K|Lens Unveils World’s First Light Field Lens That Works on Any Camera
A German-based startup named K|Lens is set to launch an ambitious new camera lens that the company claims is the first to bring 3D light field depth mapping to any full-frame camera.
K|Lens has been in contact with PetaPixel regarding its in-development lens system for several months. Since initial outreach, the physical design of the lens has changed a bit (the photos of the finished lens are notably different than the 3D models shown in example videos) but the underlying technology remains the same. In short, K|Lens has created what it claims to be the world’s first light field imaging lens that works for both still images and video and on full-frame cameras.
Light field technology was originally popularized by the now-defunct Lytro, but K|Lens pitches its optic as capable of delivering on those promises in a usable way instead of just what was essentially a gimmick.
The lens itself is quite large because it uses a system of mirrors to project nine slightly different perspectives of a scene onto the camera sensor simultaneously. The company says it is like looking at a scene with nine cameras positioned at slightly different angles all at the same time. The system works like a kaleidoscope, which is where the “K” in K|Lens comes from.
The company claims that each image or video shot with the K|Lens One provides additional data beyond any other optic in the world, specifically in what K|Lens describes as rich light field data in the form of depth maps, point clouds, and nine separate viewpoints for each photo or video captured.
For example, below is a photo taken with the K|Lens One:
Which is captured by the camera as below (click to view full resolution):
From that data, the below depth information was recorded:
Below is another photo, the nine images captured by the K|Lens, and depth information from the center of the frame:
K|Lens provided the video below that illustrates the process: