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I've been following Light closely, and I'm curious to see how it plays out. Their early released images really aren't comparable to a DSLR (especially consider

I've been following Light closely, and I'm curious to see how it plays out. Their early released images really aren't comparable to a DSLR (especially considering a $1700 retail price), but it seems obvious the long play is to figure out the technology and license it to smartphone manufacturers. The problem I see with that though is 1) it's still too big 2) it's still too expensive and 3) I bet it adds an enormous amount of complexity to manufacturing Lytro had really awesome technology something like 10 years ago for a camera that could focus on anything in the image (it didn't take pictures exactly, which was one of the problems, how do you manage the files which also happen to be gigantic). Awesome idea, but it just didn't work in the consumer market. I would LOVE to see Light succeed and have a substantially better camera integrated into smartphones, and would even pay a few hundred dollars premium for it, but if that happens at all it's going to take years and I doubt many people will be happy to pay that much more when they just want to use Instagram.

nradov 10y ago
Lytro had another more serious problem: the images were soft. Sure you could change focus in post processing but everything was still slightly fuzzier than with a regular camera.
- MegaButts 10y ago
  The early images released by Light aren't that great, and those are curated. You're paying 10x the cost for a modest improvement which is probably undetectable after going through an Instagram filter. I hope the technology is awesome, but based on what I've seen (and heard from employees) it's not going to live up to the hype.
- acallahan 10y ago
  AFAIK Lytro's new play is into the cinematic VR space. They're working on a light field camera and stack that they advertise will allow the viewer to don a VR headset and view a live-action scene with 6 DOF, so long as the viewer doesn't move their head terribly far. https://www.lytro.com/immerge https://www.lytro.com/immerge
seltzered_ 10y ago
I sold my old dslr and have been on the preorder list for light. Wish them the best but am on the fence for these reasons: - the demo photos, like you mentioned have either a softness like you mentioned or colors that seem a bit too vibrant. Would like to see more examples of action photos, up close macros, and night shots. - no stabilization - in their talk they mentioned this isn't practical and they'll sell a stick gimbal, though it seems odd when a smartphone has this. - the delays, it took about a year longer than I initially expected (preorders are shipping this July) - My own needs - I'm realizing I'm not that nuts of a photography enthusiast lately for the price of the camera. There's also some hesitance when reading the founders mit technology review article where he hints that the end user will do more things in post with their first product until they leverage an fpga/asic for processing (I think they're currently using a snapdragon 820 with an fpga for triggering) Still rooting for them though since I hated carrying even a micro 4:3 camera

nradov 10y ago

Lytro had another more serious problem: the images were soft. Sure you could change focus in post processing but everything was still slightly fuzzier than with a regular camera.

MegaButts 10y ago
The early images released by Light aren't that great, and those are curated. You're paying 10x the cost for a modest improvement which is probably undetectable after going through an Instagram filter. I hope the technology is awesome, but based on what I've seen (and heard from employees) it's not going to live up to the hype.
acallahan 10y ago
AFAIK Lytro's new play is into the cinematic VR space. They're working on a light field camera and stack that they advertise will allow the viewer to don a VR headset and view a live-action scene with 6 DOF, so long as the viewer doesn't move their head terribly far. https://www.lytro.com/immerge https://www.lytro.com/immerge

seltzered_ 10y ago

I sold my old dslr and have been on the preorder list for light. Wish them the best but am on the fence for these reasons: - the demo photos, like you mentioned have either a softness like you mentioned or colors that seem a bit too vibrant. Would like to see more examples of action photos, up close macros, and night shots. - no stabilization - in their talk they mentioned this isn't practical and they'll sell a stick gimbal, though it seems odd when a smartphone has this. - the delays, it took about a year longer than I initially expected (preorders are shipping this July) - My own needs - I'm realizing I'm not that nuts of a photography enthusiast lately for the price of the camera. There's also some hesitance when reading the founders mit technology review article where he hints that the end user will do more things in post with their first product until they leverage an fpga/asic for processing (I think they're currently using a snapdragon 820 with an fpga for triggering) Still rooting for them though since I hated carrying even a micro 4:3 camera