Pentax Optio WG-1 Rugged Waterproof Digital Camera

The Pentax Optio WG-1 digital camera is ready for the outdoors. Water-proof, shock-proof, dust-proof, and even crush-proof, this tough little 14-megapixel camera has a wide-angle lens and 5x optical zoom to make sure that it not only survives your next hiking, camping, biking, rafting … outdoor excursion, it brings back clear memories you can share with everyone who didn't go.


FEATURE :

• Rugged 12th-generation waterproof digital camera is adventure proof, and suitable for almost any environment.
• Waterproof to 33 feet; shockproof design protects from drops up to 5 feet; also crushproof, coldproof and dustproof.
• 14-megapixel resolution; wide-angle 5x internal optical zoom lens (28-140mm equivalent).
• Capture video in widescreen 720p HD at 30 frames per second.
• Compatible with SD, SDHC, SDXC memory cards (not included).

SOME OF THE SAMPLE CUSTOMER REVIEW FROM AMAZON :

1) GREAT underwater/MACRO camera - I bought this product for an upcoming trip to Hawaii and wanted a camera with underwater capability. I also bought the Panasonic Lumix TS3 to compare and ended up returning it. I am happy with my choice to keep the Pentax.

Here is what I liked:

The durability and the rugged feel of this camera right away impressed me. I felt like I was holding a camera that wouldn't break if I dropped it or tossed it into my purse. It was exactly what I needed for an outdoor/adventure trip. I was most excited to try out the Macro capabilities of this camera. They were among the first shots I took. All I can say is that they were amazing. Far and away, the quality was better than anything I have seen for a Point and Shoot camera. I could see individual bits of pollen when shooting a flower or individual pores on my finger. Even when I blew the images up and zoomed in, the clarity was amazing.

Once I got onto my trip, I used the camera underwater in various depths, from 3 feet of water to 250 (although I did not go down that far, this camera is only waterproof to 30 feet). The clarity of the images while zooming in in deep in water was great. I took a picture of a puffer fish that was close to 100 feet below me in 250 feet of water and the image turned out. I took pictures of sharks, dolphins, fish and coral. The pictures are clear and vibrant. The macro setting on some of the coral is to die for. I was so impressed with how these turned out. Had no problems with the camera being waterproof. After each underwater adventure (lasting from 20 minutes to two hours in the water, diving up to 20-25 feet deep for some pictures), I rinsed the camera with clean water and let it air dry before I opened any compartments. The color quality is spot on, no weird colors turning up. It is true to eye. The buttons are also easy to use and change to the best setting (outside, underwater, macro, auto, sport, etc). All of my pictures in daylight and soft light turned out great. The large screen on the back makes viewing pictures easy. The self-portrait assist was a cool idea and worked great.

Negatives:

The only thing that I was NOT impressed with on this camera was low light (nighttime, inside)/no light (nighttime, outside) conditions. Whenever it was dark out, the pictures often turned out blurry, even with the flash on. I may have had it on the wrong setting, because some of them turned out great, but others, not so great. Or it may have been user error (whenever I took the pictures, they generally turned out fine, the ones that are blurry tend to be when I asked random people to take a picture of me). I didn't play around with the settings at night too much mostly because I had a DSLR camera with me that I used in those conditions. I did take a lot of sunset pictures that turned out great on this camera. But once the sun was down....not so much. Also, I went for a night dive with this camera, the underwater camera is useless at night because the flash captures particles in the water and with no flash it's too blurry. However, the underwater video recorder worked great at night.

Overall, this is a great camera for it's price. The camera performs well under most conditions. I lugged it around on a dusty six mile hike, underwater, running, and everything else you can imagine. The camera is easy to wash off, waterproof and has a FANTASTIC macro ability that I have never seen on a point and shoot camera before. If you are expecting this to be a DSLR, remember that this is a POINT AND SHOOT camera. Even so, some of the pictures rivaled my DSLR camera. I highly recommend this camera.

