The Lytro camera, which packs a entirely new category of camera sensor, is gaining significant features–even if you’ve already bought one. Previously, the light field camera was deceptively simple: your only option was where to point the device. Now, you can control both ISO and shutter speed–options that multiply the photographic possibilities. Of course, there was an ISO setting and shutter speed for every Lytro photo taken before, but now the photographer has manual control over both settings. The manual controls, in addition with a newly-added exposure lock, allow for some really cool low-light use cases.
Lytro cameras were re-launched widely (to retailers and Amazon) today, and all new cameras will have the updated firmware with manual controls pre-installed. The 8GB model costs $399 and the 16GB model will run for $499. That might seem a lot for a toy camera, but this is the future of photography. Current Lytro owners can download the updated firmware here.