Lytro Camera Takes Picture First, Focuses Later

Start-up company Lytro on Wednesday debuted a new camera that completely changes the way photographers can take photographs. Using the new camera customers can snap a photo and then focus on any part of the photograph at a later time.

The program is very simple to use, just click your mouse on any part of an image and that area comes into focus. Photographers can use the program to automatically change the focal point of a photo from a person to a subject or focus in on both aspects.

Try the camera feature on your own by clicking on the following image:

[iframe src=”https://www.lytro.com/living-pictures/154/embed” width=”400″ height=”415″]

The process of image focusing is completed by capturing “lightfield” data, a technology that has existed for years but was typically relegated to a camera the size of a wall unit.

According to the company unlike a point-and-shoot or DSLR image sensor which can only record where light strikes the sensor surface, Lytro’s image sensor also records the angle for a beam of light when it hits. By capture light angles the camera’s sensor can pull in far more data than a standard lends, thus allowing for clicking and refocusing at will.

According to the New York Times:

There are additional advantages to a lightfield sensor. By capturing the angle of light beams, all pictures shot with a Lytro camera are natively 3-D (you still need a 3-D display and glasses, but the information’s already there). More importantly, the camera no longer has to focus because it’s capturing every focal point, which means there’s no focus lag. The camera can respond almost instantly to a shutter-release button.

Another big advantage is the fact that Lytro files are saved in a similar way to old fashioned digital pictures which means they can be saved easily and sent to other users.

If instant focusing and more image information isn’t enough for you just check out the cool new aluminum-and-rubber rectangular case which is only four and a half inches long with a lends on one side and a touch screen on the other. Throw in an 8X optical zoom slider function, a shutter button on the top of the camera and a micro-USB port and you have a pretty cool looking camera.

The Lytro which is available in blue and gray models can be picked up for $399 for the 8GB model (350 pictures) or $499 for the 16GB version with the capability to store up to 750 pictures.

It should be noted that at this time only Mac users can use the cameras software although a Windows version is currently in development.

Are you interested in giving Lytro a try?