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I remember first hearing about the wondrous Lytro camera before it was even released. I was amazed at what they had done and the promise of the incredible technology. Unfortunately the cost of the generation 1 camera is so high (Starts at $399) that I couldn’t justify getting it just yet.
Imagine my surprise when I found a $0.99 app called tap2focus which simulates the light-field focus technology using clever and simple techniques. You tap the first area of focus and it takes a picture, you then repeat this process for other areas you may want to focus on later and built this refocusable image. In reality it is taking multiple pictures with different focus points and storing them in its own format which brings up the appropriate picture when someone clicks on the picture. You can email the picture to anyone that has the app or share it via a weblink (works on smartphones, tablet and PCs).
Of course this isn’t real light field photography and has many quirks (like keeping the camera absolutely stable) but it could be fun for iphoneography.
I think this is a novelty app that you will use a couple of times then forget about but it’s great to see developer thinking outside of the box. If you have $0.99 to spare and like iphoneography, download it and enjoy.
