Paper: How to use a First-Generation Lytro Camera for Light Field Microscopy

Almost as soon as the original Lytro camera was released, enthusiasts tried to find an easy way to combine light field imaging with microscopes. However, due to the optical characteristics of a microscope (especially the strong f-number mismatch), those attempts had only limited success.

In a recent publication, Loïs Mignard-Debise and Ivo Ihrke from INRIA Bordeaux in France presented the findings of their experiments to use off-the-shelf hardware (i.e. a first-generation lytro camera and camera lenses or microscope objectives) for a working light field microscope.

Their solution is limited in magnification, but they show a relatively cheap and straightforward setup and some pretty promising sample images at up to 3x magnification, imaging volumes measuring between 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 to 3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 mm.

For more information, check out the publication listed below, or the corresponding research project page.

Mignard-Debise L., Ihrke I. (2015): Light-field Microscopy with a Consumer Light-field Camera. 3DVision 2015. arXiv preprint 1508.03590.