By qbc1899 on June 26, 2011

2) Very entertaining WG-1 - Check out my updating youtube videos. I am user: "PentaxWG1" The good the bad the ugly. The over all feel of this camera is strong and gripable. I love having metal and rubber on my electronics. I have dropped this camera. It was on my lap in the jeep and there was a hornet. I jumped out and it threw to the ground. No problems. The removable circle around the lens (macro stand) has threads. They are 46mm and can screw on filters and caps. I got a cap, uv filter, polorized filter, and flourecent filter on e-bay for $6. So other than the sony TX10, this is the only camera that can protect the lens. Can't wait to buy a telescopic lens. My camera has been underwater about 15 ft. I've seen no problems with leaking. It has two openeings; one for battery and sd card, and one for hd/av hook-up. Both seem strong and sturdy to me. Battery cover does move ever so slightly but seems fine. Ok, thats the construction. As you have already heard, the macro/super macro is awesome. If you can get your specimen to sit still, you can get some pretty great material. The movie macro is even pretty cool, but you have to stay at a consistant focal length or it gets blury. I recorded a wolf spider in pitch black and the l.e.d. lights around the lens made it look like a monster movie! One bad thing about the macro is that when set straight down on the subject it will focus and take the picture on something as flat as a leaf or picture.... if it protrudes as much as a dime width or more it won't stay focused. But when I pulled back just a hair the dime did look awsome. N-E-Wayz, It seems the closer you are to the subject with this camera the better it looks. A closer shot of two people, shoulders and up, look really good. But further away not so much. pictures of groups of people (full body) or the shot of a pond or a... cow...I say the camera is about par. Not bad but not great. I have tried the cybershot TX10 and if you strictly want waterproof picture quality go that way or panasonic. TX10 was beautiful but not as fun. Back to the WG-1. With par pics I do feel the camera is more consistant than its predesessor w90. Better with stand, free hand not as good..but always the same. Never a crappy picture out of nowhere. I also feel it does much better in lower light than the w90. It gets noisey but I was getting decent lighted shots (no flash) in areas that where very dim to the naked eye. The l.e.d. lights are handy, too. Optical zoom works pretty well for pictures. You'll want a steady hand or stand if zoomed all the way in. Digital zoom sucks. The panorama is not sweep. You take 3 pics and line them up, then the camera stitches them. Not as convinient as the TX10 but it looks good and you can do tricks...As for underwater. Pictures and video where pretty darn good. Anti shake or wudever made it pretty smooth. With video underwater or above the zoom works but it doesn't refocus very well. But over all regular video was better than I expected. Once again when things are close it seems very virbrant. I got about a foot from a cow's face and the fur on his head got very HiDef-ish. Battery life....sucks, but I got and extra generic one when I ordered mine for 6 bucks. Over-all I really love this camera. I've been totally entertained for 2 days and havn't even gotten to time lapse phtography yet. Although I do think of the pic quality of the TX10 now and then. I would have been bored with that camera after one dip in the lake. I can get a 10 mp zoom camera for less than a hundred and fill in anywhere the wg-1 lack.

By Dustin Geurts on April 20, 2011

Additional Accessories

DSTE® 2x D-Li109 Replacement Li-ion Battery for Pentax K-R K-30 K-50 K-500 KR K30 K50 K500 K-S1 K-S2 K-70 K-1 Camera

Samsung NX2000 20.3MP CMOS Smart WiFi Mirrorless Digital Camera with 20-50mm Lens and 3.7" Touch Screen LCD (White) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

With the Samsung SMART CAMERA NX2000 you’re telling stories, not just taking pictures. Its ultra-sensitive 20.3MP APS-C CMOS Sensor allows you to create images full of detail with colors that fire up the imagination. The spacious 3.7” (93.8mm) WVGA touch screen gives you plenty of room to hone your craftsmanship, and variety of Smart Modes and manual controls make it ideal for photography enthusiasts like you.


FEATURE :

• 20.3MP CMOS Sensor.
• SMART features - Social Media Upload, E-mail, Direct Link, Mobile Link, PC Auto-backup, Remote Viewfinder, All share, Cloud Service.
• Hybrid Autofocus System.

