A camera with all lenses: is this possible one day?

[raid]

I was wondering last evening about technlogical advanvces, and as I was explaining to a friend about the different signatures lenses often have, it occured to me that a real wonder would be to have a digital camera that has built-in programs to digitally approach the properties of certain classic lenses.

A standard lens is used that transmits all details to some sensor and then the user can dial in, say, "Elmar 50/3.5 pre-war", and the camera would already have a program in its data bank with information on digitally changing the information to be similar to an image from the Elmar 50/3.5 pre-war.

Along this line, programs can be bought for many different types of lenses from any manufacturer. You could dial in "Zeiss Sonnar" one day and then dial in "Leitz Summicron Version 2" the next day.

Is this dream a possibility one day?


Raid

 

[FrankS]

Photoshop almost does it all already. Certainly it would be easier to write software plug-ins of this nature than to build a digital camera around that principle. Good idea though!

 

[Spyderman]

Considering contrast - it is possible. But you would have to dial in also The film and developer you want to emulate. 😀

Other thing is that lenses can have very different bokeh. And this isn't easily emulated...

But who knows, maybe one day this will be possible. But I'm affraid that you would have to pay for the programs the same money you are paying for real lenses 😀

 

[FrankS]

Raid's idea can only really happen when we stop using glass lenses to focus light rays onto film or CCD. If we can ever use something variable like electrostatic fields to focus light, then there may be a pre-war Elmar @f3.5 setting.

 

[ywenz]

This already exist today, in a lab. Shouldn't be too hard to implement for the consumer market if the technology comes down in price..

http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/lfcamera/

 

[raid]

It's just a thought I had. There would be no need to carry more than one lens. Maybe I think "too much". When I was in middle school, I was the best student in class in writing imaginary fiction.

Raid

 

[venchka]

I want the Kodachrome II plug in for PhotoShop! 😀

 

[JeremyR]

This already exist today, in a lab. Shouldn't be too hard to implement for the consumer market if the technology comes down in price..

http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/lfcamera/

Ahh yes, the plenoptic camera. If anything were to have the ability simulate the "look and feel" of various lenses, this would be it. That, and a heck of a lot of clever post-processing software. 🙂

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

[PhotoJim]

If you want a picture to look like you shot with a 1946 Summarit on Fuji Velvia, why not just shoot a picture with a 1946 Summarit on Fuji Velvia? Far more fun!

I don't see the point in making fake perforations to make a digital image look like it's full-frame 35mm. If you want someone to think it's 35mm, starting with 35mm might be a good thing. 🙂

 

[methinks]

I want the Kodachrome II plug in for PhotoShop! 😀

The Alien Skin Exposure plugin is a great plugin for emulating certain film types... attached is an example of Kodachrome 64 (apparently, I've never used it so don't have 1st hand experience with it!). I like ASE for playing around sometimes making digital images look like old 60s/70s film (especially period motorsport ones like the attached example!) but I totally agree with PhotoJim. Some people argue that they want as perfect an image to start with and then add what they want in later on, but I feel grain/colours/saturation etc is all part of the image in the first place, so I don't like the idea of chopping and changing later on. If I have pushed HP5 in my camera I await the grain with pleasure, not grumbling that the shots would be better completely clean 🙄

 

[rvaubel]

Anything 3d like bokeh, non-planar focal plane, center vs non-center behavior (like in a Sonnar)could not be accurately simulated digitally, unless a Stereo camera would be the base.

Roland.

Roland

Yah, but what do you know!🙄


Thanks for coffee,
Rex

 

[blakley]

Anything 3d like bokeh, non-planar focal plane, center vs non-center behavior (like in a Sonnar)could not be accurately simulated digitally

This isn't true. With ray tracing you could simulate aperture, lens elements, and essentially every other characteristic we discuss. But it wouldn't be simple.

 

[raid]

That's what I thought when I was thinking through the idea. It's not the same as using PS to change the images. You could in the middle of a roll at some location decide which lens [character] to use and just dial it in. You could also try out different "lenses" as you are observing a scene and then choose one.

Raid

 

[rvaubel]

A CAMERA WITH ONE LENS. iS IT POSSIBLE?

A CAMERA WITH ONE LENS. iS IT POSSIBLE?

Even if it is possible, why would you want to? I would assume that most of us are hardware freaks, some more than others, but none-the-less , Gearheads.

What if you could take perfectly wonderful pictures with a camera that was made out of cardboard and only lasted for a day and cost a dime. Would you be a happier photographer?

I knew my degree in Philosophy would come in handy someday

Rex
U.C. Berkeley,
class of 68

 

[venchka]

I want the Kodachrome II plug in for PhotoShop! 😀

Somebody was reading my mind!

Digital Film

OK, so why not add this software in a digital camera? Or use the same kind of plug in cards that Garmin, etc. use for different base maps on their GPS units? Huh?

 

[jaapv]

I'm not opposed to new techniques, as anybody will testify, but that would be the day I would take up oil painting instead of photographing. YUK!