Lightroom 3 Beta released

MarkR · October 22, 2009

ARKreations · October 22, 2009

Looks promising!
Hopefully they will add support for network based catalogs too!

Shima · October 22, 2009

Yeah just read that in my feeds, so I'm downloading right now

pathfinder · October 22, 2009

Interesting and encouraging.

From the forum, it does not sound like it is ready for prime time quite yet, though.

I will stick with LR 2 for now.

Richard · October 22, 2009

pathfinder wrote:

Interesting and encouraging.

From the forum, it does not sound like it is ready for prime time quite yet, though.

I will stick with LR 2 for now.

It's an early beta. Be sure to read the release notes so that you avoid unpleasant surprises.

divamum · October 22, 2009

Ack... does this mean they'll stop issuing raw updates for LR 2 soon? I was BANKING on that for when I get a 7d early next year. Don't know if I'll be able to afford to upgraded sw as well......

Richard · October 22, 2009

divamum wrote:

Ack... does this mean they'll stop issuing raw updates for LR 2 soon? I was BANKING on that for when I get a 7d early next year. Don't know if I'll be able to afford to upgraded sw as well......

Not till after 3 is out. I'm sure the 7D will be fully supported by the time you get one, so you shouldn't have any problem--until the 7DmkII comes out, of course

.

pathfinder · October 22, 2009

Richard wrote:

It's an early beta. Be sure to read the release notes so that you avoid unpleasant surprises.

As Richard said, the new capabilities of Lightroom 3 sound very encouraging, you really MUST read the Release Notes before downloading and installing the Beta version....

Failure to do so, may make you rather unhappy.

Like I said, the tone of the comments in the LR 3 forum has convinced be NOT to be a Beta tester with my files and my computer. If you have a separate spare computer, and separate backed up image files, and want to be a Beta tester, Have At It!!

colourbox · October 22, 2009

divamum wrote:

Ack... does this mean they'll stop issuing raw updates for LR 2 soon? I was BANKING on that for when I get a 7d early next year. Don't know if I'll be able to afford to upgraded sw as well......

If the history of the Lightroom 1 and Lightroom 2 beta programs is any guide, it could be months before this "early public beta" of Lightroom 3 will become final. It says "some of the features we have planned are not in this release" so if they are not that far yet, I would guess that it will take a while for Lightroom 3 to be released as final, which means, hopefully, that Lightroom 2 updates can't stop any time soon.

MarkR · October 22, 2009

Well, I've played with it.

I really can't see any difference in IQ or speed for most images (Process version 1 vs. 2.)

Color noise reduction is much improved -- no more strange colors clumped together. Of course, by turning off Luminance NR, it becomes an exercise in image testing and pixel peeping, rather than something usable.

Watermarking is something that should have been included a few versions ago. Glad it finally made it. The added grain feature is nice, but not, I think, a major selling point.

Fill Light and Recovery don't appear to be improved from LR2, which is a shame. I can still sometimes get odd halos using Fill Light -- something that does not occur in Aperture, LightZone or Bibble. And Recovery still lags behind some competitors as well. I hope these get addressed in the final version of 3.

I think the most interesting feature shown so far is the flickr integration. The ability to have posted comments from a Flickr account sync back strikes me as an interesting new direction for Adobe to be taking. Can't wait to see what becomes available for Smugmug ...

I'm left feeling kind of underwhelmed by this "beta", which, reading the release notes, is really more of a technology demo, anyway. I really hope there are better tools and refinements in the final version. If this "beta" were feature complete, I wouldn't see anything compelling enough to justify upgrading.

Philip Goh · October 23, 2009

I've really liked the way Lightroom 3 produces fine grain when processing high ISO photos. Version 2 produced coarser "blotches" which caused noise reduction software packages like Neat Image perform sub optimally (loads of artefacts).

LR v3 looks like it's going to give Bibble/DXO/RawTherapee a run for its money when working at a high ISO.

jdorseydesign · October 25, 2009

Can you install the lightroom 3 beta alongside lightroom 2 and try it out, or does it replace lightroom 2?

W.W. Webster · October 26, 2009

jdorseydesign wrote:

Can you install the lightroom 3 beta alongside lightroom 2 and try it out, or does it replace lightroom 2?

Read the release notes!

esc2476 · November 11, 2009

I was excited to try this out (as someone who has almost exclusive shot in jpg so far) and start shooting in RAW. The most advanced program I have to date is Elements.

Disappointed to see the 7D RAW files are not supported yet. How long does that usually take?

Crossbarphoto · November 13, 2009

jdorseydesign wrote:

Can you install the lightroom 3 beta alongside lightroom 2 and try it out, or does it replace lightroom 2?

Yes, they are separate installs and create separate catalogs. But, be very careful sharing images across multiple catalogs and versions of LR3.

I have a separate external HDD that I use when testing the features of LR3. If LR3 bonks for some reason, I haven't lost important data.

esc2476 · November 13, 2009

Is there a separate work-around if Lightroom does not support 7D RAW? Sorry for being such a n00b.

leftquark · November 17, 2009

esc2476 wrote:

Is there a separate work-around if Lightroom does not support 7D RAW? Sorry for being such a n00b.

Yes, I believe Adobe uploaded a pre-release of the Camera RAW that supported a version of the 7D RAW Files. You may be able to search on google and find it. Install Camera RAW and then tell Lightroom to use that version. I know that the guys at dpreview at least got a hold of it (see their review of the 7D).

