This is really exciting news for all of us consumers. The iPhone 6 is sure to be an incredible product with the most amazing camera yet.
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Apple Awarded Patent for Refocusable Camera with Light-Field Technology
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Apple doesn't do it all the time.
I'm sure you're very familiar with ALL of Apple's patent applications....
I'm glad not all photographers require high-end imaging and rapid publishing.
Thankfully there are those that do not want to be commercial photogs.----------
This is the internet, where everybody is an expert on everything.
I looked at the Lytro camera before. the problem with it was that you could not see the picture to do the refocusing without special apps or plugins. I am sure that the technology is improving, but until I can send the picture to a friend or print it out with needed anything special, this will have limited use IMO. I hope that if apple implements this correctly, these issues will be solved. Then this could be a cool new feature to play with.
All image formats need "special" software to view them, strictly speaking... I think what you're meaning to say is that you hope that light field images will get a standard open format across platforms, which can then be incorporated into all image viewing software.
I'm sure this will happen as light field photography proliferates.
Phone and tablet device cameras in the near future will just be the sensor. No more moving parts, no more complex stacks of lenses. Light Field tech will evolve at an incredible pace. The sensor simply absorbs everything it is exposed to and software pieces it together, more specifically the way you want it.
This is just using lightfield technology to refocus on the fly before taking a picture. the iPhone is not taking a lightfield picture.
That's not what Nokia is telling it's buyers
I'd argue that the customers are probably just telling themselves this more than anything so they can feel better.
This is actually already done via on-chip Phase Detection systems in many mirror less digital cameras.
Phase detection uses 2 light-fields, vs 16 or more for the bigger light-field camera.
It's the size of the sensor that's important, and Nokia Lumia 1020's sensor is about 4 times the size of iphone 5s'.
This would be heaven indeed. As a professional photographer I would welcome not only the freedom to create and compose freely post shooting session plus not having to carry an assortment of (sometimes heavy) lenses around.
One can only dream I suppose. #
I played with a Lytro camera and yeah it has cons like any emerging technology but I definitely enjoy the refocusing capabilities and I'm sure this will take photography to new places.
I can see some people commenting that this tech is going nowhere just because they don't see any advantage or practical use in their personal life which just makes me so glad the world is vast and full of different minds. #
As I understand it (not sure if correctly), the problem with light field technology is that it requires software to "emulate" the blur in the out of focus areas so you won't get natural bokeh, which is the hallmark of any decent lens. It basically just puts something slightly more realistic than a gaussian blur on things that should be out of focus.
As for small cameras such as the ones on the iPhone, you have a small sensor, small aperture and very small short focal length (8 mm), so everything will be in focus anyway. There is no point in focusing other than for macro shots and close ups. Everything beyond that is infinity for the lens.
Light field tech is therefore best suited for non-professional applications but then those applications don't even allow selective focusing anyway.
As for small cameras such as the ones on the iPhone, you have a small sensor, small aperture and very small short focal length (8 mm), so everything will be in focus anyway. There is no point in focusing other than for macro shots and close ups. Everything beyond that is infinity for the lens.
Light field tech is therefore best suited for non-professional applications but then those applications don't even allow selective focusing anyway.
I find it interesting that Apple was awarded such a patent when Lytro already claimed such a technology. I guess this is similar to many camera manufactures having their own CMOS and CCD chips that pretty much all have the same or similar technology in them.
Mostly. Plus I can understand them when I read them having worked with numerous patents.
You can just google it.
http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/features/item/18398_Smartphone_camera_sensor_sizes.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor_format
Lumia 1020 = 1/1.5"
5s = 1/3"
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The Lytro camera's sensor is bigger than the 5S's, but only turns out 1.2MP images because of all the light data it needs to absorb. More megapixels would actually help it.
And Nokia already jumped on lightfield smartphone integration last Spring when they licensed Pelican's Camera Array. Their phone is due 2014.
You do realize what Nokia is doing with "41 Mpx" is marketing gimmick? Why would Apple even bother heading that way?
It's not a marketing gimmick. They're using that 41MP to allow for lossless digital zoom. Apple's digital zoom solution is to zoom directly into a static image and post process it, creating a blurry piece of junk. Nokia's 41MP sensor is to allow pixel binning so image data isn't lost.
Refocusing wouldn't really help with that though - you still need at least a panoramic shot and even still you would only have the front sides of objects in the room.
Now maybe they could develop software that allows you to just walk around and the software would combine movement data with the 3d sensor and camera to create a mapping that could be moved around in 3D. With only a single perspective you will only be able to tilt around slightly before there is no data available.
Wrong, both do.
If you want to crop an image, mind you there is no optical zoom in iPhones, then you're SOL with 8MP. That's pansy.
Glassed Silver:mac