Adobe Lightroom 2.2 supports 5D Mark II

Adobe Systems released Lightroom 2.2 on Monday night, catching up the photography software's support for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and several other newer cameras, building in the camera profiles feature, and mashing a number of bugs.

The update (downloads available for Mac OS X and Windows) is the second half of Adobe's one-two punch for supporting the "raw" image files produced by several higher-end cameras. The first half came in late November when Adobe updated Photoshop's raw-conversion software.

Canon's 5D Mark II full-frame SLR

(Credit: Canon)

Raw files provide more editing flexibility than camera-produced JPEGs, but they also require manual processing. Software such as Lightroom and Apple's Aperture can handle this processing, along with cataloging, labeling, and printing. With the constant parade of new cameras, the software must be frequently updated.

Another change in version 2.2 is built-in camera profiles, which give photographers various options for tone and color for their images. I've been strongly recommending them since their release on Adobe Labs; I apply the "camera faithful" profile when importing my images to give what I feel is a more natural look. However, Lightroom profiles aren't available for all cameras.

Since Canon started shipping the 5D Mark II in late November, photographers have been avidly blogging about the arrival of their new $2,700, 21-megapixel, full-frame SLRs--or not-so-avidly about them being backordered. One refrain notes the absence of Lightroom support; Adobe and Apple write their own raw conversion software, which must be updated for each new camera's proprietary raw file format.

Adobe's updates have largely been in sync since the Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom 2.x releases, with latter arriving earlier. Hot-to-trot Lightroom users along with those with earlier versions of Photoshop have the option of using Adobe's DNG Converter software, which converts raw files into Adobe's Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) format, to bridge the gap.

Lightroom 2.2 also supports the Canon PowerShot G10, Panasonic DMC-G1, Panasonic DMC-FX150, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Panasonic DMC-LX3, and Leica D-LUX 4, Adobe said.

Here's Adobe's list of the bugs fixed in version 2.2:

• Images rendered from the Slideshow export process produced a jagged effect on hard edges relative to the quality of normal JPEG export.

• Increased the number of characters allowed in Web gallery labels beyond 150 characters.

• Catalogs with hundreds of root (top level) folders caused very slow launch times.

• Drag and drop to move a subfolder to a different folder showed the incorrect photos in the grid.

• Print sharpening produced edge artifacts in certain conditions.

• Density defaulted to 100 percent for initial stroke regardless of position of slider.

• The Adjustment brush created blocky, straight edges to brush strokes under certain conditions.

• Lightroom could become unresponsive when using the graduated filter under certain conditions.

• It was possible to lose the ability to edit an adjustment brush setting after applying a graduated filter with hidden pins.

• Turning auto-mask on produced a lag in Lightroom performance in when applying the adjustment brush.

• Print to JPEG functionality produced a low-resolution image when printing photos with panorama aspect ratios.

• Extended characters in a folder name caused Edit in Photoshop functionality to fail.

• Smart collection did not respond to changes in custom metadata.

• Enabling auto-mask produced a lag in performance when applying the local adjustment brush.

[richardkaufmann]

About profiles... You will get better results if you use Adobe's DNG Profile Editor 2 (free, http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles:Editor) and a Gretag Macbeth Color Checker (~$65, http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=73). The profile editor allows you to build a *custom* color profile for your particular camera (each camera can be a bit different) in about 20 seconds. Lightroom can then be told to apply that profile for all pictures from that particular camera's serial number.

I've built profiles for my 1ds iii and my G9, and am very, very happy with the results.

[Shankland]

Thanks for the tip. I haven't looked--I wonder if people have offered profiles for download?

[richardkaufmann]

The profiles that come with Lightroom are specific to a particular make, and they do a great job at creating them. (Thus, there really wouldn't be a market for others to supply them.)

What's different about what I described is that you can profile a particular instance of a camera. There's variability in sensors, and this calibrates YOUR camera to make sure the colors are accurate.

Most folks will be happy with the standard profiles, but us color wonks want to calibrate our monitors, our cameras, and our printers to make sure the entire path is accurate. This can be a path to madness, but when done right makes certain that your aesthetic choices get realized in the final output.

Calibrating your monitor also ensures that your images will still look good on your next system. It's the most important calibration you can do (Pantone Huey is an inexpensive tool for doing this), followed by your camera ($70 for a GretagMacbeth ColorChecker). Calibrating your printer will save paper, but the tools to do it are a bit more expensive. I seem to remember there are third parties that will do this for you (you send in printouts of test targets), but since the best systems are iterative, I'm not sure how this works in practice. Pros and lunatic amateurs might consider the Colormunki calibrator -- it calibrates monitors, projectors and printers, but at a price.

(I work for a company that makes printers, but I don't work on them myself. I am writing as an individual.)