So Lytro started selling their phase cameras this last week and it seems at least the technology bloggers out there are taking to the wires to talk about how cool this is. And no doubt the technology has potential to be a game changer but out of the gate it’s fundamentally flawed which is why I won’t be plunking down my $500 to pick up a camera.
There are a few things about photography that at least for photographers need to be thought through for a camera to be of any real value.
- Printable
- Color managed (Good automatic is ok)
- Perfect focus
- Easily viewed (Think slideshow)
- Shared my vision
With Lytro they are looking to control much more of this universe than you think and restrict what you can do and how you can view/display your photos.
Printable
It may be the case that you can focus and print your Lytro photographs but I can’t confirm that anywhere on their website. To me this is the biggest deal breaker, I love to print my work and display it. With Lytro I’m not sure I can do that, also they have not said what the MP count is, but they do state HD (1920×1080) which is not nearly enough resolution to be able to print anything of descent size.
Color Management
Cameras today do a pretty good job of managing the color in your photographs but there is room for improvement. This is why DSLR’s allow you to set the color space your camera is shooting in. You can do this by using a white or grey card/cap to tell your camera what should be white/grey and adjust to that. With Lytro and their simple camera there is no such change to be made, maybe the technology is good enough but judging by DSLR’s of today I’d be surprised.
Perfect Focus
I know this sounds funny because Lytro should allow you to get that perfect focus but in my testing of the image below I can’t get it to focus on what I want. This is a frustrating experience for a camera that only lets you focus after the fact. To see what I mean click on the butterfly’s head in the image below, it never comes into focus. So if the focus after you shoot is limited to a specific range it’s of much less use to a discerning photographer. Might still be great for snapshots but I wouldn’t trust it for something important.
Easily viewed
How do you easily and quickly show these off to your friends and family? If they are in a special format that is viewable in only some contexts you’ll quickly become reliant on Lytro for not only your software, hardware but also the tools to present your images to the world and your friends and family. I don’t want a slideshow where I have to focus each image as I show them off. Maybe they have an elegant way of handling this, only time will tell. Secondly unless I’m mistaken the only way to show off your living pictures online is to upload them through Lytro.com and use their Living Picture viewer. This is another step in the process that I don’t want to have to take and gives Lytro via their privacy policy rights to use my work for their promotional gain
From their Privacy Policy
We do not claim ownership of your living pictures; they are yours. To enable us to operate Lytro.com and provide its services and functionality, with respect to content that you submit to Lytro.com you grant us a non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, worldwide, sublicensable and transferable license to:
- Copy, store, display, and distribute such content;
- Modify and create derivative works of such content by using our light field picture player or another player approved by us. We may allow our users and visitors to create other modifications or derivative works and print your content for their personal use;
- Transmit copies of such content to, and embed such content on, other websites;
- Display the Lytro trademark with such content; and
- Display and feature in public areas of Lytro.com, at our discretion, certain of your public living pictures selected by us.
We reserve the right to refuse to post or to remove any user content on Lytro.com, at our discretion and with or without notice.
Sharing my vision
This one is something that is maybe just me but when I post an image to a website be it a forum or my own portfolio site I want the user to see my vision for the picture not any vision that can be derived from the image by re-focusing. Snapshot and fun little things may be different in that it’s fun to play with them in this way but if I come up with a great shot on a Lytro I want to be able to display it my way not just the Lytro way.
There are just too many unknowns about Lytro as a company and about the technology they provide. Any serious photographer should think twice before using the camera and the technology for any shoots that may result in something great they may want to use or display or sell. I’m impressed as anyone with this technology and what it could do for photography but until it progress’s further and the restrictions are fewer it’s not yet ready for prime time. Are you planning on getting a Lytro camera, if so what will you use it for?
