OK, in my last post I mentioned LR3 supports lens correction and tethered shooting, though I didn’t know for what lenses/bodies. So, here’s what I’ve found after some digging:
› posts tagged ‘adobe’
Lightroom 3 Out and Ready
Adobe has announced version 3 of it’s Photoshop Lightroom (or just Lightroom, for short). Now, it’s no secret that Nick and myself have long been advocates for Lightroom. While software and worflow will always be a subjective topic, for my money at least there’s no better workflow and raw developing solution for digital cameras than Lightroom. And, everything I’m reading about version 3 is convincing me it only got better.
The biggest thing is of course the new Adobe Camera Raw, the processing engine at the heart of Lightroom (and Photoshop’s raw development, too). The new ACR is basically just all around an awesome engine, it seems, and most notably its noise reduction seems to now be bordering on the godlike. The importance of this is difficult to stress quite enough, especially for those of us who aren’t shooting these newest gen pro bodies with their better high ISO performance. Lightroom looks to be breathing some new life into some of our aging bodies, and I can’t wait to try re-editing a few of my E-3′s high ISO shots with the new engine.
The other biggest feature, for me, is one that I always found a bit curiously lacking in LR2: perspective correction. Now I no longer have to drop out to Photoshop to correct keystones, I can do it completely non-destructively in raw. How isn’t that brilliant, I ask you?
What else is there? Well…
Leica Formally Announces V-Lux 20
Well, you may have heard some nasty, ugly rumors that Leica had a new V-Lux 20 coming out. Well, now they’re pretty, perfectly-OK facts and so here we are to talk about the V-Lux 20 as best as we can.
So, other than the pretty Leica badge and the corresponding price point, what’s on display this time, you ask? Well, per the press release…
- 12x Leica DC-Vario-Elmar 1:3.3 – 4.9 / 4.1 – 49.2 mm ASPH (25-300 mm) zoom lens for focal lengths from super-wide to extreme telephoto
- 14.5 megapixel sensor
- Compact, simple and intuitive handling with optical image stabilization
- Optional manual settings available
- GPS module for the registration of geographical data of the location of every shot
- 720 p HD movie function with 12x zoom range
- Use with SD/SDHC cards and the next generation SXDC cards
- Packaged with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
- 2-year warranty
Availability? Sometime? Price? Looking 700ish. You know you want one, right?
Adobe Creative Suite 5 Official
So, also up today, Adobe has announced the fifth revision of it’s Creative Suite of software. I haven’t had time to parse what’s new in all of the varied programs (Illustrator, actually, is my own favorite), but I have been reading about the one I know all you shooters have been waiting for: Photoshop CS5.
So, what’s new then? Other than easier and enhanced selection methods, improved HDR options, improved B&W conversion, improved workflow and workspace management, mini-Bridge, new auto lens correction, and new physical paint like brushes (as opposed to the light-blending physics we’ve all been so used to)?
Well, there’s also content aware fill and puppet warp, both of which are basically voodoo magic and I won’t even attempt to describe how awesome they are, leaving that to the videos below. If you can watch those videos and reconcile those features with Photoshop’s current offerings (included content aware scaling, vanishing points, liquify, class-leading everything else editing, interface, etc, etc) and still not believe this is worth $700 bucks for a new copy with upgrade pricing available, then I don’t know what to say. This Photoshop seems to readily and easily justify it’s price tag with the new time-sving features and performance enhancements easily.
Adobe Readying CS5 Release
Apparently Adobe is getting geared up for the newest revision of its industry-leading Creative Suite, CS5. What’s going to be new? Your guess is as good as mine, but somehow those kids at Adobe always seem to think of something new. I know art boards in Illustrator CS4 complete revolutionized my web design work-flow, and content-aware scaling in Photoshop was one of those things you didn’t know you needed until it existed. So, I’m happy to see what un-asked-for improvements Adobe’s going to spring on me this year so in the future we’ll wonder how we ever lived without those usability options.
And no, I’m not joking. I’ve tried using other image softwares since I settled into CS2. I can’t. Heck, using CS2 now after using CS4 is an exercise in frustration as is.
So, the clock is ticking now until April 12th. Someone grab me some popcorn, would ya?
Potpourri
Aaand here we have a few exciting notes for those of us online and shutter happy. Anyone who so far has had the clam for an E-P1 can rejoice at a firmware update (1.1) which will improve the Continuous AF mode. Also, they’ve updated firmware for the 14-42 and 17mm pancake. To update your Oly gear, just connect the camera to your computer and boot up Olympus Master. Derek says, “Key here is: Follow the instructions on screen -don’t turn it off until it says you can turn it off!” Funny, he tells me I turn it off by walking into the room.
Also, Adobe has passed beyond the release candidate stage on Lightroom 2.5 and Camera Raw 5.5 -yup your D300s, D3000, DMC-GF1, and E-P1 RAW files are now supported. Literally, now. The DMC-FZ35 is supported as well, but only in the US version. As I check our sales history that’s less than 20 days from when the D300s and D3000 bodies hit our shelves to Adobe supporting their RAW.
Aaaand I’m going to fill out this survey: http://survey.pmai.org/cgi-bin/qwebcorporate.cgi?idx=QYAG8E because DPreview and PMA wants the Amatuer’s opinion on equipment and usage. While I might make my bread selling camera gear (and annoying Derek, Jody, et al) I certainly don’t do it taking pictures. C’mon guys, own up to having a day job and let them know we want 75 megapixel sensors that record zero noise at 180000 iso on a twenty minute exposure of the night sky. For under $1000. Bwahahahaha. Ok, it’s not really my hobby to try and skew survey data, but there is something (fundamentally broken, to be sure) in me which delights in the idea.
PhotoWalk on Thursday in Broadripple Park or surrounding environs. 7:15PM -and e-mail me if the calendar says 8:15PM ’cause that’ll be wrong.
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