SOME OF THE SAMPLE CUSTOMER REVIEW FROM AMAZON :

1) A very good mirrorless DSLR like compact camera - I have tested my new Samsung NX2000 for 2 weeks and its overall performance and picture quality is not bad, actually very good. I was shopping a DSLR like mirrorless compact camera that provide light weight, changeable lens and good picture quality camera. I have two choices either Sony NEX5T (just released this month) or the Samsung NX2000. Believe me, you won't find too much reviews and details info on the website because both cameras are new. Some info and spec I found on line actually was incorrect and the reviewers did not really done a hand on review. Most of them were just review the camera spec sheet and criticize its good and bad. I concluded Sony NEX5T is a better mirror less camera than NX2000 but its price tag still consider steep when adding up the optional lens, accessory flashlight. It will cost more than a grand. If budget is also a factor of consideration, the NX2000 can fit in perfectly. The NX bundle lens kit cost less than $800.

So far the operation and picture quality of the NX2000 are pretty good. Its APS-C sensor definitely can react to more lights. The high ISO performance is very good below 6400 without noise. It is still tolerable if higher than 6400. The noise reduction from this camera is very good. The contrast AF is not bad, believe me it is not fast but really not bad. The 8fps continue shoot was surprising fast and perfect for motion sport. 20-50mm kit lens without image stabilization performs pretty well and the 50-200mm zoom lens with OIS is excellent.
Pro:
Price fits budget buyer who wants good quality picture and changeable lens compact camera.
Easy and clear in camera menu and touch screen with less button (I consider less button is a pro but some user don't)
Fast 8fps continue shooting with high accuracy to catch the perfect moment.
Big APS-C sensor gives better quality pictures. Combines with the high ISO low noise reduction, this camera can shoot without flash.
Many optional Samsung lens to choose ( I prefer buying the 16mm wide angle lens too)
Con:
Contrast AF not Phase detection (the speed is still acceptable to me)
No optional EVF, it is very difficult to see the screen under sun light. Samsung, how can we take a good photo under the sun light when the LCD screen is totally invisible by the reflection. I think Samsung needs to consider an option EVF that can be attached to the hot shoe like Sony did on the NEX.
Battery life is also unacceptable. I highly suggest purchase 2 or 4 for back up and you need a aftermarket wall charger.

Update Oct 1 2013: After continue usage of this camera, I found out the LCD screen under the bright sun light is really a problem. Although I can adjust the LCD brighter to make it easier to see, it will drain the battery faster. Samsung really needs to make an optional EVF to attach it on the hotshoe as soon as possible. I don't mind to spend couple hundreds to buy an optional EVF for this camera but seems Samsung is not listening to the feedback of the consumers. No tilting LCD panel + no optional EVF made the outdoor bright light shooting not too much fun.

Update Dec 4 2014: When I keep using this camera everyday on street, indoor, outdoor sport and car show, this camera continues give me the good quality result. I have no idea why some people gave one or two stars on the review. Some said the price on Amazon is more expensive than Costco then gave one star to the product. It seems it is not fair to this product. Some complained the auto focus is slow, I know this camera doesn't have a super fast AF focus with phase detection, but the speed is not too bad at all. The point & shot cameras are no way to compare. Remember this camera is not P&S, it is a DSLR like mirrorless camera. If you don't know how to use the M,A,S,P mode and its setting, you either don't buy this camera or go to take a photography lesson. Because I am sure if you can't take good pictures with this camera, it is either your skill or haven't learned the full function of this camera.

By cutie19 on September 23, 2013

2) Samsung NX2000 20.3MP - I started with a Minolta SLR back in the early 70's, graduated to a Nikon SLR and a complete dark room. Did a lot of neat stuff "push-processing" film to increase the speed, then to color. Last 8 - 10 years a lot of digital gear, printing software and that was huge in terms of flexibility.

The Samsung NX2000 has exceeded my expectations, which is loaded with features you might expect to pay a much higher price for a much larger and heavier body. Some basic software (included in this purchase) and I was off and running. Very user friendly. 20 to 30 minutes with the manual and I was uploading to my iPad, Facebook and into files for storage. 15 year old grandson was able to do same with this camera.
Can not say enough about how user friendly this camera is.

