dSLR Dad

Adobe has upgraded Photoshop Lightroom to version 2.6. You can download the free updates for both Windows and Macintosh from Adobe. Support for the following cameras has been added from Lightroom 2.5 to 2.6:

• Canon EOS 1D Mark IV
• Canon EOS 7D
• Canon PowerShot G11
• Canon PowerShot S90
• Nikon D3s
• Olympus E-P2
• Panasonic DMC-FZ38
• Pentax K-x
• Sigma DP1s
• Sony A500
• Sony A550
• Sony A850

Further Windows and Macintosh software enhancements in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.6 include: (more…)

Adobe has upgraded Photoshop Lightroom to version 2.5. You can download the free updates for both Windows and Macintosh from Adobe. Support for the following cameras has been added from Lightroom 2.4 to 2.5:

• Nikon D300s
• Nikon D3000
• Olympus PEN E-P1
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1

Further Windows and Macintosh software enhancements in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.5 include:

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It has been a long time coming, and it happened with very little fanfare, but JPEG XR has officially become a standard:

JPEG XR (ISO/IEC 29199-2) is now an International Standard and also an ITU-T Recommendation (T.832). New work has been started to enable the use of JPEG XR image coding within the JPIP protocol, which allows interactive browsing of networked images. The Motion JPEG XR specification for support of video sequences is currently approaching the Final Committee Draft phase of the ISO/IEC approval process. WG 1 is pleased to note the successful completion of JPEG XR verification testing experiments for low dynamic range images.

Now I’m sure most of you are wondering: “What the heck is JPEG XR and why should I care?”  Well, to answer that question, you need a little bit of history…

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Adobe has upgraded Photoshop Lightroom to version 2.4. You can download the free updates for both Windows and Macintosh versions from Adobe. Support for the following cameras has been added from Lightroom 2.3 to 2.4:

• Canon EOS 500D/Rebel T1i
• Canon PowerShot SX1 IS
• Nikon D5000
• Olympus E-450
• Olympus E-620
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
• Pentax K-7
• Sigma DP2
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A230
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A330
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A380

Further Windows and Macintosh software enhancements in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4 include: (more…)

Apple has released version 2.6 of the Digital Camera RAW Compatibility (download here). According to Apple, this update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2, iPhoto ‘08, and iPhoto ‘09 for the following cameras:

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Canon and has recently released the version 1.5 update to their RAW-format Codec plug-in for Windows Vista (64-bit version is not supported) and XP. This software plug-in will allow you to view and work with Canon RAW (*.CR2 files) images just like JPEG files. Changes and corrections made from Canon RAW Codec 1.4.1 include:

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Adobe has released downloads of Camera RAW version 5.3 (Mac OS and Windows).  Support for the following cameras has been added from Camera Raw 5.2 to 5.3:

• Nikon D3x
• Olympus E-30

As always, you can visit the Adobe Camera RAW file support page for a complete list of supported cameras.  The Camera Raw 5.3 plug-in is not compatible with versions of Photoshop earlier than Photoshop CS4, versions of Photoshop Elements earlier than Photoshop Elements 6.0, or versions of Adobe Premiere Elements earlier than 4.0.

Apple has released version 2.5 of the Digital Camera RAW Compatibility (download here). According to Apple, this update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2, iPhoto ‘08, and iPhoto ‘09 for the following cameras:

• Nikon D3X
• Epson R-D1x

It also addresses “issues” related to specific cameras and overall stability. And that’s all they have to say about that.  You can download the update from Apple here.

Adobe has upgraded Photoshop Lightroom to version 2.3. You can download the free updates for both Windows and Macintosh versions from Adobe. Support for the following cameras has been added from Lightroom 2.2 to 2.3:

• Nikon D3x
• Olympus E-30

Further Windows and Macintosh software enhancements in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 include:

• In the Windows 64-bit version of Lightroom an sFTP upload process could cause Lightroom to crash.
• Slideshows could return to the first image randomly during playback.
• A memory leak could cause Lightroom to crash while attempting to process files with local adjustments.
• Canon EOS 5D Mk II sRAW files could process with artifacts in Lightroom 2.2.
• Lightroom 2.2 could cause disc burning to fail for Windows customers.
• Attempting to undo(CTRL-Z) a single step in Lightroom 2.2 on Windows could cause a series of previous actions to be undone.

Please download the Lightroom 2.3 ReadMe file (pdf link) for additional details.  You can also learn more at the dSLR Dad Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Resource Guide.

Canon has issued firmware update version 1.0.7 for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II dSLR Camera.  This firmware change is supposed to help with both the black dot and banding issues:

It improves and mitigates the following image quality phenomena.

1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)When shooting night scenes, the right side of point light sources (such as lights from building windows) may become black. The phenomenon may become visible if the images are enlarged to 100% or greater on a monitor or if extremely large prints of the images are made. This firmware improves and mitigates this phenomenon.
2. Vertical banding noiseIf the recording format is set to sRAW1, vertical banding noise may become visible depending on the camera settings, subject, and background. The firmware improves and mitigates this phenomenon.

This firmware revision also requires a software update to the Digital Photo Professional and Picture Style Editor software:

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