Light L16 and the rise of computational photography

Review comparing the Light L16 to the Leica M10 and iPhone X

Review comparing the Light L16 to the Leica M10 and iPhone X

This is a new review comparing the Light L16 to the Leica M10 and the iPhone X.

What the Light L16 does well, it does VERY well. High Resolution images with good lighting are stunning.

The workflow is horrendous at this point. The proprietary LRI file is about 250MB and converting this to a DNG creates another 250MB file. So a single image has about 500MB of data. You need to use the Lumen SW to process the LRI file but you often need to do additional processing with Lightroom or another photo application.

The size and weight of the L16 is very good. It is a very interesting new type of camera, but not ready for everyone.

The review is here.
 
rhyman007 said:
This is a new review comparing the Light L16 to the Leica M10 and the iPhone X.

What the Light L16 does well, it does VERY well. High Resolution images with good lighting are stunning.

The workflow is horrendous at this point. The proprietary LRI file is about 250MB and converting this to a DNG creates another 250MB file. So a single image has about 500MB of data. You need to use the Lumen SW to process the LRI file but you often need to do additional processing with Lightroom or another photo application.

The size and weight of the L16 is very good. It is a very interesting new type of camera, but not ready for everyone.

The review is here.
Click to expand...

I'm back at home now: I'll start playing with the L16 within a couple of days. :)

You are writing as if you owned an L16 and were working the processing. But you're really just summing up what someone else wrote and adding your opinion on top of theirs without even touching the camera. I don't find that particularly informative other than what it says about you?

For instance: What is so "horrendous" about a proprietary data format that requires special processing for a completely new kind of photographic instrument? or about 500MB for raw data for your image files? There's nothing unusual about that when it comes to the innovation edge in digital imaging. I remember when my work was processing synthetic aperture radar images ... the original digital data set was 650 Mbytes (vast, vast amounts of data in 1984) and after nine hours of processing (each) through seventeen custom applications the results were 1024x1024 8-bit image files that could be printed or used for analytic techniques.

Actual data from my experience: The LRI file is the output of 10 of the 16 cameras. In the quick testing I did before I left on holiday, these average about 170 to 190 Mbytes apiece.

The LRIS file is the accumulated parametric editing instructions for the LRI file generated by Lumen, the L16 image processing app; it tends to be 40-55 Mbytes in size. If you're happy with the results right there, you can output a 50Mpixel JPEG file that's about 20 Mbytes in size. If you want to do further editing in Lightroom or the other raw editor of your choice, the two images I outputted to DNG format were 325 Mbytes in size each.

Lumen works remarkably well for an app that is still a beta release ... I had no problems using it even for the very first time. The L16 also works remarkably well for a first product with beta firmware... it behaves as its documentation suggests it ought to, the controls are really quite nice, it feels nice in the hand, and the controls are surprisingly ergonomic. My one finished image with it I transferred to Lumen, edited and output to DNG, then finished in Lightroom, all in about ten minutes of learning, using the camera and software for the first time. I found it fairly pleasing, given that it's a selfie of me and I'm not the greatest subject for a portrait... :D

I'm sure there are glitches and issues to be discovered. I didn't take the L16 on my trip, I took my Leica M-D and my iPhone/iPad, because I didn't want to spend my holiday trip trying to figure out a new camera. I don't think the L16 replaces either my iPhone/iPad or the Leica M. But there are things that it will enable, with less size and weight to carry, that will make it a very interesting proposition to carry in the future.

Yes, it will consume some storage space when I use it. A four Terabyte bare drive is running about $150 these days ... If we conservatively say that a full suite of LRI+LRIS+DNG+JPG output from the camera nets about three-quarters of a Gigabyte of data, that's storage for about 6000 of those images. I don't consider that to be "horrendous" at all; it's a lot of data but represents images that have a 50Mpixel resolution and unique image processing capabilities that neither of my M or iPhone images can support.

G
 
Godfrey said:
You are writing as if you owned an L16 and were working the processing. But you're really just summing up what someone else wrote and adding your opinion on top of theirs without even touching the camera. I don't find that particularly informative other than what it says about you?
Click to expand...

