Skip to main content

Here's what an 81-megapixel photo from a 16-lens camera looks like

The unusual 16-lens Light L16 camera has been a long time coming, with the computational photography device announced nearly two years ago. Now, the camera is finally shipping out to fulfill the first pre-orders — and Light is sharing the first full-resolution L16 sample images.

The Light L16 is a 52-plus megapixel camera that’s only about the size of a smartphone. Bragging of DSLR-like capabilities in a smaller package, the Light L165 uses 16 lenses, sensors, and some software to put it all together. The unusual design, based on computational photography, had the startup making several big claims, including a DSLR-like quality extending to the soft background that’s impossible on smaller sensors, as well as ten times more light sensitivity for low-light shots.

Recommended Videos

While every camera company is going to share the best sample images taken by pros, the first shots from the $1,700 camera offers a glimpse at how those claims on paper look in pixels. The three images, which include a portrait, a landscape at the Grand Canyon, and another landscape of a shipwreck, are available to download in full resolution for your pixel-peeping pleasure (the sample above has been downsized).

The images, which measure between 8,000 and 10,000 pixels wide, don’t include metadata details on how the shot was taken. Interestingly enough, none of the three samples showcase the camera’s low-light capability. The portrait showcases the camera’s depth of field capabilities, with both the background and the subject’s hand in front rendered to a soft blur. Both landscapes appear to showcase the camera’s dynamic range, with details left intact in both the darkest and lightest areas of the image.

Along with showcasing the hardware’s capability, the samples are also designed to showcase the company’s Lumen software, which is required to put all the images from those separate lenses together. The camera uses at least ten different camera modules at once, depending on how much of the 28-to-150mm zoom is used.

Those images, each slightly offset because of its position on the front of the camera, permit the software to create a depth map, allowing the system to artificially generate a shallow depth of field, not terribly unlike the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual-lens camera, only to a much larger degree. Using the desktop software, users can choose just how soft to make the background.

The L16’s 16 cameras are capable of shooting at a minimum of 52 megapixels, while the highest resolution shot from the samples hits 81 megapixels.

The Light L16 began shipping last month to pre-order customers. The company hasn’t yet started taking new orders for the camera.

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
My favorite SD card reader is a mere $15 for Prime Big Deal Days
The Lexar USB-C SD card reader.

I take a lot of pictures on a daily basis. And while I usually get to offload them in the comfort of my home, sometimes I need to export as quickly as possible. Maybe even straight from my phone.

That's where my new favorite SD card reader comes in.

Read more
Astronaut enjoys out-of-this-world view from his bedroom window
An aurora as seen from a Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS.

A NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has posted a beautiful image showing an aurora over Earth.

Matthew Dominick has been aboard the ISS since March and is due to return home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Sunday. In fact, it was from the docked Crew Dragon that he captured the stunning shot.

Read more
Best GoPro Prime Big Deal Days deals: Every model is on sale!
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/9/24: Day one of Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days festivities has closed out, but we've still got one more day of sales to go. Prime Day GoPro deals are still ripe for the picking, so check back here regularly if you haven't already made an action camera purchase this Prime Day.

In case you didn't know, it is now time for Prime Big Deal Day deals to heat up. Prime Day deals officialy lasts through October 9, and among them are plenty of Prime Big Deal Day camera deals that include good prices on action cameras. And, yet again, within these deals you'll find deals on what is probably the biggest name in action cameras, GoPro. The best GoPro Prime Day deals remaining offer some impressive savings on a number of camera models, as well as some accessories. Below you'll find all of the best GoPro Prime Big Deal Day deals available, so read onward for the details.
GoPro Hero 9 Black — $200 $350 43% off

Read more