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Adobe issues Camera Raw v8.1 and DNG Converter 'release candidates'

May 16, 2013 at 01:08:41 GMT

LENS NEWS ADOBE-CAMERA-RAW DNG

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Adobe has issued a 'release candidates' of Adobe Camera Raw 8.1 and DNG Converter 8.1 on its Adobe Labs site. The release is the first version of ACR designed to work with Photoshop CC but, as promised, is also compatible with Photoshop CS6. CS6 users will only gain camera compatibility, not any of the functions added in ACR 8 (and Lightroom 5), such as the perspective-correcting 'Upright' tool or the advanced healing brush. The latest version brings support for 7 additional cameras along with 16 lens profiles.

As always, Adobe's 'Release Candidate' badge indicates that the support is well tested but could benefit from additional input from users before it is formally released.

New Camera Support in the Camera Raw 8.1 Release Candidate

Hasselblad H5D-60
Olympus PEN E-P5
Olympus PEN E-PL6
Phase One IQ260*
Pentax Ricoh GR
Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G6
Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LF1

* denotes preliminary support

Click here to find out more and download Adobe Camera Raw v8.1 or DNG Converter Release Candidates

Comments

Total comments: 83

If you subscribe to Adobe CC you are either a professional offing the cost to the customer or a MUG.

If you want to see the REAL Adobe look at the ACR (RAW) 8.1 which is limited for Retail Disk CS6 owners and this software is STILL being sold!!!!!

How mean and unprofessional is that?

As soon as you are 'locked-in; to Creative Cloud Adobe will have you at their mercy? Can you afford to reject their frequent monthly price rises? Get CS6 on disk now and forget the Mickey Mouse improvements.

Be Smart!

0 upvotes

adobe bill every month. cell bill every month. gas bill every month. water bill every month . electric bill every month . WAIT <> WHEN DID adobe get in to this scam ??? I need to cut back,, so I will start with adobe first. Then I will loose the overpriced cell, and get some one else. I will get a better gas milage car. Maybe go solar, That is a good start .. But loosing adobe is my first and favorite one !!

0 upvotes

abobe SUCKS abobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKSabobe SUCKS

0 upvotes

So it misses out on perspective control? if you need it, don't worry, Shift-N is free and does an excellent job. Works in an instant, simply press Auto Adjust, or for more control settings can be adjusted.

1 upvote

As a good will gesture and in consideration for...
1) those that were not expecting to be buying into a dead end product and have spent a lot of money on upgrades on the understanding that there would be a future CS7, 8, 9
2) those that were misled by the "only upgrade on version ahead" policy that was introduced, then modified then made redundant.
...it would be nice if we could get the full ACR8 versions in CS6. Call it a parting gift so those that feel cheated get that as a sweetner. Maybe then we will see if you hold you promise about Lightroom and buy into that down the road when it isn't quite so slow compared to ACR.
As it is I won't buy anything by Adobe.

2 upvotes

Would it be correct to say that for CS6 users there's no advantage in upgrading to ACR 8.1 unless you have a new camera that is not supported by ACR? I realize that the new features are missing, but are there improvemens in existing features? Specifically, does ACR 8.1-for-CS6-users include the improved Smart Sharpen?

0 upvotes

ACR has it's own sharpening. The improved smart sharpen is a filter inside photoshop--aka, something completely different.

In short: no.

0 upvotes

Adobe take note, our photo's are very important to us. Very. And that's no small thing. Not to us.

Our software is not... it's expendable. If there is a risk that we cannot see/process/print our photo's because of you, you will lose us. And our wallets.

We'll see how this plays out.

9 upvotes

I really hope a company with integrity toward its customer base advances and becomes a powerhouse. I despise being treated like an ATM.

24 upvotes

So with ACR 8.1, LR5 no longer displays an 'error' message when jumping (editing) a LR image in PS CS6, good news.
But, the new ACR 8.1 is CRIPPLED for CS6 users as it DOES NOT include the new ACR 8 features. Thank you Adobe.
Now I am 'Re-Thinking' my Workflow:
Import NEF's using Nikon Transfer 2,
Photo Mechanic to make my selects,
Nikon Capture NX2 to convert to TIF's [which I have been doing for selected images, similar to Vincent Versace], and
Perfect Photo Suite 7 to complete my Post work.
It will be hard and will take some time to get used to this method, but who said Divorce was gonna be easy.
Good-Bye Adobe.
.

