, and technology.