Germain to this discussion, I just received notice from the Adobe Labs feed:
====
Lightroom 3.4 and Camera Raw 6.4 are now available as Release
Candidates on Adobe Labs. The ‘release candidate’ label indicates
that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional
community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our
customers. The final releases of Lightroom 3.4 and Camera Raw 6.4 may
have additional corrections or camera support.
New Camera Support in Lightroom 3.4 and Camera Raw 6.4 Release Candidates
• Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T3i / Kiss X5)
• Canon EOS 1100D (Rebel T3 / Kiss X50)
• Hasselblad H4D-40
• Olympus E-PL1s
• Olympus E-PL2
• Olympus XZ-1
• Samsung NX11
On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 5:05 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <[email protected]> wrote:
> Re-stating Stan's response (which is almost entirely correct) with a
> bit more expansion:
>
> - JPEG and/or TIFF file outputs from the cameras are not camera
> specific and do not need any updates to the image processing software.
> So all cameras producing JPEG and TIFF files are fully supported with
> all image processing applications.
>
> - Native raw file formats are camera-specific, excepting for those
> cameras which can produce Adobe .DNG format raw files* (like Pentax
> models since the K10D), and despite most manufacturers re-using the
> same file extension (eg: Canon uses .CR2 or .CRW, Nikon uses .NEF,
> Olympus uses .ORF, Pentax uses .PEF, etc etc). Because the decoding
> and rendering of raw format data requires model-specific camera
> information, an update from the vendors distributing raw image
> processing software is required for each new camera model introduced.
>
> - For Adobe software, this means that for "Photoshop CSx" or
> "Photoshop Elements version X" the Camera Raw plugin component needs
> to be updated, Lightroom (which embeds the same software bits as the
> Camera Raw plug-in internally, it does not use the actual Camera Raw
> plugin file at all) needs to be updated, and DNG Converter (the
> standalone utility that converts native raw formats to DNG format)
> needs to be updated.
>
> * DNG format raw files are supported in all versions of Lightroom, and
> all Photoshop CSx or Photoshop Elements v X used with any Camera Raw
> plug-in version 2.4 and later.
>
> - The most recent updates of Camera Raw are DNG Converter are v6.3 and
> Lightroom 3 is v3.3. These support all Olympus native raw ".ORF" files
> with the sole exception of the Olympus Pen E-PL2. This camera was
> available too recently for Adobe to include it in this revision
> release, it will surely be included in the next revision (v6.4 for
> Camera Raw and DNG Converter, v3.4 for Lightroom). Adobe releases
> revisions for updated raw support approximately once per quarter, with
> some variability; minor revision changes with raw compatibility
> updates included are normally free of charge.
>
> - The latest Adobe raw compatibility listing is available on this web page:
> http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html
>
> - You'll likely need Photoshop Elements v9 to take advantage of the
> very latest Camera Raw plug-in. I strongly recommend investing in
> Lightroom, however; I feel it is a better image processing environment
> for most photographer's needs which includes image management as well
> as image processing adjustment. Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are
> still very useful, but for more detail oriented image editing than is
> normally needed by photographic users.
>
> Stan mentioned Apple, so I'll include that here too as I'm intimately
> familiar with how Apple's Mac OS X and application software works.
>
> - Apple embeds raw image processing into a system framework (aka
> "dynamically linked software library") in order that any application
> written to use the OS services properly can utilize and perform raw
> processing easily. For example, the Preview and iPhoto applications,
> freely distributed with every distribution of Mac OS X, can both open,
> display and edit JPEG, TIFF, raw and various other image formats
> including DNG*, and Apple's premier pro-app for photography, Aperture,
> uses the same framework services as well. Apple's releases are not
> quite as frequent or as comprehensive as Adobe's, but they are
> reasonably pro-active about supporting new camera raw file formats.
> Note that, again, incremental updates to the framework adding new raw
> file support is generally distributed free of charge. A complete
> listing of Apple camera raw file support is available on this web
> page:
> http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1475
>
> * Note that Apple's support for DNG format is not as comprehensive nor
> as well-developed as Adobe's. They do not support all flavors of DNG
> files (missing particularly the linearly-represention RGB format) and
> often have some discrepancies between how they handle camera
> calibration between a native raw file and a DNG file converted from
> that same native raw file.
>
> - Regards Olympus support by Apple, it is the same currently as Adobe
> where all Olympus cameras producing .ORF files can be used with the
> sole exception of the Pen E-PL2. Again, it is most likely the case
> that the camera is simply too recently available for its native raw
> file to have been available for development and testing on the most
> recent update cycle.
>
> To the best of my knowledge, Microsoft does not have any built-in raw
> file image processing support in the various flavors of Windows.
>
> Godfrey
>
> On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 7:21 AM, Stan Halpin
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> On Mar 10, 2011, at 8:28 AM, Walter Hamler wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 6:57 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> "I won't buy anything until I can use the raw files in Lightroom."
>>>
>>> Thanks to all for the timely replies. Godders, from your comment on
>>> Lightroom I am assuming that the program doesn't address Oly Raw
>>> files?
>>> How about PS Elements in either ver 8 or 9? Anyone using the E-PL
>>> series cameras with the PS Elements for Raws?
>>>
>>> I use an older ver 7 and it will not open them and I cannot get an
>>> upgrade as far as I know. I have tried several times and it always
>>> fails.
>>>
>>> Thanks again!
>>>
>>> Walt
>>>
>>
>> I am not Godders but will give this a try. First, I know nothing about the
>> range of Olympus camera models, just the E-PL2. WRT the E-PL2, the camera
>> produces a RAW file labeled ORF. Which presumably is going to be different
>> from other Olympus ORF files just as the Pentax K-5 PEF is different from
>> the Pentax K-20 PEF. In other words, as far as I have seen, every single
>> camera produces its own unique flavor of RAW, though there must be
>> within-brand similarities across models from a given manufacturer. Second,
>> the Adobe family of products, which includes Photoshop Elements, Photoshop,
>> and Lightroom, all use a common software engine (ACR) to interpret the
>> various RAW flavors. As new cameras are introduced, each with its own new
>> variant on RAW, Adobe gets the information and expands ACR to be able to
>> read the new file versions. Apple goes through a similar process in updating
>> its system software to enable Preview, Aperture, Quicktime, etc. to be able
>> to read the new files. I expect MS has a similar process. In the case of
>> Adobe, it seems to take 1-3 months after camera introduction; in the case of
>> Apple it seems to take 4-6 months for Pentax cameras [which is one major
>> reason I use Lightroom rather than Aperture], but I am not sure about their
>> track record on other brands. Eventually it will happen.
>>
>> I am currently on LR3.3 which incorporates ACR6.3. I expect that, in the not
>> too distant future, I will get an update notice from Adobe which will give
>> me LR3.3 with ACR6.4. Maybe they'll call it LR3.4. If you are using PSE x.y,
>> which may be using ACR6.3, presumably you will be able to upgrade it to
>> ACR6.4 in the fullness of time. I do know that "older" versions of PSE are
>> not compatible with "newer" versions of ACR but I don't know which flavor of
>> PSE is the break point. If your PSE uses ACR6.3 now, you should be able to
>> read the ORF files once ACR6.4 comes out. If your PSE is stuck on version 5,
>> you'll need to go to a newer PSE which utilizes ACR6.y
>>
>> stan
--
Godfrey
godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
[email protected]
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
