Light begins shipping of L16

In a statement, Light pointed out that the way to market was a big challenge for the young company. In fact, it took Light three years to design and build its custom ASIC chips that needed to control all 16 camera modules at the same time.

The company also developed its own 70mm and 150mm camera modules, complete with custom optics and electrical components. To put this in perspective, most smartphone cameras contain 30mm or 50mm lenses. Since higher focal length lenses were not on the market, the Light engineers had to invent them themselves.

The company also created proprietary image-fusing algorithms and processing pipelines that align each of the base camera modules, produced Android software to operate the camera and developed a Mac/Windows application for depth-of-field editing. Last but not least, Light implemented an e-commerce platform and initiated a complex global manufacturing and supply chain with its partner, Foxconn.

Light said pre-orders will be delivered step-by-step as cameras become available. The company plans to accept new orders in late 2017.