As a photographer, what I really want to know is what characteristics the light field imager has in terms of things like dynamic range, noise, color reproduction, and so on. If the Illum has a unique sort of "flavor," in the same way that Sigma's Foveon series (with its non-Bayer-patterned sensors) has a certain something that's fun for photographers to experiment with, I could see it catching on. Much more so if there are some weird, light-field-based parameters that you can adjust in a Lightroom-esque app from Lytro.
Otherwise, I can't see this thing riding on the appeal of viewer refocusing and tilting – that's just not going to escape the realm of gimmick. Unless the tech offers new creative opportunities to the pro / prosumer photographer, I see that market being less likely to spend $1600 on this than consumers were to spend $400 on the original.
Otherwise, I can't see this thing riding on the appeal of viewer refocusing and tilting – that's just not going to escape the realm of gimmick. Unless the tech offers new creative opportunities to the pro / prosumer photographer, I see that market being less likely to spend $1600 on this than consumers were to spend $400 on the original.