By Paul R. (roadblock) on January 3, 2014

Additional Accessories

Must Have Accessory Kit For Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX200V, DSC-TF1, DSC-TX30 Waterproof Digital Camera Includes Replacement NP-BN1 Battery + Ac/Dc Charger + Micro HDMI Cable + Float Strap + Case + More

Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 16.3MP CMOS with 21x Optical Zoom and 4.8" Touch Screen LCD (WiFi and NFC- White) (Certified Refurbished)

The white Samsung GC200 Galaxy Camera 2 is a Wi-Fi enabled 16.3 megapixel digital camera that runs the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system. This provides the ability to utilize Android apps available through Google Play. The camera also features a 21x optical zoom f/2.8-5.9 lens with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 23-483mm and optical image stabilization The Galaxy Camera 2 also has the ability to capture full HD 1920 x 1080 video at up to 30 frames per second with a variety of effects. All of this processing is handled by a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. This allows the camera to run apps and process images smoothly. For changing settings and shooting there is a 4.8" Super Clear Touch LCD screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720. This gives it a similar interface to those commonly found on smartphones, ideal for working with the Android operating system and running applications. This information is stored within the 8GB of internal memory, which is capable of being expanded up to 64GB with the use of a microSDXC card. Taking pictures can be supplemented by the use of a built-in pop-up Xenon flash. This features numerous red-eye reduction and automatic firing modes for the best shot in any condition. Additionally, this camera has a wide range of connectivity features, including Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and NFC for ensuring fast and secure connections to your other devices.


FEATURE :

• This Certified Refurbished product is tested and certified to look and work like new. The product ships with all relevant accessories, a minimum 90-day warranty. Only select sellers who maintain a high performance bar may offer Certified Refurbished products on Amazon.com
• Wi-Fi with Android 4.3 (Jellybean) for access to Apps and sharing on the go.
• SMART features - Social Media Upload, E-mail, Photo beam, Direct Link, Mobile Link, PC Auto-backup, Remote Viewfinder, All Share.
• 4.8" HD Super Clear Display - Huge Screen for crisp and beautiful previews and playback.
• 21x Optical Zoom for great shots up front or from a distance 1080p HD Video.

Additional Accessories

rooCASE EVA Hard Shell (Black) Carrying Case with Memory Foam for Samsung ST700 DualView Digital Camera

Lytro Light Field Camera, 16GB, Red Hot

The Lytro camera is the first consumer camera that records the entire light field-all the rays of light traveling in every direction through a scene-instead of a flat 2D image. Shoot first, focus later By capturing the light field, you can do incredible things. Like refocus pictures after you take them. This also means that the Lytro camera has no autofocus-and none of the shutter delay that comes with it. Do more than tell a story. Recreate it. Refocus to discover new elements within the scene and move the picture in any direction to change your point of view with Perspective Shift. Use Living Filters to create a unique look. Now every picture you take is a chance to tell a new kind of story. Grip Made from precision-tooled silicone, the grip is easy to hold. Shutter Button The Lytro camera has no auto-focus - and none of the shutter delay that comes with it. Lens An 8x optical zoom lens with a constant f/2 aperture offers a wide range of creative shots. Touchscreen You control most of the camera functions with a tap or a swipe. And the backlit display lets you compose, review, and refocus your pictures. Light field sensor We joined a micro-lens array to a digital image sensor to capture the color, intensity, and direction of light entering the camera - 11 million light rays to be precise. Light field engine The light field engine processes the light rays captured by the sensor, so you can view pictures on the screen and refocus them with a tap. Battery Long-life Li-Ion internal battery lets you continue shooting without having to stop for a charge. Shop Amazon - Hot New Releases in Camera & Photo


FEATURE :

• 16GB storage captures 750 living pictures.
• 8x optical zoom lens with constant f/2 aperture offers a wide range of creative shots.
• Unique micro-lens array with digital image sensor captures the color, intensity, and direction of light entering the camera.
• Light field engine processes the four-dimensional data captured by the sensor, so you can view it on the screen and refocus with a tap.
• 1.52" back-lit LCD glass touchscreen display allows you to control most of the camera functions with a tap or a swipe.

