AppleInsider Staff
Adobe on Friday pushed out release candidates for Camera Raw 8.4 and DNG Converter 8.4, with notable inclusions to the Photoshop CS6 and CC tools being a new "before and after" preview system, additional lens support and numerous bug fixes.
As Adobe migrates its efforts toward the latest Photoshop CC, the company is weening off support for users of Photoshop CS6, as well as those running older operating systems. For Photoshop CS6 customers, all Camera Raw 8 updates are limited to new camera and lens support, as well as bug fixes. New features are restricted to Photoshop CC.
With ACR 8.4 RC, Photoshop CS6 users will also see support dropped for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Windows XP and Windows Vista. This leaves customers two options: upgrade their OS or continue use of Camera Raw 8.3.
Adobe confirmed Photoshop CS6 customers running OS X 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain lion or 10.9 Mavericks and Windows 7 and 8 will receive updates through future ACR 8.x point updates.
Alternatively, Adobe is running an upgrade promotion that nets current CS6 suite users a 40 percent discount on Creative Cloud.
New features introduced with Camera Raw 8.4 for Photoshop CC users:
- A new before/after Preview system with side-by-side and split-view support.
- Pet Eye correction: The Red Eye tool can now correct bright pupils in animals. Select 'Pet Eye' from the new drop down menu in the Red Eye tool to locate and fix pet eyes.
- Changes to Local Corrections
- Added context menu to Histogram pane. The context menu can be used to enable Lab color readouts, even when the Workflow Options are set to another color space (such as Adobe RGB). The context menu and also be used to toggle the shadow, highlight, and gamut clipping warnings.
- Added Camera Matching color profiles (PROVIA/STANDARD, Velvia/VIVID, ASTIA/SOFT, MONOCHROME, etc.) for a variety of Fujifilm cameras.
- Bug fixes.
For a complete rundown and in-depth information regarding the new features, Adobe has a webpage dedicated to the new ACR 8.4 RC.
In addition to the new tools and bug fixes, new cameras supported with the 8.4 release candidate include (preliminary support denoted with asterisk):
- Canon EOS 1200D (REBEL T5, KISS X70)Casio EX-100
- DJI Phantom
- Fujifilm X-T1
- Hasselblad H5D-50c
- Hasselblad HV
- Nikon D3300
- Nikon D4S
- Olympus OM-D E-M10 (*)
- Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS40 (DMC-TZ60, DMC-TZ61)
- Phase One IQ250
- Samsung NX30
- Sony Alpha a5000 (ILCE-5000)
- Sony Alpha a6000 (ILCE-6000)
Users are urged to provide feedback on both release candidates via Adobe's Feedback Portal.
The Camera Raw 8.4 plug-in update is free, with versions for both Photoshop CC and Photoshop CS6 available now.
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Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
6 Comments
I've always wondered why there is no standard for RAW files. I would think it should be like HTML 4, HTML 5, etc., controlled by a governing body. Instead it appears that each manufacturer is making their own RAW formats.
There is an open standard RAW file and it's called DNG created by Adobe but most camera companies are NOT interested. You can convert RAW files to DNG.
There is an open standard RAW file and it's called DNG created by Adobe but most camera companies are NOT interested. You can convert RAW files to DNG.
Thanks for the info. I just read the DNG page on wikipedia and it seems like a no brainer. I wonder why Canon and Nikon don't like it?
Thanks for the info. I just read the DNG page on wikipedia and it seems like a no brainer. I wonder why Canon and Nikon don't like it?
the way they do the demosaicing process (used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array) determines the way their pictures look. and thats why Nikon-look images are a bit different from Canon-look images (specially in skin tones). so if they open it, everybody can resemble their legacy look, which is not what they want.
There is an open standard RAW file and it's called DNG created by Adobe but most camera companies are NOT interested. You can convert RAW files to DNG.
"Open" is at best an exaggeration, though I'm sure they'd like people to think that. Adobe retains key DNG patents, which allows them to pull the license of a third party at their whim. There is no upside to C or N giving Adobe that kind of control, especially when .cr2 and .nef files can more directly support the sensors for specific cameras. And the "standard" doesn't necessarily account for advances in sensor technologies.
Also worth pointing out, the newest Camera Raw release candidate is killing off support for Snow Leopard and XP, so you're also trading raw compatibility of OS compatibility.