Sony, Olympus SLRs await Adobe camera profiles

I'm a big fan of Adobe Systems' camera profiles, which when editing the raw images that higher-end cameras can produce imbues photos with what I find to be more natural hues. So I was glad to hear camera profiles are moving out of Adobe Labs and into Photoshop and Lightroom.

I apply the "camera faithful" profile by default when I import photos from my Canon SLR into Lightroom. But when I tried to use the profiles on some photos I took with an Olympus E-3, I found I couldn't.

Now seemed a good time to find out exactly which models are supported, and Adobe obliged with a list.

All SLRs from Canon and Nikon, which dominate the SLR market, are supported in the profiles that ship with Adobe Camera Raw 5.2, and that's a good start. But things get thinner after that.

The Pentax K10D, K20D, and K200D SLRs also have profiles, as does Leica's expensive and somewhat exotic rangefinder, the M8. Only two compact cameras, Canon's PowerShot G9 and G10, have profiles.

There are no profiles for Sony, Olympus, Samsung, or Panasonic SLRs so far. No doubt Adobe is working on it, though. I'll update this post if I hear further details.

[jbuberel]

For those who are serious about working with RAW images from SLR cameras, you really should look at Bibble Pro from Bibble Labs. Runs on Windows, MacOS and Linux. Amazing camera support and completely tuned to the high-end, large-file RAW workflow. I have been using it for years and have been very happy with the results. It was recently rated as 'Best RAW image tool' on DPReview.com too.

[gjl229]

Steve, time to update the post, I think.

Certain Samsung cameras are Pentaxes under the covers, as CNET reviews show. I expect that a Samsung GX-10 will produce images that can be dealt with using Pentax K10D profile, for example.

In fact, you'll find that both use the Adobe DNG format. While I have not (and could not) read the code that implements this, I cannot image that Samsung would re-write that code given that the two companies use the same sensor and other electronics. The differences seem to be more in trim and sheet metal than in power train.

Good news for Samsung owners.

On the other hand, Olympus and Panasonic use an entirely different sensor technology and present a much larger hurdle for Adobe.

I hope that someone here will correct me if I missed a step someplace.

[hoopla]

Would be good if they'd include Ricoh (GR-1D and GX-200) and and Panasonic (LX, TZ) compacts as well. Along with the G10, these seem to be the favored pocket options of pro and serious enthusiasts.

[mkjones84]

There is some confusion about which version of Camera Raw works with different versions of Photoshop/elements/Lightroom, but unless I'm misreading your post the conclusion that: "There are no profiles for Sony, Olympus, Samsung, or Panasonic SLRs so far." seems REALLY wrong. (which makes the headline really wrong....)

According to this link of Camera Raw supported cameras -- which has been up on Adobe's site for years --

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

there are DOZENS of cameras by Sony, Olympus, Samsung, and Panasonic that are supported by Photoshop. (maybe if you had an email exchange with Adobe there was confusion about the question being asked.) In addition to my Canon body, I own two Sony and Olympus Digital SLRs and they both have been working with Photoshop for years. Hope this helps.

[jmcoa]

Sony and others missing from Lightroom are covered by Apple Aperture 2.0 - which is an excellent RAW converter and photo management program. It also has plug ins!

http://www.apple.com/aperture/specs/raw.html