10 upvotes

Well what do you know? raping the people that helped make them who they are, now that is business savvy right? I hope Adobe get what they deserve, a complete desertion of all existing clients, maybe then they will get the message!

21 upvotes

Call the wambulance....

1 upvote

Yep, here we go. CS6 perpetual licensees get the shaft. Thanks Adobe, for treating owners of your *current version* flagship software as second-class citizens.
I have, over the years, been an unflagging supporter of how Adobe has conducted their customer support. No more.

23 upvotes

Boycott Adobe! They think nothing of their once loyal customer base and are trying to make obscene profits with their "Creative Cloud Subsription only extortion scheme. If enough photographers refuse to buy the monthly subscription for Photoshop, they will ultimately see the stupidity of their greed. The Wall Street 1% fever seems to have spread to Adobe - shame on those fools.

25 upvotes

Greedy Adobe!
Adobe used the tactic to force users upgrade by not adding new camera support to older versions of ACR, saying something along the line that it couldn't be done. Now ACR8.1, which works backward with CS6, proves Adobe has been lying all along.

20 upvotes

Who knows perhaps there was some change that made it impossible for ACR 6 to work with say CS4. So the lying accusation is a bit extreme.

Adobe could solve some of this ill will by simply selling ACR as a standalone perpetual license, same with Bridge.

1 upvote

Excellent suggestion!!
I am happy with my CS5 /LR4 functionality and would appreciate ACR being separately licensed.
I am thinking perhaps $50/yr is fair to cover the development and support costs.

0 upvotes

15000+ signatures on the Anti-Adobe CC petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/adobe-systems-incorporated-eliminate-the-mandatory-creative-cloud-subscription-model

Not sure how many it will take or whether their heads are so buried in the sand we will have to wait till the accountants point out their error.

12 upvotes

15 k signatures at $200 (per Upgrade) = 3 Mill....
15 k Signatures at $200 (PS upgrades + 80 LR upgrades) = 4.2 Million
Not enough.... they may pay attention once reaches 100 million

8 upvotes

^^^^ GOOD POINT

2 upvotes

When the trust is gone

"15 k signatures at $200 (per Upgrade) = 3 Mill....
15 k Signatures at $200 (PS upgrades + 80 LR upgrades) = 4.2 Million
Not enough.... they may pay attention once reaches 100 million"

Yeah but 15 k signatures may well mean well over 150 k pi***d off customers, who are calling it the quits.
150 k customers at $200 (per Upgrade) = 30 million
and what if it is already 1500 k pi****d customers who are voting just with their wallets? 300 million. And there might well be more.

And what if this all really drives down the reputation of the company's all software, when the trust is gone it is gone.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

2 upvotes

Nearly at 20,000 now..

0 upvotes

Has anyone tried OnOne Software Perfect Photo Suite

http://www.ononesoftware.com/products/suite7/?utm_campaign=ltr_0513&utm_source=ltr_0513&utm_medium=email

Seems to me that if I process my RAWs in LR or even DPP, save them as TIFF, then I could take them to Perfect Photo Suite and do 95% of what I normally do in PS.

I have used their free Photo Effects and they are truly awesome as they support Layers and Masks... I also like the fact that it can run as a stand alone app and does not require PS or LR.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 6 minutes after posting

1 upvote

tried it - don't like their marketing message.. too low brow for me!

1 upvote

Re-Thinking my Workflow. Import NEF's using Nikon Transfer 2, Photo Mechanic to make my selects, Nikon Capture NX2 to convert to TIF's, and Perfect Photo 7 to complete my Post work. It will be hard and will take some time to get used to this method, but who said Divorce was gonna be easy. Good-Bye Adobe ...

0 upvotes

I have it and like it. It's more for enhancing images like contrast, bringing out detail, sharpening, converting to BW. I've made some presets and they have some HDR presets and different looks you can try. They have good tutorials, but not really for compositing like photoshop is.

1 upvote

Same here Gabiphoto, I will give PaintShopPro a try and will see....
I already tried an old version a while ago just because I was curious...
At that time it was just for the fun, but today it's another story and I guess (hope) they improved the "sluggish" (and yes it was) software in the meantime.
I'm pretty sure Corel is very happy about what Adobe did.
Of course most professionals need Photoshop but for all other enthusiasts, PaintShopPro is may be a not so bad alternative...

