Light L16 Review: Optical Insanity

The very first time I laid eyes on the Light L16 camera, I knew I had to test it. Sixteen individual 13MP sensors ranging from 28mm to 150mm, laid out in a scattershot pattern without even the pretense of adhering to a grid, festooned with steerable mirrors that wiggled and warbled as they fixed those big mechanical eyes on a subject ... it was the perfect mix of oversized smartphone and terrifying Matrix robo-spider. I snapped one up as soon as it went on sale. Unfortunately, I very quickly encountered many of the problems I’d read about – all of which trace themselves back to the core promise of the product. Light calls the L16 the “camera of the future,“ and given its potent mixture of cutting-edge technology and the hefty $1950 price tag, I expected nothing less. Sadly, though, the photos the L16 delivered fell far short of the pictures kicked out by my Pixel 2 XL – disappointments which continued even after a software update and a trip through Light’s special Lumen desktop suite. Of course the L16 was