December 2006 COBA Meeting
The December 2006 of the Camera Owners of the Bay Area (COBA) user group will be held on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 in Cordura Hall 100 at Stanford University from 7:30-10:00 pm.
NOTE: Due to scheduling conflicts, Uwe Steinmueller will not be able to present his findings of the Leica M8. We hope to have this rescheduled for a date in 2007.
Refocusing Photographs After the Fact
Every photographer is familiar with the frustration of losing a shot because the camera focused too slowly, or focused on the wrong thing. Recent camera technology innovations at Stanford University provide a new solution to this old problem. The idea is to capture extra information at the sensor, which is missing in conventional cameras. Special processing enables physical functions of the lens to be implemented in software.
This approach provides unprecedented photographic features, such as the ability to refocus photographs after the image is taken. The underlying technology also enables dramatic improvements in lighting and sensitivity. For the novice, this means a more reliable camera that makes it easier to take great-looking pictures. For aficionados and professionals, this technology means unprecedented control over the quality of each image pixel.
In this talk, Ren Ng of Refocus Imaging, Inc. will present photographs taken with a prototype camera, discuss how it works and how he believes it will affect photographic science and art.
His research has been featured in the press, including Wired, Popular Science, Digital Photography Review, KNTV-NBC11 TechNow, KTVU-TV Fox 5 News, Photonics Spectra, MIT Tech Review, Stanford Review, slashdot, engadget, and more.
Speaker Bio
Ren Ng recently graduated with his PhD from the Computer Science department at Stanford University, and founded Refocus Imaging to commercialize his research. His PhD dissertation won the Arthur Samuel Thesis Award for the best dissertation in Computer Science at Stanford, and was nominated for the Association of Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Dissertation Award. Ren’s interests are in digital imaging systems, computer graphics, optics and applied mathematics. He holds an MS in Computer Science and BS in Mathematical and Computational Science from Stanford University.
COBA Holiday Party
Since this is the last COBA meeting of the year, we will be celebrating the end of 2006 with refreshments, snacks, and hearty conversation! I’ll be bringing some snacks and drinks to the party, but COBA members are encouraged to bring additional items to the celebration.
I’ll be showing a slideshow retrospective of the past year of COBA, and we will discuss topics for next year’s slate of meetings.
OnlineShopping Said,
May 22, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
Those touch ups look amazing,
You mention Dr. Ng, showcasing photos taken with a “prototype model”, so I am wondering when the real thing will be hitting the shelves. I’m also curious as to what kind of price I should be expecting for a camera like this, and how long before competitor’s release similar models. On that note, is the “prototype model” Dr. Ng previewed the only type of it’s kind for the foreseeable future, or will there be a variety of different brands offering cameras with this technology? Also, what are some of the distinct options that makes use of such technology? Is there a preview function that allows me to see examples of shots including the extra information captured with the sensor? Are there many different levels of adjustment or is everything automated into “before” vs. “after” (ie, the picture looks one way upon its capture, and then by pressing a button you may make an automated “quick fix” to the picture, but there is no way to manually make minor touch ups or slight alterations)? Is the technology even usable in the camera itself or is there special software needed to make the changes after the camera is plugged (USB? Firewire? Something else?) into the pc. Also, is the technology only applicable to photographs taken in natural light, or in lit areas period? What kind of touch ups and improvements can I expect to make when doctoring pictures taken at night or in shadowy settings? While not nearly as important in the grand scheme of things, I’d like to get a little info on the battery and export options. Disk space? How many pictures can I store on the camera? Can I save different versions of the same picture on the camera as well, or once I decide to retouch the photo would I have to dump the original shot? Sorry for all of the questions, but this really does look like a great camera with a lot of cool and much needed features, and I want to get the scoop on everything it has to offer. If someone could answer some of my questions or provide a link to a site that has more information on the topic, it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Online Shopping Said,
July 7, 2007 @ 2:55 pm
Hey guys,
Just checking back in to see if anyone can answer any of my questions? I’ve been keeping any eye on this ever since I commented to see if anyone would ever respond, so I figured it’s time I throw up a second notice. I’m still very interested in this camera, but would greatly appreciate it someone could provide some answers or information regarding the questions in my previous post. I’d also be interested if anyone has any further information on projects or think tanks associated with Dr. Ng. I did a little reading up on him and was very interested with what I found. But anyway, my main concern at this point is the camera, so again if anyone could provide me with a link or point me towards the direction of a site or magazine that could break some of this stuff down, I would be much obliged. I’ll be checking back again periodically to see if anyone has an answer. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks in advance.
Administrator Said,
July 9, 2007 @ 10:50 pm
More information about the camera will be coming later this year at refocusimaging.com
Fine art paintings Said,
April 25, 2008 @ 7:07 am
When I started a job on photography and portraiture, our Supervisor gave me some articles and works of Ren Ng. I admit, at first I didn’t give much attention to Ng’s profile and biography. This is because his works were so captivating that I couldn’t stop reading or looking at them. His works are my personal inspiration.