Adobe has released official updates to Lightroom 3 and Photoshop to add support for several new cameras and quash a few bugs. Lightroom runs faster now, too!
Adobe’s official updates include Lightroom 3.5; Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) 6.5 for Photoshop and Elements; and Digital Negative (DNG) Converter 6.5.
If you’re in a hurry, click here to jump to the download links at the end of this article. Otherwise, read on for the full scoop.
Support For New Cameras
If you shoot raw, you can now use Lightroom to process images from a bunch of new cameras.
As the proud owner of a brand new Olympus PEN E-P3 camera, I’ve been waiting for this update. As usual, the previous version of Lightroom does not support the E-P3’s raw files. The new version does. Below, I’ve provided links to the E-P3 and a few other cameras worth considering.
Bye the way, I’ll soon be publishing a full review of the Olympus E-P3. If you don’t want to miss it, subscribe to PhotoCitizen. It’s free. Or become a fan of my Facebook page to keep up to date.
Here’s the list of new cameras supported by Lightroom 3.5 :
- Fuji FinePix F600EXR
- Hasselblad H4D-60
- Leaf Aptus II 12
- Leaf Aptus II 12R
- Nikon Coolpix P7100
- Olympus E-P3
- Olympus E-PL3
- Olympus E-PM1
- Panasonic DMC-FZ150
- Panasonic DMC-G3
- Panasonic DMC-GF3
- Pentax Q
- Phase One IQ140
- Phase One IQ160
- Phase One IQ180
- Phase One P40+
- Phase One P65+
- Ricoh GXR MOUNT A12
- Sony Alpha NEX-C3
- Sony Alpha NEX-5N
- Sony SLT-A35
- Sony SLT-A65
- Sony SLT-A77
What’s New In Lightroom 3.5?
Besides raw support for several new cameras, Lightroom 3.5 adds new lens profiles to automatically remove lens distortion and fixes some bugs. To read everything Adobe has to say about Lightroom 3.5, read the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.5 Readme PDF.
New Lens Profiles
Lens profiles allow Lightroom to correct distortion and other lens defects. They’re used in the Develop module’s “Lens Correction” panel.
Lens Profiles
The cool part is that when you activate “Enable Profile Corrections,” Lightroom recognizes the lens that was used and automatically applies the correct profile.
Here’s a list of the new lens profiles from Adobe’s Lightroom Journal blog:
For Nikon cameras:
- Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4G
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G [Note: This is the best deal: sharp, fast and cheap.]
- SIGMA APO 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
For Canon cameras:
For Sony cameras:
- SIGMA 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
- TAMRON 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II PZD B008S
- TAMRON SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di USD A005S
For Hasselblad cameras:
- Hasselblad HC 2.2/100
- Hasselblad HC 2.8/80
- Hasselblad HC 3.2/150
- Hasselblad HC 3.2/150N
- Hasselblad HC 3.5/35
- Hasselblad HC 3.5/50-II
- Hasselblad HC 3.5/50
- Hasselblad HC 3.5-4.5/50-110
- Hasselblad HC 4/210
- Hasselblad HC 4.5/300
- Hasselblad HC Macro 4/120-II
- Hasselblad HC Macro 4/120
- Hasselblad HCD 4/28
- Hasselblad HCD 4-5.6/35-90
For Pentax cameras:
- PENTAX 01 Standard Prime
- PENTAX 02 Standard Zoom
- SIGMA 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
Bug Fixes
As with any software, there are always bugs. Here’s what Adobe says about those that they’ve fixed in this release (with the most important fixes listed first):
- Lightroom 3.2 introduced preview cache inefficiencies. [Note: Lightroom 3.5 seems faster on my Windows 7 computer with a catalog containing over 71,000 images. This is especially noticeable when Lightroom is first opened.]
- On Mac OS X 10.7, the Lightroom import dialog did not properly display network volumes.
- Develop load time performance was inconsistent.
- After editing the capture time in Lightroom, “Date Time Digitized” was incorrectly changed. (Only “Date Time Original” should be modified).
- On Windows computers, Lightroom would interpret the wrong time zone.
- Using the arrow keys to modify image adjustment settings lacked responsiveness.
- Saving metadata to a JPEG file in Lightroom 3.4 could have caused Lightroom to quit unexpectedly.
- A Publish Collection targeting a hard drive on Windows would not behave properly if the designated folder was deleted from hard drive.
- Changing Lightroom’s date created field to a date prior to 1933 resulted in unexpected values.
- GPS Altitude metadata was incorrectly excluded from files converted to DNG or exported as DNG files from Lightroom 3.4.1.
- For non-English language operating systems, folder names in the import dialog may not have been translating properly.
- When exporting images with the “Write Keywords as Lightroom Hierarchy” enabled, keywords with “Include on Export” deselected would still have been included on export.
- A Publish Collection in Lightroom 3.4 set to publish original files would fail to include XMP files for proprietary raw formats.
- RECONYX images did not open properly in Lightroom 3.4.
- When applying automatic lens profile correction, Lightroom 3.4 did not automatically recognize the following lens: “Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED.”
- Using the plus or minus key to increment Develop Module parameters did not work properly on the Mac.
- The Limit File Size export option was incorrectly including EXIF metadata on export when the Minimize Embedded Metadata option was selected.
- On Windows computers, using Shift + Scroll wheel to adjust the Adjustment Brush feather size, the expected result of the scroll wheel movement was reversed.
- Lightroom would not provide the correct error message when attempting to delete photos published to Facebook.
- Lightroom would experience tether capture failures on computers utilizing OS X 10.6.8 and 10.7.
Bugs NOT Fixed
Adobe refers to these as known issues. They’ve been causing problems for quite a while, so I don’t understand why they haven’t fixed them yet:
- Burning exported images to disc is not available for the Lightroom 64-bit Windows application.
- Lightroom performance can be impacted when the Window’s Recycle Bin contains thousands of files.
- Lightroom may not automatically launch an import dialog when a memory card is attached to a Windows Vista computer. Please select the Import button in the Library and select the attached card reader to begin the import.
- Printing watermarked output on a Japanese language 64-bit system can cause Lightroom to crash.
Downloads
If Lightroom didn’t automatically notify you of the new 3.5 update, here are the links: Lightroom 3.5 update for Windows and Lightroom 3.5 update for Mac.
For Photoshop users, you can download the Camera Raw 6.5 update using these links: Camera Raw 6.5 update for Windows and Camera Raw 6.5 update for Mac.
Photoshop Elements users, get your updates here (you’ll have to scroll down the page a bit once it opens): Camera Raw 6.5 update for Elements.
If you just want to convert your raw files, you can download the free Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) converter update here: Adobe DNG Converter 6.5 for Windows and Adobe DNG Converter 6.5 update for Mac.
Upgrade
If you’re still using Adobe Lightroom 1 or 2, download your upgrade today for only $99 here: Adobe Lightroom 3.
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