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1) This is purely my opinion - There is a fundamental problem with these Lytros. Photography is an art, and art is not easy, which is exactly why art has some value, and not everyone can come up with art. It gives one a sense of joy, pride and achievement, when someone comes up with their own art, because they have taken the pains to capture the right subject, at the right moment with the right focus. What Lytro does is removes this sense of achievement, pride by making it easier for anyone and everyone to capture photos with the right subject, with the right focus - Even if they had captured it originally wrong. It makes the pro's look like idiots. 2) Design - The traditional DSLR's give you a sense of satisfaction, completion and pride when you hold them, because when someone else sees you holding them, they know you are putting in some effort to capture good photos. The Lytro on the other hand looks like a traditional Kaleidoscope and when someone looks at you holding them - 1) They think its some toy, if they've never heard or seen a Lytro before or 2) They know its a device that lets anyone capture beautiful photos, so its no big deal. There is very little pride of ownership in owning a Lytro, with contrast to a DSLR. The Lytro needs some design elements from the traditional DSLR, to make it more appealing to the Masses. Had the Lytro been pitched in the form-factor of a DSLR, but with all the features that Lytro has now, it would have caught up like forest fire. Lens compatibility. When people buy DSLR's, MOST of them buy the body because they know its from a company that manufactures great lenses (Eg: Canon). With Lytro, I'm not even sure if there are plans to manufacture external Lenses. Even if Lytro does manufacture them, it won't matter because companies like Canon/Nikon have a great array of Lenses, proven with the test of time. Lytro should in the least add support to fix lenses from 3rd party companies. Just my 2 cents. |
1) Your first point is exactly why Lytro is exciting—it could disrupt photography by making it easier than ever for beginners to take good photos.
Everything you said about Lytro could be said about auto light metering, auto focus, digital cameras, lcd viewfinders, Photoshop, etc... you have a bizarre, unproductive pretentiousness. Have you had the joy of carefully metering and focusing a film camera for the pride of seeing a print days later? Does that mean we shouldn't use digital cameras?
2) Why the hell would you create an easy-to-use camera for amateurs and give it interchangeable lens? The target audience of a Lytro isn't going to shop for a 28mm f/1.4 prime. More importantly, the focal length and aperture are fixed to a specific configuration for the microlens array, and that's a constraint of these plenoptic cameras that isn't going to change for a while.
I think you've posted the perfect cover letter for why you should never be CEO of Lytro.