SOME OF THE SAMPLE CUSTOMER REVIEW FROM AMAZON :

1) A great new photo technology, but not for everyone! So do your research! - I've owned a Lytro for about 5-6 months now, after eagerly pre-ordering it last October. I am big into taking pictures of my 2 kids (4 and 6) and am starting to do more photos of insects, birds, nature stuff I notice... I am not anywhere near a "professional" photographer, or even a very proficient. I take a lof of pictures with Canon sx230HS, but I got very impressed with the new opportunities when I read about LYTRO technology. The ability to refocus, hence have "multiple pictures in one", the possibility to unlock new possibilities with the future software releases (like 3D, "allinfocus"), as well as adding functionality to the camera with firmware updates, like just added manual settings mode - the technology seemed very exciting. This is something that has never been done before.

I do get frustrated sometimes with the light glare on the LCD, and the inability to really evaluate the images on the camera due to the small LCD. Also the processing time required on a PC can be annoying at times... but this is a new way of thinking and an opportunity to be a part of something groundbreaking.
The quality of pictures, as compared to digital photography of even point-and-shoot cameras, is certainly not there, as you can only get a static image of 1080x1080.. but that is NOT the point of LYTRO.. The point of it is to "tell a story in a different way". Once you get over that and actually think in the way Lytro enables you too, the fact that the images can be shared only through Lytro's website (which you get access to, and storage on, when you get the camera), as well as the "insufficient" megapixels, and noticeable grain in the images when lighting is not perfect... that all dissolves when you adjust your thinking - but only then. It's really not even about the initial "wow" effect of the abilities of the camera.. it's more about the "image revolution" that this device may create in the photography world.
I am actually learning about photography and becoming more interested in it because of this camera.
Being able to take part in few Beta evaluations for Lytro was quite an experience as well.. and simply keeps showing me that comparing it to, or attempting to replace a current camera with this one, is not the goal here.. Which seems to confuse a lot of users who were considering or even ordered the camera and then decided to return it due to image quality or just not meeting their expectations...
Also realize you HAVE to have a MAC with certain level of OS or a Windows7 64bit PC to use the software. The memory is not expandable, the battery not replaceable... cannot attach filters and lenses "as is". There are more and more accessories, like a tripod mount, wall charger, people have made "LED lights" for it... so the market "around it" is growing.
So make sure and look through Lytro's web site - support forums, knowledge articles, how tos, galleries, whether Lytro is right for you! But, if you decide you want to try it, you will probably not be disappointed. If however the photo size and the quality are huge for you - hold off till the future hardware releases - in case they do manage to put a larger CCD in there and add other hardware improvements.
Definitely DO NOT buy it blindly only reading the Amazon description and specs.. that will not give you the full picture of what you are getting and may skewed your expectations big time!
Oh, and if you get it, prepare for a relatively high learning curve.. that goes for the way of thinking even more than the actual skill to use the camera in a "technical" sense of the world... although, that is a part of it too ;)
I hope this review is helpful to you, and that if you do get the camera - you will enjoy it!
Happy decision making and have fun if you get it!

By Grzegorz Tokarski on October 10, 2012

2) Amazing, but with one small problem - When I read about the Lytro its coolness factor made it a "must have" addition to my hobbiest photo bag. As another reviewer pointed out, when you point this red rectangle at subjects in public you attract attention. The non-photographers glaze over quickly -- it's often difficult to see the refocusing effect on the viewfinder, and they just don't get it. But I've also heard "you mean the light field camera exists? I thought it was just theory!" and "you've got one! Can I see it?"

The Lytro is not an easy camera to be successful with. Go skim the public gallery at [...] and be amazed at the depth-of-field tricks. Then try to duplicate those fantastic images. Keep trying. Try different subjects. As someone else said, you have to change your composition thought process for this camera. You have to look at everything, and look for contrasts. My impulse is to shoot rows of similar things -- a row of terra cotta warrior statues, a bush covered in flowers. But many of the more striking images are of contrast -- the thing in the foreground provides commentary on the surprising thing in the distance, once you refocus. That kind of composition is much harder. Also, what about the lighting conditions? When it's bright, the Lytro can capture everything in sharp focus at once -- at least that's my experience.

Originally in this review I had said that you can't export your images to a common, "flat" format. It turns out you can: In the desktop software (not on the Lytro web site), pick a focal point in an image, return to the library view, and right click to select Export JPG. Unfortunately, the resulting image is not very big -- about 3.5 x 3.5 inches at 300 dpi. You won't be able to make a big, beautiful print to frame. But it's suitable for social media and email.

