POINT-AND-SHOOT cameras are being assaulted on all fronts. Smartphones are threatening to make pocket-size cameras unnecessary by offering passable results on a device many people are already carrying around. Meanwhile, photographers who want better performance are likely to be tempted by mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, which are shrinking to nearly pocket size while offering features like those found on professional-level, single-lens reflex cameras.
But there is still life in the idea of a consumer-level camera that fits in a pocket and does not require much special knowledge to master. You can find some interesting and unusual cameras that will do things that a smartphone definitely will not do. THE LYTRO The most unusual piece of photographic equipment to hit the market in quite some time, the Lytro ($399 or $499, depending on the amount of memory and the color) is a strange-looking machine that takes photos in which objects can be brought into or out of focus after the photo is taken.
When an image from the Lytro is viewed on a computer screen, a user can click on the foreground and pop it into focus, causing the background to blur. Click on the background, and the focus shifts, blurring the image in the foreground. It is quite a trick.The types of photos that work best on the Lytro are those with something of interest very close to the camera and something else of interest in the distant background. The results can be striking, but capturing images that take advantage of this effect takes some practice. The company is also working on a perspective-shift feature, which will allow a photographer to adjust the angle of the picture after the fact.
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