The field of photography and the realm of cameras have another innovation to welcome to their fold. Lens fanatics have another reason to be delighted about. Another innovative camera has been invented to redefine graphics and photography. Through this innovation, plenoptic camera, a scene could already be captured with 4D light field information using an array of microlens.
Despite being regarded as a newbie, plenoptic cameras were not invented yesterday. Its origins can be traced to 1908. A century ago, Gabriel Lippman started this invention to capture a particular scene using an array of small lenses. His invention resulted to a record of approximately a hundred of images coming from various horizontal and vertical placements. But due to the laid-back technological pace during that time, Lippman’s brainchild was not given enough attention and did not live a long life. His brainchild was not realized and despite its rich potential, it died an early death.
Fortunately, we now live in a modern and fast-paced society. With recent technological innovations, things are no longer possible. Thanks to companies who keep up with the signs of the times such as Lytro and Adobe, these innovations are now within our reach.
We can associate a plenoptic camera with a human eye. For instance, we will replace the retina of the human eye with that of an insect eye. The retina of an insect eye then symbolizes the microlens array placed just in front of the sensor. This array of microlens has the capacity to capture the light field. The light field serves as a collection of information about the direction where each ray of light comes from and how much light each ray carries. Most of these information cannot be recorded in conventional or traditional cameras. Thus, plenoptic cameras present a viable solution to problems and limitations in photography and graphics.
Because of the vast information about the light distribution entering the world, plenoptic cameras integrate both flexibility and control in the images. Indeed, plenoptic cameras provide you with the rare opportunity to adjust the depth of field even after you have taken the shot. For other cameras, you take the shot and it will already be difficult to adjust the depth of field. What makes this innovation even more exciting is that it can capture stereoscopic images or videos even if you use only one camera. You can also adjust the position of camera or observer in post.
The innovative benefits brought about by plenoptic camera have attracted quite a following. More and more people have grown to be interested in this new addition to the camera lineup. In summary, the plenoptic camera has been considered as a beneficial innovation for its selective focus and depth of field after shooting the photo, shorter exposures without affecting the apertures and stimulating low light photography even without using a flash. The plenoptic camera also stimulates greater creative possibilities in post-production photo processes. If you use plenoptic camera, you can also create synthetic photographs coming from a variety of viewpoints.
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