3 upvotes

Functionally speaking, PSP is very good! not PS, but more than enough, I installed it on a Win 7 64 bit and seemed sluggish some times. I believe is due to the fact that it is a 32 bit app, but I may be wrong. I hope Corel ports it to 64 bit ASAP...

1 upvote

Oh great, not, Adobe has switched from ACR 7 to ACR 8 so that means these idiots will stop support for ACR 8 (in PhotoShop CS6) in probably less than 12 months.

Way to anger more people Adobe.

And another reason to look for serious raw extraction alternatives, like CaptureOne.

9 upvotes

The value of good will in the overall valuation of a company has always been somewhat etherial — its share of the whole is up to the individual to assess.

I have a feeling that Adobe will soon find the absolute value of good will in the overall scheme of things.

I think they underweighted it.

New Coke, anyone?

1 upvote

Why the f has DPReview added this f'ing forced GearCrap signin to in middle of log-in?

This is new in the last 10 hours, stop this dung.

3 upvotes

It angers me how adobe toys with it's customers, giving tether to lightroom but not the 700 dollar CS6. It holds abilities from one so another will be purchased. Adobe has become an enemy. I hope their corporate greed ends in bankruptcy.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 2 minutes after posting

22 upvotes

This has no meaning for me as a professional photographer.

Adios Adobe.

27 upvotes

I think I'll give Corel Paint Shop Pro X5 Ultimate a try !

1 upvote

ahhh thank heavens for warez sites..oops did i say that aloud :P

4 upvotes

Ah. The if you can't afford it steal it school of thought.

2 upvotes

well if you cant afford it then theyre not losing a sale. its only when you can afford it that it matters ;)

8 upvotes

The usual sad argument of people who use priated (ie stolen) software.

Would you be happy with the same argument if someone used your images without paying you?

3 upvotes

And this is why creative loud exists.

2 upvotes

>
By BaldCol (7 hours ago)
The usual sad argument of people who use priated (ie stolen) software. Would you be happy with the same argument if someone used your images without paying you?

Funny that with out piracy Adobe and MS wouldn't not be in their monopoly position right now.

Every time someone who never would have bought the software uses it and talks about it its free advertizing.

And yes if people don't use my photos to make money off them I wouldn't care. Personally I'd put in water marks and happily offer low rez images. For every image that shows my water mark its free advertising.

Now pirating and selling their software to make money is different then pirating because you would have never bought it in the first place.

2 upvotes

Software is not stolen because the thief does not own the software after the theft. Adobe's own logic !

0 upvotes

QuarterToDoom

"Every time someone who never would have bought the software uses it and talks about it its free advertizing."

Yes and then that person goes to the same site where their friend illegally downloaded it from in the first place so still no sale.

0 upvotes

Still no Sigma SD1/DPx Merrill support. Grrrrr.

2 upvotes

This is professional software, for professional grade cameras. Today that means "anything with a Bayer pattern sensor".

0 upvotes

I've now purchased a DP2M. Image quality is compatible with my Canon 5DII - making the Sigma more 'professional grade' than most of the cameras that ACR supports.

1 upvote

Compatible? Do you mean "comparable"?

If you were trying to say "comparable", do you actually mean at parity? No, the DP2M is NOT at parity for usability or image quality. Especially not when you crank the ISO. And especially not when you need more than one focal length.

The DP2 is a point and shoot while the 5Dmkii is a DSLR. They aren't any more comparable than apples and oranges.

0 upvotes

Beware that the BETA will STOP working overtime.

Do NOT install this version UNLESS you want to be LOCKED in by Adobes Cash Cow

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 4 minutes after posting

15 upvotes

Not true. The beta will work indefinitely, but it will add a nag screen at expiration. That can slow down some people's workflow, but it's not a complete show stopper.

0 upvotes

Adobe, you are so clever.

Indeed - too clever.

Yes, one can be too clever. So clever that it is dumb!

0 upvotes

cc is----- Continuous Charge.

19 upvotes

Crisis Cloud

2 upvotes

LOL, I think CC is credit card.

Send us your credit card so we can charge on it forever!!!

