Light Field Cameras

Light-field cameras use multiple lenses to create a single image. All the lenses simultaneously take a snapshot of the same scene, though each lens has a different focus.

Traditional cameras usually have an enclosed, hollow chamber with an opening at one end – the aperture and the lens – that allows light to enter; they also have a recording surface on the other end – the sensor – that undergoes changes when exposed to light and captures the image. The image output of single-lens cameras has, by necessity, only one focus.

Older cameras, like the one used to take the first permanent photograph in 1826, took a photo from only one lens. In 1849, English physicist David Brewster created a camera with two lenses positioned slightly apart for stereoscopic photography. Later on, this idea of multiple lenses taking the same picture was used to improve the quality of the photo being taken.

Light-Field Cameras

Light-field cameras, like the Adobe light-field camera prototype – are more advanced versions of multiple-lens cameras. They are built similarly to traditional cameras since they have a sensor at the back for capturing images. However, 19 lenses are positioned at varying angles (so they capture the scene at differing depths). Each of these lenses capture an image of the same scene and all 19 shots are projected on different areas of the sensor.

Using computer technology and photo editing software, one can overlap and blend the individual shots into a single photo. This gives the final product very sharp details so that almost nothing is out of focus.

More advanced photo editing software can also stitch the 19 pictures into one 3-dimensional photo using the different perspectives that each image offers. Moreover, the user has the ability to select which objects in the image should or should not be in focus. This drastically improves image quality and creativity of photos – much better than that of the traditional one-lens cameras that took only one image at a time.

The combined effect of all the lenses also gives a photo megapixellage that is much higher than anything commercially available today. The Adobe light-field camera prototype has an output capacity of 100 megapixels; each of the lenses has around 5.2 megapixel capacities (based on today's standards). Although today's cameras are already very advanced in terms of their megapixellage – the most advanced camera on a mobile phone currently clocks in at around 22 megapixels – it is highly unlikely that single lens technology can go much further because the lenses used for cameras are made of glass and thus cannot sufficiently focus light to optimize this high resolution characteristic.

Uses of Light-Field Cameras

There are many possible uses for a light-field camera. It would, for example, be useful for industries that rely heavily on visual media such as printed or televised news and advertising. There are also many possible uses in security and surveillance. Multi-lens cameras are also expected to redefine consumer photography because of the new features they offer like three-dimensional images and selective focusing.