Light L16 camera packs 16 lenses and produces 52MP images

[Stanley Edwards]

This looks pretty incredible.

I received an email the other day which I initially dismissed as spam, but seems it isn't spam at all.

52MP capture. 5x optical zoom. All in a smartphone size pocket device! Sadly, all are sold out on pre-order (technology venture company).

Check the link and watch the video on the home page for a nice explanation of how the camera works. Using many lenses and sensors to compose a final image of 52MP.

Light | Camera

Whether I end up working with them, or not, I really, really want a play. A serious play. Hopefully, I haven't fallen into a spam trap. They do seem genuinely interested.

What do you people reckon about a camera like this?

 

[Crispy]

Very interesting indeed. This is similar in effect to the Lytro lightfield cameras, but instead of one big very clever lens & sensors, it uses 16 small ones and then synthesises the "photo" afterwards.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Looks like spam to me. The website is hard to navigate and doesn't seem to have much information.

 

[Crispy]

They've been around for a years, have $millions in funding and plenty of coverage in mainstream tech pres (here's a hands-on of a prototype: How This Magical 16-Lens Camera Will Actually Work). The science is sound. It's a real product and starts shipping in April. We'll see how good it really is then.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

Looks like spam to me. The website is hard to navigate and doesn't seem to have much information.

I was expecting an invite to a demo event, or something like that.

Have a bit more feedback now. Personally talking to the leader of the project they have asked me to get involved in, and - yes, undoubtedly they will try and sell me a camera (seems the latest version has 17 lenses), but I could get some very nice publicity if nothing else, so I'm going to do a bit for them anyway. They just want to use my blog. Of course, I am going to be a cheeky bastard, because if you don't ask - you don't get, and I have never been afraid to ask

I seriously want a play with that camera.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The most important question for low light photography is: what is the pixel pitch [pixel size]? I can't find that info on the website.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The camera I currently use has 12mp, and makes the best night images I've ever taken.

 

[Crispy]

The most important question for low light photography is: what is the pixel pitch [pixel size]? I can't find that info on the website.

It's a meaningless measurement for this camera. It has 16 sensors, all small. The photons for each pixel in the final image are collected from multiple sensors.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

It's a meaningless measurement for this camera. It has 16 sensors, all small. The photons for each pixel in the final image are collected from multiple sensors.

The physics of signal to noise ratio will remain the same, though.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I don't think this camera exists at all. I think it is just an idea that is being put out to get people to invest in its future production.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

I don't think this camera exists at all. I think it is just an idea that is being put out to get people to invest in its future production.

Well, yes. They are funded by venture capital, but they seem to be very honest. The first pre-orders are being put together for delivery in a week, or so. The email I received today is very clever. However, marketing of this type is my old game - I can spot every C&P sentence in the 'customised/personal' reply. They are very cleverly taking an interest in me in order to gain my interest in their camera.

The critical legal wording is amongst the blurb about who they are as a company; "we built a compact camera" blah blah blah. A compact camera - at least one working prototype exists.

So, they are scanning the web for photographers who may be in the market for a quality, innovative 'travel camera'. This is their main selling point: no extra lenses, compact size, large image file size capture and good low light capture. The technological spec all makes sense to me. Lots of small sensors will not overheat, or suffer from noise nearly as much as a single, heavily packed sensor.

So, I am going to play along anyway. They pretty much ask for feedback about the camera technology you currently use - nice way of collecting sales ammunition. I shall talk all about the advantages and limitations of film compared to digital around a single set of 'travel' photographs.

It genuinely interests me. They are being very honest. I'm up for giving it a day of my time. I might then receive the invitation to the demo event in a Hilton hotel somewhere in this part of Europe But, I am going to fucking ask for much more!

 

[Stanley Edwards]

The physics of signal to noise ratio will remain the same, though.

No they won't. The total sensor area of all the collected 52MP will be far greater than the image area of say 3 x current 18MP sensors.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Say you want one for review

 

[Stanley Edwards]

Say you want one for review

I will. I will show them what I can do (using new words and many very old photographs) and then tell them to send me a prototype. They can only say "no". From there, I will let them know what else I can do for them if they want to pay for my 'MOST DEFINITELY NOT AMATEUR' services

As much as they are looking to sell, they have also asked for stuff - use of my images, time, travel writing etc, without mentioning any payment. I don't actually have a problem with this. Not going to give anything new away, but will show them what I could do if they actually wanted to pay me.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

No they won't. The total sensor area of all the collected 52MP will be far greater than the image area of say 3 x current 18MP sensors.

