One embodiment of the present invention provides a plenoptic camera which
captures information about the direction distribution of light rays
entering the camera. Like a conventional camera, this plenoptic camera
includes a main lens which receives light from objects in an object field
and directs the received light onto an image plane of the camera. It also
includes a photodetector array located at the image plane of the camera,
which captures the received light to produce an image. However, unlike a
conventional camera, the plenoptic camera additionally includes an array
of optical elements located between the object field and the main lens.
Each optical element in this array receives light from the object field
from a different angle than the other optical elements in the array, and
consequently directs a different view of the object field into the main
lens. In this way, the photodetector array receives a different view of
the object field from each optical element in the array.