So what's the problem? You're going to lose the lens cap. It's this totally cool magnetized rubber square that falls off at the slightest nudge. An A+ for sleek design. An F for utility. Check the support forums -- you'll see that so many early buyers complained of this, Lytro sent out free replacements. Lytro says they'll do a redesign, but we early buyers can try a piece of duct tape along the bottom edge of the cap folded onto the camera. Then it can flap down for shooting. Effective, if ugly. Or put a lens cap leash on it (and use some extra strong glue, because the stick-um comes detached from the rubber).

That negativity out of the way, I'll conclude that I love this thing for making me look at things differently. It's always with me, even when I leave the big Nikon behind.

By S. M. McCroskey on October 26, 2012

Additional Accessories

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 III High Grade Multi-Coated, Multi-Threaded, 3 Piece Lens Filter Kit (72mm) Made By Optics + Nw Direct Microfiber Cleaning Cloth.

LYTRO ILLUM 40 Megaray Light Field Camera with Constant F/2.0, 8X Optical Zoom, and 4" Touchscreen LCD

Lytro Illum Light Field camera

Introducing Lytro Illum, the first high-end camera that harnesses the power of light field – capturing the direction, color and brightness of the rays of light within the frame. That means the ability to explore your pictures from different perspectives, focal points and dimensions. A new era of photography has arrived. Now, with Lytro Illum, nothing stands in your way from telling a deeper story by truly capturing life in a different light.

Product highlights

Ground-breaking lens design, Constant f/2.0 aperture, Full touch screen, Light custom design.

Sensor

Lytro Illum’s 40 Megaray customized sensor, with Lytro’s patented microlens array technology, unlocks the ability to capture the color, intensity and direction of the light rays flowing into the camera. This allows you to create imagery on a truly experiential canvas. By capturing and harnessing the power of light field, photographers can portray not just a cross-section of reality, but an authentic, interactive window into their world.

Light field engine 2.0

Bigger pictures, faster processing

Lytro Illum’s powerful in-camera software provides real-time feedback allowing for dramatic composition of every shot. With tablet-class processing power, Lytro Illum gives you an advanced set of playback controls that allow you to preview the dimensions of every picture right on the camera.

Perfect balance of tactile controls and touch interface

With a sleek design, Lytro Illum pairs the controls of a high-end camera with a state-of-the-art 4 inches touchscreen for ultimate flexibility and control. Now, you can compose your living pictures with confidence and explore their possibilities in real time.

Lytro Button

Compose your pictures in a new way with the Lytro Button

During image capture, an interactive depth feedback display shows the relative focus of all objects in the frame, allowing composition in three dimensions. A real-time, color-coded overlay of the live view lets you know which elements of the picture are within the refocusable range.

8x optical zoom lens

All you need in just one lens – Killer Macro to Fast Zoom at 250mm

The incredibly versatile 8x optical zoom 30-250mm equivalent focal length with a constant f/2.0 aperture and 1:3 macro lets you take a wide range of shots without ever having to change your lens. And, with its unrivaled lens weighing in at just half a pound, Lytro Illum gives you precise photographic control with an exceptionally light and agile design.

Key connectivity ports

Connectivity

The camera has key connectivity ports for photographers to bring Lytro Illum into their workflow: WiFi, external shutter release port, hot shoe, tripod mount, removable battery and SD card slot.

Lytro desktop tools

Edit, adjust and author your pictures with Lytro desktop tools

Lytro desktop tools offer features including zooming, changing the focus, depth of field and perspective after the picture has already been taken. The Lytro desktop tools also give you the ability to transform pictures into dynamic animations that can be experienced on desktop, mobile devices and in 3D.