I think one of the company's principals put it best:

"Professionals represent a tiny sliver of the big pie in the camera market," he says. Instead, he says, Light's goal is to bring premium image-making capabilities to casual shooters used to the simple interface of a smartphone screen.

This camera is going to change the world

 

[Stanley Edwards]

I think one of the company's principals put it best: ...
This camera is going to change the world

That is a good line. Interesting link. Totally agree it will change things much. I'm surprised it has taken digital photography so long to get away from the constraints of a single focal plane conventions in housing design.

My only initial 'meh' is the processing of image data in camera. Particularly when it comes to looking for a shallow depth of field. Nothing critical in terms of digital photography. Possibly just my own hang-up from film days. I'll probably go into this more on my blog.

 

[editor]

The DSLR/'pro' camera market has been in freefall for years so this is the kind of snazzy schizzle they'll need to come up with to encourage people to dip into their wallets and stop using their phones.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

This has been around for fucking ever. (In the tech market this equates to a couple of years.) They were breathlessly promoting this shit in 2015 and the gadget blogs were all over it - e.g. https://petapixel.com/2015/10/08/li...-shoot-that-packs-16-cameras-for-52mp-photos/ - and obviously it hasn't happened and they still need money.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

This has been around for fucking ever. (In the tech market this equates to a couple of years.) They were breathlessly promoting this shit in 2015 and the gadget blogs were all over it - e.g. https://petapixel.com/2015/10/08/li...-shoot-that-packs-16-cameras-for-52mp-photos/ - and obviously it hasn't happened and they still need money.

This is interesting. I have never come across it before, but then again I have never been into the gadgets market.

No idea why you say 'shit', because to my mind the idea of multiple sensors and multiple lenses has much potential. I'm thinking in a very different way to what this camera is though.

They are a start-up. 2015 was not that long ago. They are still going. I am still very, very interested.

On an entirely new note...

One of my favourite clients/bosses ever was/is a guy I met whilst I was sketching in the street on very large paper. "Bigger is always better" I told him. After a conversation that went along my lines of "I travel for work - if it is worth coming back, I will come back", he handed me a card and told me there would be work in May.

The guy was armed with just a laptop with a very nice 3D model presentation and the most expensive business card I have ever seen. "You seriously going to make that happen in just Three months?". Oh, he did. Three years later his company name is one of the biggest and most talked about on this little island. I'm very glad I accepted in at the very start.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

You know, the longer I'm into photography, the less I want gadgetry that does my thinking for me; instead, I want the simplest but best equipment that will let me make the most possible decisions about how the image is made.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

You know, the longer I'm into photography, the less I want gadgetry that does my thinking for me; instead, I want the simplest but best equipment that will let me make the most possible decisions about how the image is made.

You're thinking is very much of my own presently.

But, how do you define the 'simplest' and the 'best'?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

You're thinking is very much of my own presently.

But, how do you define the 'simplest' and the 'best'?

As many manual parts [ie lens]; camera settings on manual, etc. as possible.

'Best', is a personal thing, arrived at after a lot of research and comparison.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

Just went round the shops with an imaginary €1,700 budget to spend on my ideal travel camera. It was only then that the blindingly obvious off-put about this camera occurred to me. Still find the technology very interesting. There is just a single, very important factor (to me) why I would not buy it.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

Okey dokey. Here's my blog post on the subject. I will send them a link and wish them all the best. I still like the idea.

The Lost Photographer: Remembering film.

 

[Crispy]

There is just a single, very important factor (to me) why I would not buy it.

No lens cap(s) ?

 

[Stanley Edwards]

No lens cap(s) ?

Sort of!

If I was serious about travel photography to the tune of €1,700, and 52MP files I would want a bloody good Carl Zeiss lens - not an array of plastic zooms. Nobody could convince me. I am a purist. I would also want .RAW files.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

OK. Got a reply. Basically they wanted to use what I put on my blog and suggested I would be promoted on their Pinterest page provided they were allowed to reword the final paragraph so it wasn't so critical of their camera.

I replied:

Hi xxxxx, thanks. I'm not interested in any company rewording my thoughts for marketing purposes/commercial gain. Whilst it is nice for people to enjoy my blog, it isn't something I use to promote my own work. It is just an honest blog.

He suggested my writing was from an over critical photographer rather than "travelers and those interested in cutting-edge technology."

 

[editor]

Intriguing...

Light L16 Camera: UK price and early look at the would-be DSLR killer

 

[editor]

 

[Chilli.s]

That's a lot of lenses to accidentally put fingers in front of.