View Full Version : Lightroom 3 beta
mabelsound
10-22-2009, 04:48
Oh boy!!!!
In the Develop module, an overhauled processing engine allows users to create the highest quality images. Improved Capture Sharpening and Color Noise Reduction tools provide superior results while still preserving an image’s edge detail and contrast. A new Grain tool adds a film-style grain to images, and two new Vignette modes help photographers get a more natural look.
Improved sharpening and NR is vital--they had really fallen behind on this, I think. The grain tool sounds cool as well! Gotta try this when I get a free moment.
I had been hoping for distortion correction, though. They are probably aware that this is the one thing Lightroom users are always heading to Photoshop to do.
mabelsound
10-22-2009, 04:49
lickr users now have direct access to their accounts from within Lightroom and can drag and drop images directly into their Photostreams. Flickr Pro account users can automatically synch their images and even view comments made on Flickr directly within the Library.
Could be interesting...
mabelsound
10-22-2009, 05:02
Hey do me a favor would you and post a few crops that show the chroma NR and film grain? I'm not gonna have time to touch this until next week...
Oh yeah and I'm dying to know how the purple fringing correction is...LR2 is not very good at it.
Just an important fyi for folks from a fellow photog deep in with the dev team @ Adobe:
"This is still in early stages - even earlier stages than the 2.0 beta - so there are plenty of bugs. It's not likely to blow up your computer, but you are strongly recommended not to switch your entire workflow over to the beta at this stage. It's been released for testing and feedback on the new features, and the beta period is likely to be longer than that of 2.0 beta. It won't allow you to upgrade 2.x catalogs to the beta, but the final release will."
Cheers,
Dave
I just installed it. For someone like me with mental block against the library module in LR2, this looks to be a winner. In ten seconds it found all my pictures on the Mac and laid them out for me. I also just bought Flickr Pro and even thought this is beta, it is looking good. I will continue using LR2 as a backup though.
I just installed it. For someone like me with mental block against the library module in LR2, this looks to be a winner. In ten seconds it found all my pictures on the Mac and laid them out for me. I also just bought Flickr Pro and even thought this is beta, it is looking good. I will continue using LR2 as a backup though.
As a fellow Mac user, this is a good sign.
Cheers,
dave
Yep, just played around with it for a while. The noise reduction algorithms are blowing my mind. It's refreshed my 5d for a while. ISO 3200? So clean, and heaaaaps of detail being kept. And that's just playing with the chroma noise slider, the lume slider isn't available on the beta (I never use it anyway - destroys detail).
I just went back through some old Olympus e-3 RAWs and I'd estimate nearly a stop GAIN in High ISO noise control in some conditions, just thanks to the new algorithms. Pretty damn cool.
It doesn't take lightroom 2 catalogs yet (the final release will), but I'm going to continue on using the LR3 beta as my main PP unit - so far it's so much better I don't want to go back to LR2.
Note: Just looking through some forums, people are complaining it's making their files "rougher" and giving examples of a LR2 PP'd file smoothened with the luminance NR cranked compared to a LR3 file with only chroma noise reduction. It seems to me adobe has tuned the NR to preserve MUCH more detail than before, whilst almost completely eliminating color splodging from high ISO files. This is exactly the style of NR I love, because I don't mind a bit of grain in files, but I dislike color noise.
mabelsound
10-22-2009, 06:38
Note: Just looking through some forums, people are complaining it's making their files "rougher" and giving examples of a LR2 PP'd file smoothened with the luminance NR cranked compared to a LR3 file with only chroma noise reduction. It seems to me adobe has tuned the NR to preserve MUCH more detail than before, whilst almost completely eliminating color splodging from high ISO files. This is exactly the style of NR I love, because I don't mind a bit of grain in files, but I dislike color noise.
OMG I am SO EXCITED, this is EXACTLY what I wanted. I have no problem with even very pronounced luminance noise, as long as chroma is kept in check.
My hope here is that, for color shots, it would be possible to eliminate color noise, then use the grain feature to make the luminance noise look more like, say, Pro800Z. This is especially germane to me now that I have thrown over my DSLR for micro 4/3ds, which is not as good at high ISO. Panasonic preserves detail by default, so this could be a perfect companion to my digicam system.
mabelsound
10-22-2009, 12:33
OK, I made some time to try this. Check it out (sorry for the big images)--these are screenshots out of LR3. First one is an ISO 1600 crop of a kid in my son's choral concert, pushed to 3200 with an EV adjustment. Note the terrible chroma noise--it is actually very visible even when you're not looking at a crop.
http://inverseroom.creotia.com/pictures/lr1.jpg
And here's the same crop with the color noise slider dimed. The chroma noise is TOTALLY GONE.
http://inverseroom.creotia.com/pictures/lr2.jpg
And here it is sharpened and some grain added with the grain effect:
http://inverseroom.creotia.com/pictures/lr3.jpg
As far as I'm concerned, this thing is a magic bullet for high ISO shots. I cannot believe how good the chroma noise reduction is--I am actually very curious about what it will do for luminance noise. Personally, I find the grain effect to be very pleasing--it's even better in black and white. It's not that I want the photos to look like film per se--I am just after the kind of even grain film has, rather than that uneven smeary look you get with high-ISO digital pics.
I am really stoked!!!
