(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Innovator Rajiv Laroia, co-founder and chief technology officer of Light, a three-year-old, 75-employee startup in Palo Alto.Age 55
Form and functionThe Light L16 aggregates images from multiple phone-camera-size sensors to create pictures with a resolution as high as 52 megapixels, a little higher than the best digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera on the market.
PointThe L16 is about the size of a smartphone, but thicker. A photographer points the face, with its 16 sensors, at a subject, then uses the touchscreen to zoom in or out.
OriginLaroia, an electrical engineer and amateur photographer, conceived of the camera in 2012 while serving as entrepreneur-in-residence at venture capital firm Charles River Ventures.
FundingLight has collected $64.7 million from investors including Charles River Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Eclipse Ventures, and Google’s VC arm.
ProductionThe company plans to begin making the L16 by the middle of this year. Light will offer it on its website for $1,699. A comparable DSLR camera runs about $3,000.
ShootPressing the shutter button fires 10 sensor modules of varying focal lengths, depending on the selected zoom. An internal processor stitches the images together to produce a single image with uniformly high resolution.
Next StepsLaroia says future Light cameras will have telephoto capabilities. He also wants to partner with other manufacturers to bring the technology to smartphones, self-driving cars, and security applications. “What I saw with the preproduction L16, compared to a professional-level Canon DSLR, was really astounding,” says Adam Ottke, an editor at photography news site Fstoppers. “To have that power in a ‘snapshot’ camera is something entirely new.”
To contact the author of this story: Michael Belfiore in at michael@michaelbelfiore.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeff Muskus at jmuskus@bloomberg.net.
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