FEATURE :

• Sensor: Capture a deeper picture. LYTRO ILLUM's 40 Mega ray customized sensor, with Lytro's patented micro lens array technology, unlocks the ability to capture the color, intensity and direction of the light rays flowing into the camera.
• Lens: All you need in just one lens. The incredibly versatile 8x optical zoom, 30-250mm equivalent focal length (35 mm equivalent) with a constant f/2 aperture and 1:3 macro lets you take a wide range of shots without ever having to change your lens.
• Lytro Button: Compose your pictures in a new way. During image capture, an interactive depth feedback display shows the relative focus of all objects in the frame, allowing composition in three dimensions.
• Light Field Engine 2.0: Bigger pictures, faster processing. LYTRO ILLUM's powerful in-camera software provides real-time feedback allowing for dramatic composition of every shot.
• Total Control: Perfect balance of tactile controls and touch interface. With a sleek design, LYTRO ILLUM pairs the controls of a high-end camera with a state-of-the-art 4" touchscreen for ultimate flexibility and control.

SOME OF THE SAMPLE CUSTOMER REVIEW FROM AMAZON :

1) Brave New World - Short Version:

This is an amazing device that opens a window into a new way to think about photographs. Due to "old dog/new tricks" issues, this window is still pretty hazy for me right now, but I can see wonderful things over on the other side.

The equipment is well built, sturdy, has a great lens system, and absolutely works as advertised.

The three bad things are:

1) The final, effective, what-you-end-up-with-in-the-end resolution of images in 2D is not anything like what I'm used to. On the other hand, for me to compare resolution from such a young technology like this to images taken with $20k worth of a equipment developed over 20 years that includes a 500 mm lens, instant autofocus, taking 12 frames a second with a 30 megapixel full frame sensor, seems a bit unfair. I'm told by Lytro that the camera has a "4MB max output resolution", which is probably about what the old exposed film images of yesteryear had. Since there are some really great images from the pre-digital age, this tells me that the problem is not the camera, but the skill of the photographer.

2) There are several small technical glitches in the camera, software, and website that are a tad annoying but don't affect the actual camera operation. When you think about the number of completely new areas this camera system had to pioneer, the number and level of problems seems small. In a twisted way for me this turns around into a plus because every time I ask a question or point out a problem, a nice young man named Adam at Lytro carefully studies what I say, reproduces the problem, speaks to some geeks in the back room, then comes back to me with the solution/resolution they have worked out and an estimate of when they will be able to implement the change. That is absolutely unprecedented in my experience in purchasing cutting edge photographic equipment over many years.

3) If you purchase this camera you may very well come to understand as I have that what you think you know about photography has been a drop in the bucket as to what can be done. I learned that for the DSLR equipment I am used to, there was an amount of money I could spend to make me a passable photographer. I need to pick up my game significantly in terms of composition and color to be able to use this camera instead of relying on fancy equipment to make my images look good.

Full disclosure : This review replaces one I submitted last week that gave the camera 2 stars and whined about the resolution because my hobby is high resolution wildlife photography. I have since come to understand that this camera is not designed to compete in that arena.

Since my initial review I have taken some amazing images that would not make any sense with normal 2D equipment. I set up a shower pointing towards the camera, flowing in the bright sunlight with the stream falling just in front of the lens. The images allow you to change the focus back and forth through the stream to see individual drops at different distances from the camera. Taking an image like that using a normal 2D camera would be silly because whatever focus point you chose when you released the shutter would be clear, but everything else would be a blur. If you set the F-Stop for the depth of field to include the entire range of the stream, you would lose the concept of volume.

I also took some pictures of our dog swimming at the beach where you can change the F-Stop after the picture is taken change the depth of field to either include or blur out the waves behind him. In the past, I would have to take a picture, change the F-Stop to estimate a depth of field I might like later, then take another picture. The fact that I have never done that tells me that I've been too lazy to take the time to make those kinds of adjustments, then learn from the results later on. What I found with the Illum is that I like several different depth of field solutions for a single image, each for a different reason.

I'm changing my rating all the way up to 4 stars because this camera is exactly what it claims to be. I can see that this is a brave new world I'm anxious to learn, and in my mind this camera is the start of a new direction for photography.

By Hank Arnold on August 31, 2014

2) I use the Lytro Illum for shooting NFL games. - Before you read this review or decide to get the camera you should download the free iOS LYTRO app. That's by far the best way to view the photos are really give a glimpse to the potential of this photography. Now most of us don't take pictures for only ourselves to see, so think about who's going to be viewing your pics. Also the interactive refocusing and perspective shift of this camera is the real draw.

