Free Saturday Focus Sessions January – February 2014

Focus sessions are free and take place in the Westwood store from 9:30 am – 10 am. All sessions will allow for questions and answers. Please bring your camera and any images along that you have questions about. Feel free to use the comment option to make suggestions for future focus sessions.

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Hit the “Like Button” to let your friends know. Have suggestions for future focus sessions? Feel free to leave a comment. (Comments actually work now!)

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Here’s our upcoming Focus Sessions:

January 4 – Manual Settings

January 11 – Macro Photography

January 18 – Shooting Indoor Basketball

January 25 – Consumer Electronics Show Roundup

February 1 – Depth of Field

February 8 – Metering / Focus Marks – Which to Use

February 15 – Photoshop vs. Lightroom

February 22 – Mat Your Photos

These are free events – bring a friend along if you’d like. Share with your friends on Facebook – Click the Like button below. Hope you can join us!

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Lightroom version 4.3 update now available

Lightroom 4.3 has several improvements, bug fixes, supports many new cameras, lenses and has added several tethered cameras to the list. The new features listed below are from Adobe’s website.

Adobe downloads can be found on Adobe’s website.

Here’s a list of the bugs fixed in Lightroom 4.3 from the Lightroom Blog

New Cameras supported in 4.3

Canon EOS 6D
Canon PowerShot S110
Canon PowerShot G15
Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
Read more

Adobe Camera Raw 6.7RC

Adobe Labs has released Adobe Camera Raw version 6.7 RC on March 5th (release candidate – the final step before production and one step past beta) to accommodate several newer digital cameras and lens profiles. This is an Adobe Labs beta product so there can be some issues but for someone who’s just purchased a new camera without current Adobe Camera Raw support, you may want to give it a try. Rest assured though a full tested version will be released soon. If you’d like to try the beta software visit the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page for this download. Please feel free to offer you feedback on this beta product by using the link from the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page listed above. ACR 6.7 RC was recently released and will expire when the official version in released.

*Note – Lightroom 4 ships with a brand new Camera Raw version 7 so there is no need to update Lightroom 4. ACR 7 will be available later in the year.

Here’s the list of newly supported cameras.

  • Canon EOS 1D X
  • Canon EOS 5D Mk III
  • Canon PowerShot G1 X
  • Canon PowerShot S100V
  • Fuji FinePix F505EXR
  • Fuji FinePix F605EXR
  • Fuji FinePix HS30EXR
  • Fuji FinePix HS33EXR
  • Fuji FinePix X-S1
  • Nikon D4
  • Nikon D800
  • Nikon D800E

Additional Lens Profiles added

Lens Mount Lens Name
Canon Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX 12-24mm f/4 (IF)
Canon Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX II 12-24mm f/4 (IF)
Canon Tokina AT-X 165 PRO DX 16-50mm f/2.8 (IF) ASPHERICAL
Canon Tokina AT-X 535 PRO DX  50-135mm f/2.8 (IF)
Canon Tokina AT-X M35 PRO DX 35mm f/2.8 Macro
Canon Tokina AT-X M100 AF PRO D 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Canon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm f/2.8
Nikon Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX 12-24mm f/4 (IF)
Nikon Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX II 12-24mm f/4 (IF)
Nikon Tokina AT-X 165 PRO DX 16-50mm f/2.8 (IF) ASPHERICAL
Nikon Tokina AT-X 535 PRO DX  50-135mm f/2.8 (IF)
Nikon Tokina AT-X M35 PRO DX 35mm f/2.8 Macro
Nikon Tokina AT-X M100 AF PRO D 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm f/2.8
Nikon Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G
Nikon Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 II DC OS HSM
Leica LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 75 mm f/2 ASPH.
Leica LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 90 mm f/2 ASPH.
Leica LEICA APO-TELYT-M 135 mm f/3.4 ASPH.
Leica LEICA ELMAR-M 24 mm f/3.8 ASPH.
Leica LEICA ELMARIT-M 28 mm f/2.8 ASPH.
Leica LEICA ELMARIT-M 90 mm f/2.8
Leica LEICA MACRO-ELMAR-M 90 mm f/4
Leica LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUMMARIT-M 35 mm f/2.5
Leica LEICA SUMMARIT-M 50 mm f/2.5
Leica LEICA SUMMARIT-M 75 mm f/2.5
Leica LEICA SUMMARIT-M 90 mm f/2.5
Leica LEICA SUMMICRON-M 28 mm f/2 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUMMICRON-M 35 mm f/2 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50 mm f/2
Leica LEICA SUMMILUX-M 21 mm f/1.4 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUMMILUX-M 24 mm f/1.4 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35 mm f/1.4 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUMMILUX-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUPER-ELMAR-M 18 mm f/3.8 ASPH.
Leica LEICA SUPER-ELMAR-M 21 mm f/3.4 ASPH.
Pentax Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC HSM
Pentax Sigma 50-200mm F4-5.6 DC HSM
Sony Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm f/2.8
Sony Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III VC B011
Sony Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC HSM
Sony Sigma 50-200mm F4-5.6 DC HSM
Sigma Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 II DC OS HSM

