DESIGN: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU

Traditional cameras use one lens at a time. We’ve seen smartphones double up with dual lenses, and even triple-lens setups seem to be on the horizon – but ramping up to 16 lenses on one small device? Whip one out in public and it’s almost guaranteed to attract attention.

The L16 is far from friendly-looking, y’see. It resembles a manically blinking insect, or an intricate bit of spyware which you might hide in federal offices to keep track of any nefarious activities. The lenses all sit flush on a flat pane of glass. Suspicious.

It’s not as small or slim as a smartphone: we bought along an iPhone X for size comparison and the L16 is far chunkier. It’s still more petite than all DSLRs and most compact cameras, though. That makes it just about small enough to slide into a generous back pocket – although not that we ever would, considering the cost of the thing.

A dimpled rubber grip around one side gives you a decent purchase whilst snapping. There’s a shutter button at the top, which you can half press to focus, like most DSLRs. At the bottom there’s a tripod mount as well as the charging port (USB-C, which is very 2018 and much appreciated). Finally, a very simple-looking 5in FHD touchscreen covers the back of the camera.

Our immediate thoughts? It looks like a very slim basic DAB radio – and not something that costs well over $1,000.