Hope that helps.

-Leftquark

esc2476 · November 17, 2009

leftquark wrote:

Yes, I believe Adobe uploaded a pre-release of the Camera RAW that supported a version of the 7D RAW Files. You may be able to search on google and find it. Install Camera RAW and then tell Lightroom to use that version. I know that the guys at dpreview at least got a hold of it (see their review of the 7D).

Hope that helps.

-Leftquark

Thanks, that is a great help.

Ric Grupe · November 17, 2009

esc2476 wrote:

Disappointed to see the 7D RAW files are not supported yet. How long does that usually take?

Probably mid-December based on Adobe's past practices of a 3 month cycle in updating Camera Raw and LR.

The last update was September 14th.

joshhuntnm · December 21, 2009

so, changes made to a photo in LR3 beta won't show up in LR2?

Does it matter if the "automatically write changes into xmp" is checked.

oh, also, if matters, I have LR convert to dng

joshhuntnm · December 21, 2009

am i to understand this beta is, in essence something to play with, but not something that I should entrust to valuable files?

I shot a wedding tonight and would love to take advantage of the enhanced noise reduction, but don't want to take any chances with the files.

Candid Arts · December 21, 2009

In LR 2.6 that I just downloaded today, it has the 7D RAW update, as well as some others including the 1D mk IV.

So for your LR2 users, just update to version 2.6.

Kinda excited though for LR3 to be fully released. I love application updates. It's like a bunch of new features for free...

Ric Grupe · December 21, 2009

Candid Arts wrote:

Kinda excited though for LR3 to be fully released. I love application updates. It's like a bunch of new features for free...

What makes you think LR3 will be free...?...not from Adobe, anyway!

arodney · December 21, 2009

joshhuntnm wrote:

am i to understand this beta is, in essence something to play with, but not something that I should entrust to valuable files?

Yes! Plus you can’t upgrade your older catalog (yet). Don’t do anything that you can’t risk losing.

Tango · December 21, 2009

I played around with LR3, and I'm liking all the updates/upgrades, specifically "Import", I really like that layout!

I didn't notice any speed differences, but I thought LR2 was fast enough anyway... (and I dont have small folders either!, granted that most of it should be deleted! shhhh.)

also, I found the "grain" slidebar kinda cool, (for when its called for in my various artsy kicks)

Also, I've read that the sharpening tool is improved. (though I cant tell, maybe down the road somebody will be able to show examples...)

thomasjm · December 25, 2009

I heard that it is slow and takes a lot of computer resources. Has anyone who has tried LR3 found this to be the case?

ivar · December 25, 2009

LR3b release notes wrote:

Filters are now longer automatically “sticky” on folders or collections

I'm assuming 'now' should be 'no', but yay! I'm very happy with this! It's something that I requested from Adobe

W.W. Webster · December 25, 2009

thomasjm wrote:

I heard that it is slow and takes a lot of computer resources.

The beta release announcement by Adobe in Tom Hogarty's blog does not suggest this.

Lightroom has been stripped down to the "engine block" in order to rebuild a performance architecture that meets the needs of photographers with growing image collections and increasing megapixels.

In my limited use of the beta alongside my extensive use of v2.x I've noticed no performance issues to suggest v3.0 will be any more resource-hungry.

wildviper · January 5, 2010

So let's see, no Network support yet huh???

Ok, Adobe, let's get this straight. We put Man on Moon. You can't do network support in 2009/2010???

You say, "Database corruption" will happen. Really? How are all these database driven websites running??? How are other programs handling networks?? You are LYING to us.

The reason network support isn't there, is because you want to protect your profits and not pay for licenses to bigger databases. You can use MySQL you know. Lot cheaper than Oracle or others.

And, you can also charge us a bit more for a "networked" version...kinda, your CS4 Extended and that.

I find this just purely retarded. So many people are requesting this feature, but to no avail.

CatOne · January 5, 2010

Fine, you want asset management support. Maybe multi-user simultaneous access to the catalog. Nice!

But that's not necessarily what they're trying to do with LR. It may be what YOU want, but it's not studio management software.

wildviper · January 5, 2010

CatOne wrote:

Fine, you want asset management support. Maybe multi-user simultaneous access to the catalog. Nice!

But that's not necessarily what they're trying to do with LR. It may be what YOU want, but it's not studio management software.

Its not just me who wants this. A lot of people want this or will use this if it is available to them.

It is not what they are "trying" to do???? Really? So, being able to import, keyword, build catalogs, collections and so on is not "management"??? Check Adobe's own description of what Lightroom is?? Here you go:

Simplify photography from shoot to finish

Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 software is essential for today's digital photography workflow. Now you can quickly import, process, manage, and showcase your images — from one shot to an entire shoot. With Lightroom 2, you spend less time in front of the computer and more time behind the lens

Thanks for your support of Adobe, but be real...THIS is what a lot of people want and this is supposed to be the software to manage your picture collections. Of course, if you are an "Ad agency", you use stuff like Extensis and so on. This is geared towards smaller professional photographers.

Also, how about the ability to take a bunch of pictures and work on them on the laptop, then sync them "seamlessly" with your desktop?? Yes, there is a "workaround" to this, but it is not as easy as a click or two.

Don't get me wrong, I like LR and use it, but there are basics that they have missed in search of more exotic stuff.

Lightroom 3 Beta released

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