Meet Lytro Cinema: 755-Megapixels, 300 FPS, Refocus and Change Depth of Field in Post

Following the introduction of its Immerge virtual reality system, Lytro, the "light field" camera company whose consumer models we now see discounted nearly everywhere, recently left the consumer space to concentrate on and introduce its new product, Lytro Cinema. Offering a complete solution with an included server to handle the 755 megapixels of data at up to 300 frames per second (not typos), the Lytro Cinema is a new kind of too-good-to-be-true beast. But the most incredible thing about the camera? It's no lie.

As the questionnaire for a trial of the system asks for production budget estimates of the largest film you're working on in increments of "Under $10M" all the way to "Over $50M," you can be sure the Lytro Cinema won't be cheap. It must take a supercomputer to run all that data regardless. And as photos show the form of the camera is more that of a larger studio camera as opposed to a RED-type system, it won't help directors win awards in fast-action sequences of flying cameras. But the Lytro Cinema offers something other systems cannot (apart from its ridiculous resolution and maximum frame rate).

Since every pixel has full directional information, depth can be measured at any part of the image. This allows editors to refocus, change the depth of field, and, perhaps most importantly, pull out and edit specific objects or entire sections of a scene in post without the need for a green screen or otherwise more complicated effects.

After some experimentation in the consumer market, perhaps Lytro has found its true calling.

Adam Ottke's picture

Adam works mostly across California on all things photography and art. He can be found at the best local coffee shops, at home scanning film in for hours, or out and about shooting his next assignment. Want to talk about gear? Want to work on a project together? Have an idea for Fstoppers? Get in touch! And, check out FilmObjektiv.org film rentals!

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