Are we reading the same review? The review linked to seems to be from somebody who has owned the L16 for more than a month and has taken lots of photos with it—it's a pretty informative piece, actually.

Seems like a really interesting device that could be very powerful once the software's fully cooked.
 
mabelsound said:
Are we reading the same review? The review linked to seems to be from somebody who has owned the L16 for more than a month and has taken lots of photos with it—it's a pretty informative piece, actually.

Seems like a really interesting device that could be very powerful once the software's fully cooked.
Click to expand...

But unless rhyman007 is the author, he's not the one who has these experiences. I didn't see an author's name listed when I read it, but I see that there's a Rick Hyman who is responding to comments as if he were the author... If he is the same person, then scratch that one of my comments. His post here about it might have more clearly said, "I've written a new review on the L16. ..." rather than "there is a new review of the L16" as if it was someone else's commentary. My other comments remain.

I agree the article is interesting, didn't say it wasn't. But I'll reserve judgement on the L16 for when I use the camera some more and have formed my own opinions. So far, my experience with it has been positive ... but then I don't tend to be constantly comparing my cameras to each other. I buy them because of their differences, not because of their similarities.

G
 
I've been ill since I arrived home, but I've spent some time playing with the L16 and becoming accustomed to its capabilities and foibles. The fact that both the firmware and the dedicated processing app are both beta quality, at best, does get in the way, but then again I've found it to make some very interesting photos.

The file sizes don't bug me at all: I have multiple terabytes of unused data space and I'm not about to go shooting a bazillion photos with the L16 ... It's not a very fast camera, but it is indeed very handy for some kinds of photography.

Indoors, I've found some excellent results by tripod-mounting it and using it as a mini field camera. As always, I wish it supported a remote release, but at least they provide enough self timer options to be useful. As a "quick, pull out of the bag and grab a snapshot", uh, well, my Leica M-D does that so much better than anything else (including the iPhone), comparing the L16 is meaningless. But as a way to shoot a complex tabletop arrangement and then adjust the focus zone and depth to suit precisely what I have in mind, it's pretty cool.

The 8 MPixel mid-resolution DNG files are MUCH smaller and easier to process than the full 50Mpixel rendered files and provide 90% of what I'd want out of it. I see it working as a modern, all digital and slightly more capable Polaroid SX-70. The vast 50Mpixel resolution, because it is a 10-camera-composite image doesn't quite have the absolute critical accuracy of even a 24Mpixel traditional camera with a good lens (the aforementioned M-D or my SL are the baseline for that), but the photos have a delicious soft-sharpness and qualities not unlike the aforementioned SX-70 when handled correctly. There's just much more you can do with them, both because you have the nice range of 28-150mm FoVs to work with and because the processing can be so flexible.

Can't wait to see how the software updates that are due improve it, but so far I'm enjoying it.

G
 
I'm wondering about the parallax between the lenses. If you have a foreground object near the camera, some of the lenses will see less of the background behind it then others. A normal lens also has this issue at larger apertures, it means the edges of the foreground object will be fuzzed out, or the background will, we call it limited DOF, but these small sensors by themselves have huge DOF. So if the DOF computationally decreased? Or do you notice reduced detail in the background areas next to the edge of a foreground object because the image there comes from only a few of the cameras? I couldn't see this in your pic, but there's not a lot of detail in the background, and the pictures in the petapixel article are badly compressed.
 
Just beginning to get the hang of using the Light L16. I think this is exposure 63 I've made with it.


Light L16
ISO 750 @ f/15 @ 1/30 @ ~125mm
output: 12 Mpixel DNG original, processed in Lumen app on macOS
DNG processed in Lightroom 6.x​

Note: very little post processing applied on this one, just basic tweaks and sizing.

First review impression: It's a very small, very handy thing to carry around. The fact that, in its slip case, it's only about an inch thick and just a smidge bigger in length by width than an iPhone 7 Plus makes it easy to slip into a very small bag or jacket pocket. The handling and control ergonomics are remarkably good, better than expected (particularly for an LCD only viewfinder type camera). It does its best performance at lower ISO settings (200 to 750), and fitted on a tripod if you want the ultimate 50Mpixel resolution quality. The latest firmware update has made a HUGE stride in shot to shot responsiveness, and added in-camera tone mapping for JPEG output (not used in this exposure) ... the flash works properly now too. Coming soon is "one shot HDR in-camera or in-Lumen processing. Workflow is still a bit complex, but then the Lumen app is still in beta and provides a huge range of processing options before you even get a DNG out of it. Lumen can also directly output JPEG finals but so far I'm liking the results from processing DNGs a bit more.

