Update 2/16/24: The last L16 firmware update and the Lumen software are available at the GitHub repository here. This firmware update enables video!
It isn’t any secret that I have a bit of an obsession with weird technology. I crave novelty and just have to get my hands it. I remember reading about the Light L16 camera sometime around 2016 or 2017, but it cost about $2,000 when new and so I promptly forgot about it.
Recently, I was watching Krazy Ken on the Computer Clan YouTube channel and he discussed this camera for a video in his “tech flops” series. Intrigued, I checked eBay to see how much they were going for. I found one for just $175 and immediately purchased it.
That arrived today and I can’t go another minute without talking about it, because the Light L16 is so bizarre. It has 16 individual lenses and sensors arranged on its front face like some sort of demented spider. It runs Android. It technically fits in a pocket!
I’ve been playing with it all afternoon and it is easy to understand why it flopped. Honestly, as a camera, it kind of sucks.
I’m no photographer, but I can at least operate my two Panasonic Lumix GH5 cameras and my iPhone 12 Pro. Not so much with the Light L16.
It is hard to hold without shaking—especially when pushing the shutter button. The camera was constantly yelling at me for blocking one of the many lenses. I’m not sure there even is a way to record video. And the photos are lackluster.
The colors look pretty nice to my eyes and it is cool being able to instantly switch between lenses of very different focal lengths, but everything else is kind of bad.
And with 16 cameras on this thing, you’d think they could give you a rear-facing camera for selfies. Nope!
At least it has a standard USB-C port so proprietary cables aren’t a problem. And the Lumen software (beta) is still available on archive sites, so you can use the L16 without any major issues today.
Will I be using it? Almost certainly not. My iPhone 12 Pro takes photos that are probably better. If I need something better than that, I’ll use one of my GH5 mirrorless cameras.
But as a collector’s piece, I absolutely love this thing. It is one of the those consumers products that makes you say “I can’t believe they actually made that!”
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