Silicon Valley startup Lytro has debuted its new camera, the Illum, which is a high-tech light field camera.

A light field camera is a camera that uses a microlens array to capture 4D light field information in a scene. The technology can be used to improve the solution of computer graphics and computer vision-related problems.

“With Lytro Illum, creative pioneers ranging from artistic amateurs to experienced professionals will tap into a new wave of graphical storytelling,” Jason Rosenthal, Lytro CEO, said. “Now artist and audience alike can share an equally intimate connection with the imagery, and, in a sense, jointly participate in the magic of its creation. By combining a novel hardware array with tremendous computational horsepower, this camera opens up unprecedented possibilities to push the boundaries of creativity beyond the limits inherent in digital or film photography.”

Lytro has led the way in light field camera technology since it introduced the world’s first consumer light field camera two years ago. The Illum offers four times the sensor size of Lytro’s previous model.  It also boasts an 8x optical zoom lens.

The Lytro Illum is currently available for pre-order.  The price is set at $1,499. If you pre-order before July 15, $100 will get knocked off the price.