new & fascinating

i was at the apple store yesterday with my sick computer.  there for a couple hours, chatting with the apple guy, and we got on the subject of photography.  he actually has an art degree and was pursuing photography on the side [he loves working at the apple store].  he asked me if i heard of the new camera concept, where you can select focus AFTER the fact.  i hadn't. so we talked some more. i guess before steve jobs died, he was trying to buy out this company, so he could bring the concept to apple.  it's just fascinating. so what is it? it's a camera, where you take a photograph, and then you or anyone you share the photograph with, can select a focal point anywhere on the image.  i investigated it a bit and the technology uses 11 megarays to capture a living image via a light field picture file [.lfp].  no printing of the pictures right now, just sharing digitally.  but my guess is printing [converting of these files] is around the corner.

the camera is small [1.61 in x 1.61 in x 4.41 in] and light.  prices range from  $399-$499, depending on how many images the camera can hold.

meet the lytro camera...

you can see the kinds of images the camera captures and what the image can do HERE.  just click anywhere on the image and see the focal point change.  so what do you think?  i'm curious to hear what others have to say about this new technology.