For those not familiar with Light, it is the firm responsible for releasing the L16 camera. But as recently reported by the Washington Post, it appears that the company is setting its sights on designing a smartphone device that comes with multiple cameras. Consumers of today are already starting to get used to the idea of handsets sporting more than a couple of cameras (here's looking at you, LG), but Light is looking to take things a little bit further by building a phone that might feature five to nine cameras in order to produce a mind blowing 64 megapixel photo. One would think that packing all those cameras in one device would likely make the smartphone as bulky as early 2000s models, but Light is actually preparing a prototype that should be about the size of Apple’s iPhone X.
But wait -- why exactly do we need five to nine cameras on our smartphone? As pointed out by the engineers at Light, the extra lens are there to maximize the device’s low light performance, as well as add more depth effects. On top of that, the presence of multiple lens is aided by the use of internal processing, which collates all the image capturing information gathered by separate sensors.
It is safe to say that when it comes to the art of capturing images, Light knows what it is doing. It was around three years ago when the company first announced the L16 camera (which began shipping some time last year), which fetches for an impressive price of $1,950. By making full use of no less than 16 lenses, the L16 can produce photos of 52 megapixel quality. Things are made more remarkable by the fact that the L16 fits in most pockets (it is about the size of an average flagship smartphone).
But consumers these days are no longer that keen in purchasing stand alone cameras -- the thinking is that they can always use their own smartphone devices, which they bring along every time, anyway. This one of the reasons Light is looking to just go ahead and develop its own smartphone offering, and one that features its own camera technology.
Needless to say, Light will not be the only one trying to release a smartphone with a super camera. As a matter of fact, RED, which specializes in making digital cameras to be used by filmmakers, is also working on its own smartphone -- the Hydrogen One -- which might be the first ever holographic smartphone (that is, capable of displaying graphics in the usual 2D media and stereo 3D content, plus RED’s own 4 View content) to be released across the globe.
