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The Lytro, Revisited

April 10, 2012
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[Update: Since this post was originally written, Lytro has shuttered. I’m leaving this here for posterity’s sake. And maybe one of these days I’ll figure out how to access and embed the old photos taken with the Lytro…]

Last night, I made a quick post about the glorious piece of engineering that is the Lytro camera.

In my fervor of Lytro-induced bliss, I completely forgot about Creative Mode, or the camera function that allows you to pick an area of the screen — the TOUCH (!) screen — on which to focus. Thanks to commenter Colvin, who works at Lytro, I spent several giddy moments shooting in Creative Mode today.

As it turns out, I stand corrected: the Lytro is an awesome camera for macro shots.

This is a good thing. My macro lens for my SLR is pretty much my favorite, and now I found my newest obsession camera has the same capabilities.

Now, I’m really looking forward to using the camera in a setting where I’m not at work when it’s light out/home when it’s dark out/have time to really have some fun with the Lytro. Though really, who doesn’t want to see my chipped glasses, up close and personal?

 There are a lot of things I really like about this little powerhouse of a camera. First, it doesn’t look like a traditional camera. It’s a new shape to get used to, but it feels pretty natural when taking images (though I think I would like a tripod mount in the future, because sometimes I’m really just not that steady). It fits comfortably in one of the side pockets of my favorite Domke bag, which, admittedly, I stuff way too much crap into every day. And it takes really neat photos!

Alright, I swear. I’ll get over the awesome factor soon. Also, they say you only get one exclamation point in your career of writing — these Lytro posts alone have blown that to all hell, but what can I say? It’s gotta be love!

Speaking of love, pictured above is my Creepy Tree and the seed pods (?)  from which I’m fairly sure aliens will spring any moment now. That deserves a separate blog post, though.

In addition to being a fan of the rather unorthodox shape and size of the Lytro, I like its physical interface. Something just feels really good when you click on the shutter.

Every day, I carry around an older digital SLR with three lenses, a smaller mock-SLR as a backup and accompanying items (iPad, camera connection, cables, memory cards, chargers, spare batteries … I really put that Domke to work, and it’s not even a big one).
I can comfortably say that as soon as I make a little fabric case for the Lytro, it will undoubtedly join the ranks of my must-have gear every day.
P.S. Sorry about linked images in the previous Lytro post. After a slight issue, I finally figured out how to embed them directly into posts (really, it only took me 5 minutes! OK, like, 50 maybe, whatever).
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