It's proving to be a fun and useful tool. Could become a delightful travel camera for some uses with a bit more polish. They'll get there, I expect, based on what I've seen so far. :)

enjoy!
G
 
The answer to this is necessarily complex because of the varying dynamics in use and the post processing capabilities. But since you can "shape" the focus zone and the depth of field, and blend areas smoothly that need some help, as long as you have some differing group of cameras recording all parts of the image you can get a lot of sharpness. The worst case situation has to be the edge regions at the 28mm FoV setting because you'll only get some of the cameras, and only the 28mm cameras, coverage there.

The L16 seems to default to acquiring as much DoF as possible, and the computational adjustments in Lumen serve mostly to reduce DoF and shape the sharp regions to where you want them. Obviously there are limits, and differences in final look, to what can be done vs a single capture, 50Mpixel, large sensor camera. The goal is to try to avoid where the Light has issues and take advantage of where it shines, like with any camera. I'm still exploring and learning it so I can't give you a detailed impression of the limits yet. It's a complex little thing when you want to go past snap shots. :)

G

retinax said:
I'm wondering about the parallax between the lenses. If you have a foreground object near the camera, some of the lenses will see less of the background behind it then others. A normal lens also has this issue at larger apertures, it means the edges of the foreground object will be fuzzed out, or the background will, we call it limited DOF, but these small sensors by themselves have huge DOF. So if the DOF computationally decreased? Or do you notice reduced detail in the background areas next to the edge of a foreground object because the image there comes from only a few of the cameras? I couldn't see this in your pic, but there's not a lot of detail in the background, and the pictures in the petapixel article are badly compressed.
Click to expand...
 
Godfrey said:
Just beginning to get the hang of using the Light L16. I think this is exposure 63 I've made with it.

...

It's proving to be a fun and useful tool. Could become a delightful travel camera for some uses with a bit more polish. They'll get there, I expect, based on what I've seen so far. :)

enjoy!
G
Click to expand...

I don't post much these days, but thanks so much for the early-adopter take on this camera.
I really respect your opinion on this.

I really don't care about beta software much, I have been pretty paralyzed by photoshop since giving up analog photography anyway.:) I would love to use "out of the camera" images again.

All kind of a moot point for me, not likely I will suddenly be invited to show in a gallery again, so it's all just fun for me. And the camera looks like fun.
 
nikonhswebmaster said:
I don't post much these days, but thanks so much for the early-adopter take on this camera.
I really respect your opinion on this.

I really don't care about beta software much, I have been pretty paralyzed by photoshop since giving up analog photography anyway.:) I would love to use "out of the camera" images again.

All kind of a moot point for me, not likely I will suddenly be invited to show in a gallery again, so it's all just fun for me. And the camera looks like fun.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

The L16 is fun.

The Lumen software is nowhere near as complex as something like PS to work with, it's simply that there are a number of options at your disposal that can make processing the images a bit complicated if you feel like playing around with them. In many cases there's no need, of course. :)

You do have to run the exposures through Lumen to output a JPEG, particularly if you want a full resolution JPEG. That's pretty easy ...
  • Start Lumen, connect the camera, select what photos you want to output, and click the Export symbol.
  • Set the location you want to put them in and the size/file type (JPEG, DNG, JPEG+DNG at 8, 13, or 50 MPixel).
  • Click export ...
In a few minutes, it's done and your JPEG images are ready to be printed.

The results of doing just that are pretty darn good!

G
 
Godfrey, thanks for posting this information/images. Excellent portrait. :)

This "computational" approach is just another step along the way to tech-based photography that we won't recognize in 20 years. Just in the last year I've read of serious efforts to develop (1) flexible sensor material that can be shaped in a curve, thus radically simplifying lens design; and (2) so-called lenses that don't use glass to bend light but instead are made of tiny light sensing electronic devices. Camera prototypes of this 2nd technology are about as thick as a dime!
 
