No one wants point-and-shoots any more — you can get great photos with your phone, and if you need something more heavy-duty, there are tons of DSLRs and mirrorless cameras to choose from. A new company called Light aims to change this with a device that looks like a point-and-shoot, but instead of just one camera inside, there are 16.
You read that right: there are 16 cameras inside Light's L16, each 13 megapixels, with lenses ranging from wide-angle to telephoto. When you hit the shutter button, 10 of these cameras capture the image, from various angles and focal lengths. Then the device's software combines all that data into one 52-megapixel file with, Light claims, far greater fidelity than any camera its size.
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Using multiple cameras also means more light is collected, which allows for night scenes, and the multiple perspectives mean other aspects, like depth of field, can also be adjusted after the fact.
It's all very high tech, and that shows in the price — the first run of L16s will cost $1,300 if you preorder, $1,700 if you don't. That makes it comparable to a decent DSLR and a lens or two. But if you want to be a part of one of the most interesting developments in photography in years, it could be worth the price of admission.