Lytro unveils Illum light-field camera, mobile app
Lytro unveiled a new camera Tuesday that's like a digital SLR that lets users refocus the frame -- after a photo is taken.
The Illum light-field camera captures more data than a regular camera, making it possible to refocus a photo. Users can interact with the photo after its posted and change the perspective of a frame.
The company hopes to change the ecosystem around photography, and is adding more computational power, aperture, perspective and a custom 40 megaray light field sensor.
The camera has the equivalent of a 30-250mm zoom, 1/4000 of a second shutter speed and ability for extreme macro capability. The photos are displayed on a 4-inch touchscreen glass and can be shared via Wi-Fi. Users can change the depth-of-field of a picture by using a two-finger gesture on the touchscreen.
Lytro is also making sharing photos easier by integrating social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. In order to get the full experience, Lytro photos need to be embedded. A new feature lets users generate a movie file of the "living picture" that can be shared. A photo gallery on the company's website lets users play with perspective and choose which part of the photograph to focus on.
Rosenthal gave CBS News a demonstration of Lytro's new mobile app, which will come out on iOS leading up to the camera's release, with an Android soon after. Like the company's website, the app will let users share photos, make comments and post to social media sites.
The original Lytro camera was released in 2012. The company was founded by Dr. Ren Ng, whose award-winning dissertation laid the groundwork for company's core technology. Lytro has shipped 20 million cameras, with $22 billion in revenue. Lytro Illum will cost $1,599 and start shipping on July 2014.
Change the focus on Lytro's photos below.
