KCSteve
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Recently my ever-indulgent wife got me a Lytro Lightfield Camera (http://www.lytro.com)
Some of you may remember seeing initial web postings about it in June of 2011 - it's the camera where you shoot now and focus later. They've gone from a table full of stuff demo to real products in less than two years.
This first version is pretty much just a snapshot camera but it already has very interesting potential for us.
First, for macro work the fact that you focus later means that it's much easier to get the shot right. Set the camera on a tripod using its little adapter and take the shot. After you import the picture pick just the right point of focus and export a .JPG version.
But even more interestingly, they've enabled a bit of Perspective Shift. You set it up in the Desktop software and then you can 'wobble' your view a bit.
The key thing about this is that while you're in this mode the entire picture is in focus.
I've been meaning to take some example shots but have been busy. This weekend at the Gem & Mineral show I used a display of gemstone trees to get the examples.
First, here's the full 'living picture':
http://pictures.lytro.com/KCSteve/pictures/600321
Here's a slice with the focus at the near side:
Here's the same picture but with the focus point at the back:
But here's where it gets fun: enable Perspective Shift (which I did) and then click and hold to put the image into shift mode. Now do a Print Screen and crop to just the picture and you get one where the whole picture is in focus:
There are enough of us that like photography to mention it just for the fun, but this ability to have extreme DOF focus at will means it's usefull for everyone.
Some of you may remember seeing initial web postings about it in June of 2011 - it's the camera where you shoot now and focus later. They've gone from a table full of stuff demo to real products in less than two years.
This first version is pretty much just a snapshot camera but it already has very interesting potential for us.
First, for macro work the fact that you focus later means that it's much easier to get the shot right. Set the camera on a tripod using its little adapter and take the shot. After you import the picture pick just the right point of focus and export a .JPG version.
But even more interestingly, they've enabled a bit of Perspective Shift. You set it up in the Desktop software and then you can 'wobble' your view a bit.
The key thing about this is that while you're in this mode the entire picture is in focus.
I've been meaning to take some example shots but have been busy. This weekend at the Gem & Mineral show I used a display of gemstone trees to get the examples.
First, here's the full 'living picture':
http://pictures.lytro.com/KCSteve/pictures/600321
Here's a slice with the focus at the near side:
Here's the same picture but with the focus point at the back:
But here's where it gets fun: enable Perspective Shift (which I did) and then click and hold to put the image into shift mode. Now do a Print Screen and crop to just the picture and you get one where the whole picture is in focus:
There are enough of us that like photography to mention it just for the fun, but this ability to have extreme DOF focus at will means it's usefull for everyone.
