Lytro: death of the photographer?
Mashable has been featuring a brand new camera due to come on the market soon, which could potentially be a game changer in photography... named Lytro. Usually I am guilty of getting a big case of "upgraditis" when a big development in photography is announced, such as new cameras and lenses, but this time I'm intrigued and apprehensive in equal measures. Lytro is explained on Mashable as:
"Great!!" I hear you say. "No more fussing with lenses! No more calculating apertures. No more worrying if the object you're focussing on is in focus! No more deleting photos because you focussed on the wrong aspect or didn't achieve the level of bokeh you desired!". All great in theory.... BUT does this signal the end of the professional photographer? I'm not sure how happy I am about the idea of a camera taking all the skill out of photography... but it's definitely exciting that there's such huge developments. You could argue that current digital cameras already do this to some extent, processing images in-camera, adjusting exposure and sharpening images... so what is the line between a photographer using functions within a camera to enhance a photo and a photographer just pressing the shutter and the camera doing all of the work? Judge for yourself... as for me, I'm not sold on the idea yet!
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The basic premise of Lytro’s technology is pretty simple: The camera captures all the information it possibly can about the field of light in front of it. You then get a digital photo that is adjustable in an almost infinite number of ways. You can focus anywhere in the picture, change the light levels — and presuming you’re using a device with a 3-D ready screen — even create a picture you can tilt and shift in three dimensions.
"Great!!" I hear you say. "No more fussing with lenses! No more calculating apertures. No more worrying if the object you're focussing on is in focus! No more deleting photos because you focussed on the wrong aspect or didn't achieve the level of bokeh you desired!". All great in theory.... BUT does this signal the end of the professional photographer? I'm not sure how happy I am about the idea of a camera taking all the skill out of photography... but it's definitely exciting that there's such huge developments. You could argue that current digital cameras already do this to some extent, processing images in-camera, adjusting exposure and sharpening images... so what is the line between a photographer using functions within a camera to enhance a photo and a photographer just pressing the shutter and the camera doing all of the work? Judge for yourself... as for me, I'm not sold on the idea yet!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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