8 upvotes

Creative Cash !

1 upvote

What's an Adobe?

7 upvotes

a turn to the wrong side with full speed.

5 upvotes

According to the dictionary, it's a wet heavy clay soil that sucks you in and is almost devoid of nutrients.

13 upvotes

Our agency upgraded last October to several Creative Suites CS6 and paid thousands of Euros. Now we can't upgrade camera RAW? Just fu.. camera addings for us?
Adobe you are a f..joke and I hope you fail. You deserve the Kodak moment!
I guess you get flamethrowered at Facebook again today. I'm glad we ordered Capture One.

Comment edited 25 seconds after posting

15 upvotes

This update works perfectly for CS6. You won't get the CS7 features in CS6. The only change is that CS7 is now subscription based. But when CS7 was a normal version, you still wouldn't get those features in CS6!

3 upvotes

That's no excuse! How many updates did we get through a CS 1-5 lifecycle? Many and a lot of good things. How many updates did we get through the CS6 lifecycle? Minor stuff which was unimprtant anyway. They were waiting until the CC-thingy was on air and then you only get the sweet candy just with the subscription model. Yeah right!

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 7 minutes after posting

8 upvotes

Um...CS6 is getting near the end of it's lifecycle and even if Creative Cloud didn't exist, you wouldn't get any major updates until CS7...just like when you went from CS1 to CS2, or CS2 to CS3 etc. There were only a few updates in between the paid updates on all those versions just as it was for CS5 to CS6 and now with CS6.

And good luck with Capture One. You DO realize that Capture One is mostly a replacement for just Lightroom/Camera Raw, yes? It's not a Photoshop replacement. There IS no Photoshop replacement. I know that's a bitter pill to swallow.

Also, if this is your agency that's doing the upgrades then it shouldn't be a huge problem. It's just the cost of doing business. If you're a hobbiest or amateur, I can see this being hard financially on you. But for a business it goes to just a monthly expense like anything else like electricity and rent. This shouldn't be a problem. Also, if Adobe fails and becomes another Kodak, how will your agency fair? What will you use then?

3 upvotes

ksgant:

Sure CaptureOne looks promising as a non-subscription raw converter. For those who own the PhotoShop C6 license it's not like PhotoShop C6 or Bridge is going to stop working. One won't have the absolute latest features, who cares, and so raws won't display in Bridge. For those with newer cameras (new May 2014) that's a bit of a problem.

Now some problems with your other assertion:

I may buy my electricity on a monthly basis, given that I use more in the summer, but I don't buy the air conditioner or fridge on a monthly basis and if I were to take the AC unit to a different house with electricity then the machine would work.

So this whole "it's just like the electric bill" is offensive and deeply in accurate. It's not even like the cable bill, after all in that case the TV still works and I can watch DVDs or broadcast on it. Adobe CC is like subscribing to something that's cable only like HBO.

Adobe sure has motivated the creation and search for an Photoshop replacement.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 2 minutes after posting

2 upvotes

My assertion that it's a monthly bill is aimed for professionals. For me it's a simple matter of transferring it as a business expense at the end of the year for taxes. Seriously, it's not even a blip on the radar in the cost of me doing business. I certainly didn't mean to "offend" you in any way and I thought I was being clear about the difference between business use and personal use and was mainly addressing Lea5 as he was saying it was for his agency.

As I said, if you're simply using Photoshop for personal use, this obviously wouldn't work out for you or justify making that monthly expense. They'll need to rethink how people that only occasionally need Photoshop to use it. In the end, the way they used to do their business model of just selling packaged software is probably the best way to go for everyone. Use it everyday or stick it in a drawer and use it once a month both would be covered....just like it used to be.

Comment edited 48 seconds after posting

5 upvotes

I talked about Camera RAW not Photoshop, so Capture One is a great alternative. I used it for our MF digital backs, switched in 2007 to Lightroom and we will start to use Capture One 7 again.

0 upvotes

ksgant:

This also raises the cost of doing business, writing the cost of your taxes is not the same as a tax credit. Also this stupidity means that the computers running the software at the business have to have a web connection.

0 upvotes

Sadly I have to agree...
Been working with Photoshop since 1995, the version then was 3,5.
This latest move by Adobe is very sad, it means I will not be able to upgrade Camera Raw in my recently bought CS6.
If Adobe can turn their back on me, then I will feel free to look elsewhere!

