[nathanm]

I finally got the e-mail this morning.  I'm both annoyed and intrigued.  Hmmm…
http://www.lytro.com/

[wilsynet]

Why annoyed?

[thunderbrick]

Nikon AF mount?   

[srb]

Interesting.  Forget about pixels and megapixels, this camera has 11 megarays.
 
Since it outputs an .lfp file, it seems that it may only be viewable with a specialized Mac (with Windows in development) program/viewer?  I would hope that this program can convert it to a static jpeg usable anywhere.
 
Also, even though it's relatively inexpensive, it has either 8GB or 16GB fixed internal memory - no SD cards.  Like an iPod, iPhone or iPad.
 
Still, focusing after the fact is intriguing.
 
Steve

[cujobob]

How much is it supposed to cost?

[srb]

How much is it supposed to cost?

Per the website link, $399/8GB and $499/16GB
 
Steve

[cujobob]

OH wow, I don't know how I missed that 

This looks so cool...

[lowtech]

Since it outputs an .lfp file, it seems that it may only be viewable with a specialized Mac (with Windows in development) program/viewer?  I would hope that this program can convert it to a static jpeg usable anywhere.

It appears that the interactive images can be displayed using Flash, so it is cross-platform ready.

[charmerci]

Press release says that they give you MAC OSX software. No word on when or if for PC users.

[cujobob]

PC version will be out in early 2012.

[craig223]

The sample images on the web site are very interesting.  Just click on the area you are interested in and watch it come into focus. 

[krikor]

Very cool... my wife's birthday is coming up and she's the photography phreak in the family (I've got my listening room, she's got here dark room).

[Photon46]

One thing I've noticed in the advance release images from Lytro is that their pictures never seem to be all that sharp by my standards. Everything is in ok focus but nothing is razor sharp. Unless the actual files look way better than what's on their website, it looks like a "not ready for prime time" technology as far as professional work is concerned.

[nathanm]

I'm mainly annoyed just by the cryptic marketing approach they've taken.  Little bits doled out here and there.  And we still can't see the software.  Hmph.

Not to dump on what is obviously extremely cool technology, but at this stage this is just an expensive toy.  It only makes low-res Flash-like files for web display.  Hopefully in the future you will be able to combine focal planes and get the exact balance of blur and sharp areas.  That was what I was hoping for from the start, but it's not available yet.  I don't think people clicking around on your images to change focus is going to be interesting beyond about 5 minutes.  That much I think is just a novelty thing.

I also noticed that nothing in them seems very crisp.  But hey, digital cameras were junk when they first came out too, and hopefully this will lead to better things in the future.  I do love the idea of a really one-click camera.  Definitely one for non-technical folks.  Even point and shoot cameras have too many menus for some people.

A 16x9 aspect ratio would make more sense than square I think.  I like square, but there's no square monitors.  With 16x9 you could still do "slide shows" on everybody's HDTV without cropping and computer monitors seem to be going that aspect ratio too.  So 16x9 for web use might be a good idea.