New Plenoptic Camera
Well here is one cool new camera - instead of going up in a mega pixel war like “64megapixel camera”, some Stanford students spent time on improving the imaging technology behind the capture device.
So, what the heck is Plenoptic ?
Apparently, its a camera which is capable of refocusing after the picture is shot.
Original Picture:
Computer Refocussed:
Notice how the focus has changed from white guy in the first picture to the black guy in the second picture - now that’s what I call a breakthrough imaging.
I have been playing the NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) images for all my shots - so I know the power post production brings out (hidden latitude and colorspace) from an image. I enjoy the freedom of changing even the exposure values in the post, as NEF is basically data which is stolen from the camera before they are put through the JPG compression grinder. Now this Plenoptic camera goes even one step further - it allows you to choose your Depth of Field and Point of Focus.
This opens up a boatload of creative opportunities! I have discarded so many many wonderful moments coz they are not in proper focus.
How do they do it?
They explain it here:
This is achieved by inserting a microlens array between the sensor and main lens, creating a plenoptic camera. Each microlens measures not just the total amount of light deposited at that location, but how much light arrives along each ray. By re-sorting the measured rays of light to where they would have terminated in slightly different, synthetic cameras, we can compute sharp photographs focused at different depths. We show that a linear increase in the resolution of images under each microlens results in a linear increase in the sharpness of the refocused photographs. This property allows us to extend the depth of field of the camera without reducing the aperture, enabling shorter exposures and lower image noise. Especially in the macrophotography regime, we demonstrate that we can also compute synthetic photographs from a range of different viewpoints. These capabilities argue for a different strategy in designing photographic imaging systems.
I don’t understand a word of it - but the pictures speak for themselves.
I read about this sometime back, and gave up on understanding the details too.
Considering you’re passionate about this (I saw your *excellent* albums), do you think it’s only a matter of time before someone came out with point-and-shoots that could fast-focus like SLRs? Or is it just that the technology is being held back because it might cause a dent in the DSLR business?
Also, I’ve heard a major difference between Canon & Nikon is that the image out of the Nikon is sharper. And that Canon photos can achieve that only with considerable post-processing. So how much work do you put into your post-processing? Is it relatively minimal when compared to a Canon?
I ask so many questions ony because I think you won’t mind answering them.
Hi Manoj - Thanks for your comments on my album
Infact Sony has come up with a fast-focus, no shutterlag, live LCD preview point & shoot Sony DSC-R1.
About Nikon vs Canon
Nikon has great wide, fast, lenses, Canon has more long, tele, IS lenes.
I own all Nikon SLR gear (lenses, bodies), and have a single Canon. The main difference as I see it is that:
Canon (Digital Rebel) is colorful, very smooth and pops out without much post. But a Nikon has a much wider lattitude and dynamic range, which is what I look forward to. Colors, Levels and other things can be bumped up in post, but not exposure latitude and dynamic range.
And add the excellent line of fast NIKKOR glass - its a great combo.
I shoot in RAW format, so by its very design it requires post processing. But usually I dont do ‘digital manipulation’ - but rather creative processing to bring out shadows, and tame clipped highlights.
Aah…should’ve checked dpreview first about the DSC-R1.
Wonder what effect it will have on the DSLR business. I guess the purist will always stick to his massive pro-DSLRs and his bag of lenses. Maybe novices like me will consider the DSC-R1 types before graduating to the big leagues.
btw, I own a Canon 350D. The learning curve has been painful, but I’m enjoying the process. I shoot in RAW too and have been frustrated at times with the sharpening (raw mode sharpening as well as the Unsharp mask). So was naturally curious when someone told me that Nikon users didn’t have to worry so much about the same.
Dynamic Range, eh? I’m still in my DSLR infancy, so am still struggling with basic stuff like finding sweet spots on my lenses, exposure, flash compensation et al. I will fuss about DR very soon I’m sure.
I wonder how the NIKKOR lenses compare with the Canon L lenses. I have the 70-200 f/4L which has given me some neat photos.
I didn’t find too many posts about photography here. Maybe you should post something about your workflow etc. Atleast one person will be interested.
sure - thats a good idea…will post some workflow stuff soon
Tip1:
Learn to read the Histogram (I think 350D has Histogram preview) - that will save a lot of time in the digital darkroom….
an excellent article i came across:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml
Thanks Ram. But I know the theory behind histograms, and am still trying to develop an intuition for it (like gauging the levels even without having to look at the histogram preview). I guess DR is also part of the understanding histograms lesson. I was more bothered about sharpness which, correct me if I’m wrong, might not have to do much with histograms. I always go crazy trying to figure out the sharpness thresholds needed to fix some of my photos.
I don’t claim to have a great eye for detail, but I thought, apart from the colors, the sharpness of your photos looked real cool. Which is why I am curious about your post-processing work, esp. the sharpening adjustments (or maybe you don’t do much sharpening work because of Nikon’s natural ability)
Will look forward to your workflow posts.
I do understand that ultimately there is also an amount of natural instinct involved, and it just might be that I have some time to go before I hone it.
)
yeah - I dont do any sharpening at all. Maybe its the glass - but you said you have “L” lens - which I’ve heard is pretty good… hmmm
my old gallery… http://andshoot.smugmug.com/