Adobe Lightroom 2.2 supports 5D Mark II (DownloadExaminer.com)
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.
Source: www.download.com
Ad-Aware gets an antivirus cousin
Updated December 17 at 9:00 a.m. PST with a comment from Lavasoft.
Lavasoft on Monday unveiled a new antivirus application it hopes will do as well as its runaway hit Ad-Aware.
The encore, Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix, is Lavasoft’s first full-fledged antivirus application. The problem is, it’s nearly identical to one that already exists: Avira AntiVir.
A Lavasoft vice president told CNET in an e-mail:
Yes, we do have a technology partnership with Avira for the anti-virus engine technology, as our company expertise is in anti-spyware. We have customers who have been asking us for years to release a stand-alone anti-virus, because they do not want to be forced into using other security applications built into a suite that may not meet the standards they require…Lavasoft’s contribution to the stand-alone anti-virus is a trusted brand in security software, particularly as we were the first to ever launch a commercial anti-spyware product.
Furthermore, Lavasoft admits to being opaque about their “partnership” except “when asked directly.”
This is disingenuous, especially for a respected company that claims to deliver on a customer promise. It would be one thing if Lavasoft borrowed Avira’s antivirus engine to complement its own antispyware program. It is another to thinly veil a recognized, proprietary product under a new color scheme and stamp it your own.
Performance
Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix shares Avira AntiVir’s interface, down to malware blockers, on-the-fly detection, a scanner, malware removal, and protection from e-mail viruses and Web threats. It offers full system scanning and, in addition, lets you pick from preset scans or create a profile to scan a smaller portion of your PC, for instance, just your “C” drive.
Like Avira AntiVir, Anti-Virus Helix scans fairly quickly and lets you get hands-on with the results.
(Credit: CNET)
Just like Avira AntiVir, Lavasoft’s new antivirus app performed well in our tests. It beeped when encountering a suspicious file and wouldn’t budge until we ignored, deleted, or quarantined it. While a good practice, the need to babysit the scan could undo the benefit of any overnight scans you schedule.
Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix lets you do any number of things with the data, including print, save, and send reports. However, it could use an internal browser to look up information online about discovered threats.
Other extras can be found in the app’s configuration menu. When you elect to enter expert mode, you’ll be able to turn on rootkit scanning, scan outgoing e-mail messages, and specify MIME types to block (simplistically, any area of an e-mail where malware can hitch a ride). We appreciate being able to add suspicious files from the quarantine interface.
The fact that you have to manually discover and add STMP e-mail and specific MIME details points to one of the app’s biggest problems. Compared to Ad-Aware and others in Lavasoft’s family, the dowdy Anti-Virus Helix is much less user-friendly in visual appeal, navigation, and organization. In fact, it bucks the trend most publishers embrace to favor icons over text lines in order to configure and start protections.
That’s little concern for intermediate and advanced users who thrive on file trees and won’t mind consulting the program’s thorough help file when the tool tips aren’t quite explanatory enough. Casual users who prefer to set it and forget it may wonder why Ad-Aware is so simple to schedule and run but Anti-Virus Helix takes more effort. They may also wonder why this application bundle was marketed under a new name in the first place.
Source: www.download.com
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