An actively addressable aperture disposed ahead of the rear surface of a camera lens allows the camera to capture a full-resolution, five-dimensional (5D) light field that describes every possible view from every possible angle of the scene being imaged. Shifting the aperture over the entire aperture plane and acquiring an image at each step yields a 2D grid of 2D images of the scene, otherwise known as a 4D parameterized light field. Estimating the 3D depth of the objects in the imaged scene yields a 3D model with 2D surface irradiance patterns, which is the full, non-parameterized 5D light field. The 5D light field can be used to display perspective changes in a way that mimics cognitive processing of the same scene or object. 5D light fields can also be used to create high-precision, 3D depth maps suitable for 3D movies, interactive displays, machine vision, and other applications.