Adobe Camera Raw and DNG Converter release candidates bring new camera support, bug fixes

Adobe on Thursday announced availability of release candidates for the upcoming Camera Raw 8.6 and DNG Converter 8.6, with the software bringing improvements to image processing and conversion for Photoshop CC users.

As previously noted by Adobe, all Camera Raw 8 updates limit new feature additions to Photoshop CC subscribers, while users running Photoshop CS6 and below are only granted access to new camera support and bug fixes.

The new release candidate brings Nikon's D810 and Panasonic's LUMIX AG-GH4 and DMC-FZ-1000 into the fold, as well as lens profiles for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, PhaseOne, Sony Alpha and Sony E hardware.

New features introduced for Photoshop CC customers include:

Camera matching color profiles for Sony's DSC-RX100 III, A7S (ILCE-7S) and Alpha SLT-A77 II (ILCA-77M2).
Improved performance when batch processing images via the Save button (in Camera Raw) and when converting images to DNG (in DNG Converter). The performance improvements are available only in 64 bit systems.

As for bug fixes, ACR 8.6 RC addresses the following:

Fix crash on launch in some cases on Hi DPI (Retina) systems.
Fix crash when opening some Sigma SD9 raw files.
Fix issue with JPEG images saved by Camera Raw not readable in some external applications.
Fix automatic lens profile selection for Leica M (Typ 240) when using most recent firmware version.
Fix issue with some Hasselblad H5D-50c and H5D-60 3FR raw images appearing slightly too dark. Unfortunately, this fix may affect the appearance of existing images captured with this combination of settings. It is recommended that you (1) purge the Camera Raw cache via the Camera Raw Preferences dialog, and (2) review previously captured images for unexpected brightness changes.

Users of the release candidates are urged to provide feedback through Adobe's Feedback Portal.

The Camera Raw 8.6 release candidate is free a free download, with versions for both Photoshop CC and Photoshop CS6 available now.

Adobe in June rolled out Creative Cloud 2014 with 14 reworked CC apps and four new iOS apps for photo editing and drawing. In addition to the updated software, Adobe debuted a new Creative Cloud Photography Plan priced at $9.99 per month that includes Photoshop CC and Lightroom. The company also lowered Creative Cloud Student and Teacher Edition subscription pricing to $19.99 per month, down from $29.99.