For myself I'm a Producer at a TV station and have a background in documentaries. Over the past few months I've been posting the photos(mostly NFL games) to the site of my television station and my blog on Huffington Post. In general the response has been very positive. People can see the pics on our website and it's content that we can give our viewers that's completely different from the competition.

I started shooting on film when I was in the seventh grade. Back then photography was chemical baths and dark rooms and not too many other students were in the class, well stuck with it for so long by high school it was just me three other students and a volunteer parent. It was quiet and the there were not too many of us. Now everyone w/ a cell phone is a photographer and most people have an DSLR. Which is great! I love all the photographs being shot now. They are absolutely beautiful. The problem I've been facing is when everyone is shooting on the same EOS camera, how can you make yourself unique as a photographer? That's why I really love this camera. It's completely unique and allows me to take photos that no one else can take. Also the camera is very stable. The flexible screen is really nice especially when getting low angle shots.

There is a Robert Capa quote "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough" and that's certainly true for this camera for portraits. Getting close to objects can really help your photos. The lens is pretty crazy, you can almost put something up to the lens and it can still be in the refocus area. Also getting close to an object allows you to get some more depth in your shot. This camera has a refocus range, so if you make the right adjustments you'll be able to refocus across an area. The more depth you frame in your shots, the better. When I frame shots, I really strive to tell a story. So when someone is looking around the photo they see something new that the might not expect. Composition is everything, it really takes the skill back to the photographer. For sports, I usually keep it fully zoomed in at 250mm.

The Lytro Illum hasn't replaced my Canon, C300, GoPro, iPhone and whatever other camera I might use for work. This camera works best when shooting people or really cute animals(moderately cute animals or children might also be acciptable). I find that people in costumes like Comic Con work great. I've used it to shoot sports and the results are amazing, but the timing can be a little tricky. Landscape photography and photos that might not have a lot of depth don't really utilize the cameras strengths. Also framing is incredibly important for this camera. With most DSLR's you can slam out the depth of field and the pic still looks good. With the Illum, people are able to refocus on that background object. So if you have an ugly sign in the background, the person will be able to refocus on it.

Now if you are only looking at this camera because you read a headline that said something like "never take a picture out of focus again" or something like that and your intention is just to flatten the images to a TIFF. This camera might not be for you. Most pros don't take pics out of focus anyway, we're pros for gosh darn goodness sakes! Nikon, Sony and Cannons auto-focus systems are so fast and advanced now, you'd be better going with one of them. I've seen some 11x15's printed out with the camera and they look pretty good, it is possible to print out the images you shoot. But like the auto-focus, if your only goal is to make prints, you'd be better suited with another camera.

One thing I've found is you really need a fast SD card, the pics just have a ton of info at 50mbs. Make sure you get at minimum a 95mbs card. Also the screen will go black for a split second after taking a shot. This gets really tricky when following action. I've found that using the continuous shot feature helps.

Right now I put the photos through my Mac 8core, 16 gigs of ram. Each pic will take a few seconds to process once they are in the tower, so i usually just let them sit over night. If I'm on deadline I only select the pics I know I want to take more of a look at. It is possible to process them through Photoshop but the process takes a few extra minutes for the turn around. I'm finding doing a batch process is best. Also you can export and play with a depth map, this concept is completely new to me and I'm just learning it. The cool thing when playing with the depth map is you could add a graphic or logo at a certain depth then people can refocus on that! A larger solid object works best, but it's really cool when you see it. I took a shot of a player then I put his stats in the background where you can refocus on them. Looks cool when you see it.

So this camera won't replace any of my current cameras. However my GoPro didn't replace my Canon. Two different cameras that I use for different situations. The price is a big hurdle and you should really think about what you are using the camera for before buying one. It works well for me as a journalist for event coverage. After shooting with the Illum for a few months, I absolutely believe this is where digital photography will end up. How long it takes for everyone to adopt it the format, is difficult to answer.

As a photographer this camera allows me to capture images many other people aren't able to. Which gives me a competitive edge and it is why I find it a great tool. Thanks for reading!

By Michael E. Sternoff on October 3, 2014