Lytro camera and LEGO

[F0NIX]

I was searching the forum but could not find out if anyone else than me has used a Lytro camera and LEGO. Or am I searching wrong?

I see in the "Bricks Flicks & Comics" part there is a Tutorial: Choosing a Camera. Maybe it should be updated with a light field camera like Lytro?

For those who don't know what's special with a light field camera like a Lytro camera, the short story is that is more like a "living picture" where the viewer select the focus point on the image after the photos has been taken, rather than the photographer selecting the focus point before taking the photo.

Here is a more in-depth explanation: http://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/gadgets/lightfield-photography-revolutionizes-imaging/

I have the first generation Lytro camera and have followed the development of this camera since they announced it many years ago. First it was only available in the US, and also the software was for Mac users only at first. But for over a year ago they was also available in the Europe and also had software for Windows. I searched a lot to find a shop here in my country but could not find any for a long time until I found it at the electronic shop at the airport near Oslo :)

The second generation Lytro camera called Lytro Illum was released a few month ago and are more like an DSLR camera (but without the R) and even more powerfull.

I have tried it out some and as I expected it works just perfect for small scenarios like a LEGO town or inside a LEGO building.

You can see some of the pictures I have taken with the camera here:

https://pictures.lytro.com/f0nix

Now I just need more training for taking a good picture with it since you have to think different when taking a picture with this type of camera. :)

Is there anyone else that have a Lytro camera? Have you tried to take any LEGO related photos with it?

What does the rest of the people think of this photo technology? Do you think it works with LEGO creations?

[JGW3000]

Its gimmicky, but useful in some limited situations. Personally I prefer less cluttered images with the entire field in focus. In some circumstances selective reduced depth of field enhances the image, however. I'd like lytro better if the output was a simple focus-stacked image that was not married to their proprietary software and website. But if you are happy with it, go for it!

[dr_spock]

I think you can get nicer results using a better lens on a DSLR and focus stacking software. Then the whole image is sharp versus going around blurry and sharp which gets annoying after a while.

[F0NIX]

I do understand that some people see this new technology as "gimmicky" and "it will always be just a toy and never be any useful". But many has said that about many new technologies before, just look at the evolution of mobile phones... :)

I know my pictures does not make the best out of Lytro and lightfield photography technology, but I try and I hope to learn more. And it is really hard to shift your mind around when you have been used to always have the object in focus and only thinking in the "space" that is captured in the moment on the normal photography (from a regular camera). The more I look at Lytro images taken by professional photographers with cameras like the Lytro Illum and hear and read about what those photographers say about the lightfield technology the more I am sure that this have a good future and we are now just seeing the beginning.

With lightfield photography you have to think more about the 3D-space and what is in the foreground and what is in the back and compose the image in a totaly new way. Or you CAN do it at least, and they who master it can tell a much better story with this type of images than normal "flat" images that can only be seen one way...

I hope more people will give this new technology a try and share their experiences (and photos too...) :)

And I dont think this will replace "normal" photography, but it will complement it. Just like video does.

[dr_spock]

The new Lytro camera is around $1600 USD. That's a lot of LEGO.

I think it may have its uses in filming content for virtual reality or immersive experiences. Having objects come in focus as your approach or out of focus as wander away may add to the realism of the experience.

From a LEGO model photography perspective, it might help those DSLR users who use too shallow a DOF when photographing their LEGO models. You're looking at their model pics and wondering if your eyes are going fuzzing. Maybe one click on an app slider and the entire model will be in focus. I think they have added a Focus Spread feature to their software.

[F0NIX]

One fun, interesting and good thing with Lytro is that when they develope the software further you get new functions on all your existing images too :)

Just the other day they updated the software and now I have a lot of new functions I can play with on the images, like setting focus range/spread on the image.

[Darkdragon]

It's an intersting technology and certainly has some use in the MOC world. I don't personally use this system, but it could be fun to play with given the time. I think the likelyhood of finding many personal experiance with the system on Eurobricks is pretty low, a photography site would yeild more results for this type of thing. I can definitely see where the technology could be a nice meld with some MOC presentations, as long as the skill with the camera is high enough that the photos aren't always out of focus.

I was searching the forum but could not find out if anyone else than me has used a Lytro camera and LEGO. Or am I searching wrong?

I see in the "Bricks Flicks & Comics" part there is a Tutorial: Choosing a Camera. Maybe it should be updated with a light field camera like Lytro?

The tutorial is only meant as a general overview to help people decide, it will never be able to cover all camera types. Most people are not going to be interested in using a unique camera like the Lytro for LEGO comics, same way as they won't generally be using film cameras or medium format cameras for shooting LEGO comics or MOC photos.