This is a technology we need to replace the camera...

[cloud12077]

Never Worry About Focusing Your Camera Again | This Could Be Big - Yahoo! News

Such a cool item, I can't wait for the technology to be implemented into cell phones!

[R850R]

say goodbye to the DSLR...that's awesome

[seminole1994]

Yeah that's Badass!!

[Liderc]

The Verge did a live review of this about a month ago, seems interesting.

[nerdslogic]

Pre-ordered

[flyinion]

say goodbye to the DSLR...that's awesome

It might replace the point & shoot, or even cell phone cameras, it will never replace a DSLR. You will still need the zoom capabilities of DSLR lenses for long distance stuff. Being able to focus later on is pointless if you can't get "close enough" to the image to get enough detail in the first place.

[prowler85]

It might replace the point & shoot, or even cell phone cameras, it will never replace a DSLR. You will still need the zoom capabilities of DSLR lenses for long distance stuff. Being able to focus later on is pointless if you can't get "close enough" to the image to get enough detail in the first place.

Well, I'd say that's somewhat true from what I've read. First, the basic camera on their website has an 8x optical zoom. And though it's technically not measured in megapixels since it stores the image in a completely new manner, it would be rated at approx. 22 megapixels by current standards. So at 8x zoom and 22 MP, and the ability to focus anywhere on the captured light, you could get pretty darn close to what a DSLR with about a 500 zoom lens. This may not suffice for actual photographers, but would work for the hobbyist quite well, and would guarantee never having a picture out of focus.

But definitely would love it in a phone. Not sure if this will be possible with the way it has to capture light, but I'd venture to guess they will figure it out someday.

[jcardona1]

Saw this several months ago. While it's definitely cool, image quality suffers, a lot.

[prowler85]

Saw this several months ago. While it's definitely cool, image quality suffers, a lot.

Image quality?? It's taking the same number of light inputs, and adding direction to the sensors. It is equivalent to a 22 MP picture. And can be refocused anywhere on the picture. How could you say that image quality suffers???

[scdown]

Well, I'd say that's somewhat true from what I've read. First, the basic camera on their website has an 8x optical zoom. And though it's technically not measured in megapixels since it stores the image in a completely new manner, it would be rated at approx. 22 megapixels by current standards. So at 8x zoom and 22 MP, and the ability to focus anywhere on the captured light, you could get pretty darn close to what a DSLR with about a 500 zoom lens. This may not suffice for actual photographers, but would work for the hobbyist quite well, and would guarantee never having a picture out of focus.

But definitely would love it in a phone. Not sure if this will be possible with the way it has to capture light, but I'd venture to guess they will figure it out someday.

You can zoom it 8x. Great. But optical zoom is a function of Fmax/Fmin, so if your shortest focal length is 28 or 35mm, your longest would be about 244 or 280mm, not 500mm

You can keep it in focus. Also great, up to a point - Lytro allows you to change the effective focus point of the image - at the point you select. However, the depth of field is a function of focal length and aperture. In other words, at an effective focal length of 280 (or especially 500mm), you're going to need really stop down the aperture to make the shot happen, and that's going to require a much longer shutter time for proper exposure.

But guess what? For low light performance and simpler design, they fixed the aperture at f/2. Do you know how much depth of field you're going to get at that aperture, fully zoomed? Somewhere between little and very little. So the focus point you choose will be in focus, but little else will be.

A DSLR's 500mm lens is 1) going to give you the aperture you need to get better depth of field (although still not perfect, because that's a really long lens), and 2) it's probably going to have the tripod mount you're going to need to hold steady for that shot! Because Lytro lets you change focus on the fly - it's not an image stabilizer.

Also, I'm not sure where you get an effective resolution of 22MP - I don't see it anywhere, but I'd stand corrected if you could tell me how to get to that number - what I've read is that they're shooting for "HD quality" in a square format. So, perhaps it captures 22MP worth of information, but you HAVE to process it through their software to get a JPG, and that will more likely be between 1 and 2 MP of picture output (as opposed to capture).

From Lytro's blog, they're targeting a minimum target output size of 1080x1080 (about 1MP): How can I compare the resolution of the Lytro Camera to that of existing cameras? : Lytro

They both have their place, though, to be sure, but this camera does not blow a DSLR out of the water by any stretch of the imagination. You're right about having this in a phone - that capability would rock!