History of Light Field Photography [Timeline]

Light field photography comes with features so revolutionary, it is considered by some to be the next major imaging revolution after the pinhole camera.

With the timeline below, we’re following the history and development of light field imaging, from its earliest stages to today’s technology.

Please note that this page is a work in progress, so it will continue to grow (slowly, but steadily). If you think we’ve missed an important milestone, please let us know in the comments.

For a quick overview of milestone headlines, click on “Light Field Photography” below.

Light Field Photography

Leonardo Da Vinci: Pyramids of Light

Faraday: Light as Lines of Force
Ives: Parallax Stereogram Patent

Lippmann: Integral Photography

Gershun: The Light Field

First Single-lens plenoptic camera

4-D Light Field Notation, Camera Gantry Setups

The Largest Known Light Field is recorded

Camera Arrays for Light Field Capture

Hand-held Light Field Camera

Raytrix R11: First Commercial Plenoptic Camera

Lytro: First Consumer Light Field Camera