Lytro Light Field Camera – What is it, and where can you buy one?

A new camera, available for pre-order now, promises to completely revolutionize the personal photography industry and change the way people take and view pictures. Known as the Lytro Light Field Camera, or simple the Lytro Camera, the new device takes pictures which can refocuses and even viewed in 3D.

While traditional cameras have a single point of focus, the Lytro camera uses special imaging software and proprietary hardware to capture 11 million light rays (megarays) and then record various image properties including color, intensity and direction.

As a result, the user can later view a single picture with the focus on different elements in the picture with the press of a button on the touch screen. Additionally, because of the amount of image information captured, the image can be viewed in 3D on a 3D screen like a 3D HDTV.

If you are wondering how you can buy a Lyrto camera, the company is currently accepting pre-orders. However the camera, which will retail for about $400 for an 8GB version, and about $500 for a 16GB, will not ship until the beginning of 2012. So unfortunately the Lytro camera will probably not be an option as a Christmas present, unless you want to give the person a card with the pre-order slip telling them that it will be coming soon.

If you are wondering which version to purchase, the 8GB can hold about 350 pictures while the 16GB doubles capacity to about 700 pictures.

To get in on the pre-sales you need to register at the Lytro company web site which is www.lytro.com. According to the company, orders will be limited to one per customer initially.

The camera features an 8X optical zoom, an f/2 lens, an anodized aluminum body, instant-on functionality and weighs 7.55 ounces.