3 upvotes

Try shooting JPG ,, 99 per cent as good as Raw. A lot less work ,, and I find it JUST BETTER than RAW.. Also JUST dont buy adobe . NoMAM NO More adobe MODE.

2 upvotes

Every time I'm tempted to go back to JPG I remember the table in this article:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/u-raw-files.shtml.

Even though JPGs can look very very good these days, you lose a lot of subtle levels in them over RAW. For snapshots, or web use that may not matter at all - but for anything you really want to be able to process to get the best out of, that detail is gone. You can "paint it back in" if you're good enough, but you're then becoming a digital artist, not a photographer.

JPG has it's place for sure - but RAW cannot be thrown away for the images that really matter.

If you look at the table you'll realise in the fine details, it's not even 50% as good let alone 99% as good. It's a trick of the eye. It may be "99% good enough" but it is nowhere near that close in the bits and bytes

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

5 upvotes

I shoot with my D800E RAW and JPG same time. But I use always JPGs, even in print, cause JPGs made by the D800 are fantastic. I just use the RAW file when I screwed things up.

0 upvotes

tell the truth:

With jpgs: changing white balance is next to impossible, nearly the same with exposure, noise is much more difficult to control. Then there's the subtle colour work one can't do.

So you have a very broad, inaccurate, definition of "99 %".

It's more like sometimes jpegs work right out of the camera, and when they don't well skip it.

Your claims belie your screen-name.

2 upvotes

JPEG cuts information down to the point that an image still looks good but is extremely difficult to edit. JPEG isn't as good as RAW by any stretch of the imagination....it was designed as a universal standard that wouldn't take up much of the day's very, very expensive memory. This is a discussion that could go on and on in post after post, and it has on many occasions and in many forums here.

1 upvote

howardroark:

Given that the original post claimed that jpgs are 99 percent of raws, I sure hope this "discussion" doesn't go on.

If you're comfortable working with pretty easy to use software, have the time, and have space on the flash card, shoot raw. (I get that you know all this.)

Comment edited 51 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

adobe SUCKS ,, WILL NOT NEED IT !! Not supporting adobe . NoMAM No MORE adobe MODE ..

5 upvotes

Adobe? We'll each make our own choices - but as for me, I can't be bothered with them any more. ACR, PS, LR, DNG Converter - they've been my mainstay for 15 years plus. But I just don't trust Adobe anymore - no matter what soothing noises they are now making. So I've already identified and put in place alternatives in my workflow. No hard feelings - and thanks for the memories anyway.

10 upvotes

I know what you guys mean. I used to be the first to jump on a new Photoshop. I mainly use Camera Raw so any enhancements there are a big deal to me.

Suddenly it's not such a big deal anymore. Instead of planning on an immediate PS upgrade for Mac and a later one for Windows I'm counting on not spending my money.

15 upvotes

Ado-who?? Dn-what? Yawn....

3 upvotes

Pass.

3 upvotes

Who cares. I urge users to look elsewhere. I am, and have found support from others. I predict DXo and others to fill the gap extremely fast.

16 upvotes

The people who make a living using this software.

Comment edited 11 seconds after posting

6 upvotes

The people who make a living using this software...should start investigating whether they can make a living off other options.
(in other words, looking at products that don't go into time-bomb mode once you lose your internet connection)

24 upvotes

@chlamchowder
Why ? Just bc YOU don't like Adobe ???

2 upvotes

Yeah its JUST him, have you not been on dp for a while ?

6 upvotes

Does not matter if it's just him or million others, they don't know what others should do. I'm sure companies are calculating what kind of ROI they get staying with Adobe or switching to something else.

3 upvotes

Oh, I don't disagree, and I'm looking at other options. But that no-one cares is disingenuous.

0 upvotes

Total comments: 83


Adobe expands DNG format with inclusion of smaller, Lossy DNG option Oct 5, 2012	Fujifilm X-series studio comparisons updated with new ACR 7.4 raw process Apr 5, 2013	Adobe releases Lightroom 4.4 and Adobe Camera Raw 7.4 Apr 3, 2013	Adobe updated Raw support for Fujifilm X-Trans tested Feb 26, 2013

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