The Light L16 is a unique oddity amongst cameras. If you’ve never heard of it before, it uses an array of 16 cameras and lenses to create “DSLR quality in the palm of your hand”. Whether that claim is true or not remains to be seen. But see we will, and quite soon now. First announced in October 2015, Light L16 will enter into its Expanded Beta phase in May, with pre-orders starting to be shipped in July. Thanks to our friends at Light Rumors, we also get to see the first product images of the final production camera. It’s had a little bit of a redesign from the original shown in 2015, and more closely resembles the prototypes we saw in a video last July.
The original design had the flash sitting at the top left where the “Light” logo currently resides, with the logo previously below it. This has since been moved over to where the laser focus assist beam was, and the focus assist has nudged over slightly. The lenses, though, seem to all be in the same positions. And we can now clearly see what each of those lenses are. I’m guessing that these are the “full frame equivalent” focal lengths.
6x 150mm f/2.45x 70mm f/25x 28mm f/2
The “grip” section is flat. Early images of the unit showed a slightly protruding, rounded area. There’s a tiny hole next to the light logo which is presumably the microphone for when shooting video.
It seems to be suitably thick enough for hand-holding with both hands without accidentally having your finger cover a lens or two. The view from the other side shows the little slot which would likely be where the wrist strap connects.
Surprisingly, there’s no photos of the “front” (I’m using the smartphone definition) of the camera. The bit which would hold the LCD. Given that we can see the top and both sides, the USB and other potential sockets probably live underneath. Also, today, Light have sent out an email stating that they’re expanding their beta program. In May, they will begin shipping pre-release L16s loaded with beta software. These will go out to pre-order customers who volunteered to beta test. After this is complete, they expect to begin mass production of hte L16.
The final pre-order shipments will begin on July 14th, 2017. But, they had a lot of pre-orders. They don’t expect all them to have completed shipping until late summer. I always thought this was a neat idea. But I’ll see how it takes off once it’s out in the real world, first. [via Light Rumors]