 

Lightroom 4 Beta Released

10 years after Lightroom made its debut we have a new beta version from Adobe Labs, Lightroom 4! Lightroom’s history is outlined on this Wikipedia page. Beta software is not for everyone so be sure to backup your work, and understand this beta software should be used for learning features, testing and tinkering. The final release may or may not be compatible with what you do in the beta so keep this in mind. Lightroom 4 beta will be available for download until the products expiration on March 31, 2012. We’ll post our impressions just as soon as we have a chance to test it out.

Download the Lightroom 4 beta

Here’s a quick look at the new features from Adobe’s website

New Features in Lightroom 4 Beta

  • Highlight and shadow recovery brings out all the detail that your camera captures in dark shadows and bright highlights.
  • Photo book creation with easy-to-use elegant templates.
  • Location-based organization lets you find and group images by location, assign locations to images, and display data from GPS-enabled cameras.
  • White balance brush to refine and adjust white balance in specific areas of your images.
  • Additional local editing controls let you adjust noise reduction and remove moiré in targeted areas of your images.
  • Extended video support for organizing, viewing, and making adjustments and edits to video clips.
  • Easy video publishing lets you edit and share video clips on Facebook and Flickr®.
  • Soft proofing to preview how an image will look when printed with color-managed printers.
  • Email directly from Lightroom using the email account of your choice.

Adobe Camera Raw 6.6 RC

Adobe Labs has just released Adobe Camera Raw version 6.6 RC (release candidate – the final step before production and one step past beta) to accommodate several newer digital cameras and lens profiles. This is an Adobe Labs beta product so there can be some issues but for someone who’s just purchased a new camera without current Adobe Camera Raw support, you may want to give it a try. Rest assured though a full tested version will be released soon. If you’d like to try the beta software visit the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page for this download. Please feel free to offer you feedback on this beta product by using the link from the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page listed above. ACR 6.6 RC was recently released and will expire in January 2012 when the official version in released.

  • Canon PowerShot S100
  • Nikon 1 J1
  • Nikon 1 V1
  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1
  • Samsung NX5

Additional Lens Profiles added

Lens Mount Lens Name
Canon Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 DG HSM II
Canon Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM II
Canon Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro
Canon Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO Macro
Nikon Nikon 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8
Nikon Nikon 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6
Nikon Nikon AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G
Nikon Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 DG HSM II
Nikon Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro
Nikon Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO Macro
Phase One Mamiya AF 35mm f/3.5
Phase One Mamiya AF 45mm f/2.8
Phase One Mamiya Sekor AF 28mm f/4.5 D Aspherical
Phase One Mamiya Sekor AF 55mm f/2.8 LS D
Phase One Mamiya Sekor AF 80mm f/2.8 D
Phase One Mamiya Sekor AF 80mm f/2.8 LS D
Phase One Mamiya Sekor AF 110mm f/2.8 LS D
Phase One Mamiya Sekor AF 150mm f/3.5 LS
Phase One Phase One 28 mm Digital AF f/4.5 Aspherical
Phase One Phase One 35 mm Digital AF f/3.5
Phase One Phase One 45 mm Digital AF f/2.8
Phase One Phase One 80 mm Digital AF f/2.8
Phase One Schneider-Kreuznach 55 mm LS f/2.8
Phase One Schneider-Kreuznach 110 mm LS f/2.8
Phase One Schneider-Kreuznach 150 mm LS f/3.5
Sigma Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 DG HSM II
Sigma Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG OS APO HSM
Sigma Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro
Sigma Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO Macro
Sigma Sigma DP2x
Sony Sigma 50-200mm F4-5.6 DC OS HSM

