Lytro's 'Camera 3.0': Shoot first, focus later

Is this Camera 3.0? Startup Lytro on Thursday unveiled a new lineup of cameras based on what it called light-field technology - a far cry from cameras as we know them now. "Camera 1.0 was film. Camera 2.0 was digital. 3.0 is a light-field camera that opens all these new possibilities for your picture taking," Chief Executive Ren Ng said in an interview posted on tech site CNET. Ng had worked on the technology at Stanford University before founding Lytro, originally called Refocus Imaging, in 2006. The Lytro looks different from convention cameras: an elongated box measuring 4.4 inches long and 1.6 inches square, with a touchscreen display and a USB port. Prices start at $399, and only U.S. residents can buy one now through Lytro's Website only. The cameras will not ship until the first quarter of 2012.

Lytro claims to be able to capture photos using the entire light field in a scene, enabling effects once thought impossible —such as the ability to focus the picture after it is taken. Photo source: Lytro.com

Ng said the cameras will be be handy for focusing an image after it was taken, without worrying about waiting for an autofocus system to work. "It's got an instant shutter. You press the button--bang! It takes the picture right away. We have that unique feature--shoot first, focus later. The camera doesn't have to physically focus while you take the shot," he said. Since the camera captures depth information, Lytro images can be viewed in 3D. But a big challenge for the company will be convincing people that they want this interactivity. Another is to convince people to buy something so different online. Light field Unlike present digital cameras that use lenses to focus on a subject, Lytra uses light from multiple directions hitting each patch of the sensor. The camera records this directional information, and computing turns it into an image a human eye can understand. In effect, a Lytro camera image is a 3D map of what was photographed, allowing a user to decide what to focus on after they have taken the photo. Ng said the biggest possibility is that an image becomes more dynamic, with a photographer being able to change the focus point. Software for the camera also lets people do the same operation on computers, with images hosted for free at Lytro's Web site, or embedded in Facebook pages. While only an application for Macs will be initially available, a Windows version and apps for mobile devics on the way. Megarays vs megapixels Unlike the megapixels that everyone is used to, Lytro cameras' data is measured in terms of megarays. "The sensor collects 11 million rays of light at every shot," Ng said. — TJD, GMA News