[beering]

This is one of the more ignorant comments I've seen in a while.

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.

[neya]

First of all, I haven't applied for becoming a CEO and as my comment clearly mentions, its just my personal view.

Next, I don't think you read my comment fully either. I am talking about why the Lytro will not be adopted by the professional photography community ,which is WAY huge than the number of starters.

>it could disrupt photography by making it easier than ever for beginners to take good photos.

I thought that's what Point and shoots are for and they do a really good job. Look at the sales. The only problem that Lytro seems to solve is the focusing issue. Honestly, people don't care about the focusing issue. disagree? Go check your Instagram/Facebook feed. No,I am NOT under-estimating Lytro - Its a marvel of an invention. But, its implementation is not that great, which is my point.

>This is one of the more ignorant comments I've seen in a while.

Like I said, I have clearly stated its PURELY my personal view. You are no one to judge me based on my personal views. If I were to judge you based on your comment, then you sound like some random noob, with a fake profile of some random guy who doesn't even have the guts to show up his real identity. With just 10 karma, this is probably expected.

[dr42]

"it could disrupt photography by making it easier than ever for beginners to take good photos."

These cameras do not help beginners, or anyone else take good photos. In much the same way that instagram doesn't. Sure, it might be a fad, like HDR is, but nothing short of learning about composition and lighting will make anyone take good photos.

I don't see anything disruptive about lytro photography. Being able to pick the focal point arbitrarily after the photo has been taken is a cool gimmick, but what's the point? How many times have you really wanted to do that with a photo? Beginners seldom take photos that are out of focus because autofocus systems have improved so much. Most blurry photos are due to low light and camera shake, poor handling of the camera. Lytro does not solve that problem.

I hope it succeeds and becomes a viable alternative, just as foveon sensors were/are, and I hope the company do well, this is an exciting time for photography.

[Daniel_Newby]

"Most blurry photos are due to low light and camera shake, ..."

The Lytro camera has a fixed wide-open aperture, so exposure times are kept short.

" Being able to pick the focal point arbitrarily after the photo has been taken is a cool gimmick, but what's the point?"

You can also change the depth of field after the fact. E.g., to blur out the strip club in the background of an otherwise nice shot.