Lytro Light Field Camera - Innovation of the Year

A couple of weeks ago, Californian based technology company Lytro announced it has its first product ready - a Lytro Light Field Camera. We know Sony has made an extremely cool electronic viewfinder this year. Sigma has announced the successor of its Foveon sensor. Retro trends are hitting the market with Fujifilm X100 and Nikon V1/J1. Canon is starting to compete with Red. So what's so special about Lytro?

Isn't it another geek toy with ultra small sensor and crappy lens? Well, since the product will be sold starting February 2012, we don't know the truth, but..


What we know is, that the camera concept redefines "camera" far more in a new way anyone could think of, so far. If you didn't know it is a camera, what would you think it would be? Perhaps something cool from Apple.. Maybe a lipstick with LCD screen showing the percentage of stick remaining? All wrong. It is the camera with Light Field Technology - mainly meaning you can choose the focus after you have take the picture. Magic.

How unconventional is the camera body design. How simple is the layout of the unit. How innovative is the technology. If you take a look at any considerable camera shop online, you can find some 300+ camera models on sale. From $40 to $40,000. Every single of it is a conventional camera - as we today know it. But one - the new Lycro. Let's see about if the fairy tale becomes true, in a couple of months already.


You can read thoughts from the CEO of Lytro, Ren Ng, here; you can also experience here how does it work to select focus point after the picture is taken.