Adobe updates Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom to 3.4.1

Adobe Labs has released minor update that fixes some minor issues uncovered after 3.4 / 6.4 was released. You can get this update by using the check for updates option in your Adobe software or by visiting the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page for this download. This page is the place to visit for the latest ACR release and beta test versions when available.

Adobe updates Camera Raw to 6.4 and Lightroom to 3.4

Adobe Labs has completed beta testing of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) version 6.4 (adds support for several newer digital cameras). You can get this update by using the check for updates option in your Adobe software or by visiting the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page for this download. This page is the place to visit for the latest ACR release and beta test versions when available.

Camera support for Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3

Support for the following cameras has been added from Camera Raw 6.3 to 6.4 and Lightroom 3.3 to 3.4.

Hasselblad H4D-40
Kodak EasyShare Z990
Nikon D5100
Olympus E-PL1s
Olympus E-PL2
Olympus XZ-1
Samsung NX11
Canon EOS 600D (Rebel T3i / Kiss X5 Digital)
Canon EOS 1100D (Rebel T3 / Kiss X50 Digital)
Fuji FinePix S200 EXR
Fuji FinePix F550 EXR
Fuji FinePix HS20 EXR
Fuji FinePix X100

Lightroom 3.4 has just been released after completion of beta testing. In addition to adding support the cameras above it also addresses some minor issues uncovered in the previous versions of LR. You can get this update by checking for updates inside Lightroom.

Adobe Labs – Adobe Camera Raw & Lightroom Beta

Adobe Labs is currently beta testing Adobe Camera Raw Release Candidate version 6.3 to accommodate several newer digital cameras. This is an Adobe Labs beta product so there can be some issues but for someone who’s just purchased a new camera without current Adobe Camera Raw support, you may want to give it a try. Rest assured though a full tested version will be released soon. If you’d like to try the beta software visit the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page for this download. Please feel free to offer you feedback on this beta product by using the link from the Adobe Labs Camera Raw page listed above.

Newly supported camera models include:

  • Nikon D7000
  • Nikon Coolpix P7000
  • Nikon D3100
  • Canon PowerShot S95
  • Canon PowerShot G12
  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
  • Samsung NX100
  • Samsung TL350 (WB2000)

Lightroom 3.3 is in beta and is also available from Adobe Labs.

Adobe updates Camera Raw 5.1

Camera Raw was recently updated to accommodate several newer digital cameras. Many have Photoshop and Lightroom set to automatically check for updates if so, you probably noticed this update. On the other hand, if you’re trying to open a RAW image from your new digital camera and you get “invalid format” errors, you probably need to update to the latest Adobe camera raw. Visit the Adobe Camera Raw page for full instructions or go directly to the MAC download or Windows download page.

  • Canon 1000D (Digital Rebel XS/EOS Kiss F)
  • Canon 50D
  • Fuji FinePix IS Pro
  • Kodak EasyShare Kodak Z1015 IS
  • Leaf AFi II 6
  • Leaf AFi II 7
  • Leaf Aptus II 6
  • Leaf Aptus II 7
  • Nikon D700
  • Nikon D90
  • Nikon Coolpix P6000
  • Olympus SP-565 UZ
  • Pentax K2000 (K-m)
  • Sigma DP1
  • Sony A900