A quick, out of camera snap at close range ... just passed through Lumen to render a JPEG and tap the tint slider a little magenta to kill the greenish light from my desk lamp:

25951115838_6efee1b8d2_o.jpg


Full 50Mpixel JPEG rendering: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/39824048121_1912f0bd15_o.jpg

That's near the close focus limit at 35mm eFOV.

G
 
Notes from the Light notebook: I've been carrying the L16 most of the time in the past week or two, beginning to get my legs with it. I'm finding that it does an excellent job as a people/street camera: it remains unobtrusive because, to most people nowadays, it looks like I'm playing with a cell phone.

The firmware was updated again just the other day: the shot to shot speed and AF/AE responsiveness is hugely improved in this release, and the camera now does tone mapping as it blends the images together for smoother rendering. They're working on a concept of "single shot HDR" that's not quite yet ready, but could be really interesting.

The more I use the L16, the more I appreciate its size, weight, and capabilities. It's never going to compete with my other cameras on certain bases, but it creates a new envelope of capability and use with its form factor, weight, and dynamics in use.

In other words, I'm having a blast with it. More pictures soon... :D

G
 
Thanks, seen it already. He makes what I consider to be the usual mistakes about the Light L16 now ... but eh? everyone's entitled to their opinion. I have my own.

I make photographs with it. :D

---
I owned one of these cars when they were nearly new, bought it for $1800 in 1972 when I graduated High School. Mine was Forest Green with a Tan interior ... four speed manual transmission, cheap Blaupunkt AM/FM stereo, no AC or power accessories at all. It was a glorious thing to drive: light, agile and trim, quick enough... But oh my was it expensive for an 18 year old to service and maintain! Loved it anyway, lots of fun...













Light L16 - ISO 100
Rendered to DNG, Processed in Lightroom 6
On Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHsks73yNP​

Ah, great memories. Glad I ran into it!

enjoy,
G
 
Godfrey said:
Notes from the Light notebook: I've been carrying the L16 most of the time in the past week or two, beginning to get my legs with it. I'm finding that it does an excellent job as a people/street camera: it remains unobtrusive because, to most people nowadays, it looks like I'm playing with a cell phone.

The firmware was updated again just the other day: the shot to shot speed and AF/AE responsiveness is hugely improved in this release, and the camera now does tone mapping as it blends the images together for smoother rendering. They're working on a concept of "single shot HDR" that's not quite yet ready, but could be really interesting.

The more I use the L16, the more I appreciate its size, weight, and capabilities. It's never going to compete with my other cameras on certain bases, but it creates a new envelope of capability and use with its form factor, weight, and dynamics in use.

In other words, I'm having a blast with it. More pictures soon... :D

G
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reviews and photos. It will be interesting to see where this technology and in particular camera goes.
 
On one of my bus rides last Thursday, I was chatting with this lovely woman for a few moments and then she leaned back and dozed off...


Light L16
ISO 219 @ f/2 @ 1/60 @ 70mm
Focus zone narrowed post-capture.​

enjoy!
G
 
Those BMW 2002 photos revived some happy memories - thanks.

The 1968-1973 BMW 2002 is still a marvelous automobile. They truly were game changers. Even today they are raced by amateurs.

Here is a PDF version of an iconic early review.[1]


Changing the subject widely –*can you share any L16 results with subjects in motion?

1. This link is from the "Car & Driver" review archives. It is safe.
 
willie_901 said:
Those BMW 2002 photos revived some happy memories - thanks.

The 1968-1973 BMW 2002 is still a marvelous automobile. They truly were game changers. Even today they are raced by amateurs.

Here is a PDF version of an iconic early review.[1]


Changing the subject widely –*can you share any L16 results with subjects in motion?

1. This link is from the "Car & Driver" review archives. It is safe.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link! I remember that article well ... been years since I had that issue of C&D!

What kind of "subjects in motion" are you looking for? The L16, like an smartphone, is not at its best with doing sports-type motion shooting. I tend to avoid shooting what a camera doesn't do well... :)

G
 
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