PatrickT
10-22-2009, 12:35
Wow, that looks great! I'm going to have to try this when I get home...
I'm sold.
Now I wonder if I have to upgrade my OS to get into using it once it's released on the full version.
I'm still on the original Tiger - no Leopard or Snow Leopard going on yet.
Cheers,
Dave
mabelsound
10-22-2009, 12:51
I had meant to show the sharpened image before I added the grain, but forgot. I can tell you, though, that the sharpening is also hugely improved.
sojournerphoto
10-22-2009, 12:52
Yikes, what was that shot on?
The chroma noise has cleaned up nicely, though I don't often go beyond 15 in LR2. The grain is not yet what I'd like, but it will probably print OK.
The problem with trying it is that you'll be paying the Adobe tax again before long.
Mike
mabelsound
10-22-2009, 13:03
It was shot on a Pentax K20D.
The grain has three sliders--grain (amount), size, and roughness. So you can get a variety of looks. But I'd love it if at some point they added different types of grain--shapes, patterns, etc.
As for the Adobe Tax...the college where I work gets group discounts so huge there is no point in not owning every single Adobe product. :D
snausages
10-22-2009, 13:26
Wow, that looks pretty amazing - though it's hard to tell if the resulting textures, especially in the out of focus areas, end up looking airbrushed?
They don't... the results are significantly more "crispy" at high iso and even low iso than old ACR raw converters.
See:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2794/4036079868_894e98c917_o.jpg
I've linked to it because it's a large file, but that is around ISO 5000 on a 5d (3200 + half a stop) with only chroma noise reduction - no luminance or extra sharpening. Shot at f1.2
I'm really excited by this advance in processing!
This is all quite exciting news. The Lightroom interface has always worked quite well for how my mind is wired. I've used it since beta version 1.0, in spite of the fact that other programs have long had the edge in terms of image processing quality. It appears that Adobe is catching up and may in ways surpass the competition with this release.
Rich Sustich
10-22-2009, 16:51
Now I wonder if I have to upgrade my OS to get into using it once it's released on the full version.
I'm still on the original Tiger - no Leopard or Snow Leopard going on yet.
________________________
Well I got four e-mails from Apple and two from my kids yesterday telling me the new iMac is out. Maybe we can get a volume discount for RFF?
Rich
It appears that the final release of Lightroom 3 will require an Intel-based Mac. Per Jeff Schewe in the Adobe LR Forums:
9. Oct 23, 2009 12:26 AM in response to: mccafmac
Re: Installation failed Mac OS X version 10.4.11
mccafmac wrote:
Will the final version require Intel based mac archectecture? (sic)
Yes...there's no going back.
-- Geez, I thought I was cool and was ready to jump into the beta and WHAMMO! I'm now officially a luddite!
1948nikon
10-22-2009, 23:32
I will not buy anymore Macs.
It appears that the final release of Lightroom 3 will require an Intel-based Mac. Per Jeff Schewe in the Adobe LR Forums:
9. Oct 23, 2009 12:26 AM in response to: mccafmac
Re: Installation failed Mac OS X version 10.4.11
mccafmac wrote:
Will the final version require Intel based mac archectecture? (sic)
Yes...there's no going back.
-- Geez, I thought I was cool and was ready to jump into the beta and WHAMMO! I'm now officially a luddite!
It appears that the final release of Lightroom 3 will require an Intel-based Mac.
Will the final version require Intel based mac archectecture? (sic)
Yes...there's no going back.[/I]
Its becoming a real PITA that the PPC platforms have been dropped. I'm running a 2003 dual 1.8GHz G5 and have more or less locked down my current OS and software. Given I'm only having to deal with scans at the moment I can live with it, and for me LR2 is fine given I only really use it as a DAM tool.
I don't mind paying $6K+ for a machine and monitor combination but I do expect to be able to extract quite a few years of work from it. It seems that the digital revolution machine has really begun to fine tune itself to where end-to-end systems - in this case, cameras, software, OS, hardware - create such interlinked dependencies that over a couple of releases of each link in the chain, you are lead into a trap of unavoidable upgrades.
martin s
10-23-2009, 00:41
It wasn't a secret even way back when PPC was Apples prefered platform that buying a 6k computer in the believe of saving in the long run is a theory that simply doesn't work in the technology world.
Intel based Macs were unavoidable and imo a great and necessary step, to support PPC would be a burden on everyone except those few who still run machines with said architecture.
martin
The unfortunate aspect that curtailed the life of the PPC prematurely was IBM's (historic) inability to reduce heat dissipation from the chips to a point that they could be place in notebooks.
That said, I still more than happy with the box and don't need any more for the mid term... :D
found a few little glitchy bugs so far. Nothing that's stopped me from doing anything though, just a little fiddling clears the problems.
I know this is like the 3rd time I've said this, but I'm absolutely astounded at how much better the raw conversions are from this version of lightroom. IMO it's easily better than aperture/capture one etc etc. It's seriously good.
mabelsound
10-23-2009, 03:50
I really do wish I could go ahead and import my collection now, though I totally understand why they won't allow this...
Anyone had a chance to test out the purple fringing correction? This is always something that was only mediocre in LR2.
semordnilap
10-23-2009, 04:21
This all sounds excellent... Great news for lightroom-which I use and has an excellent interface. However, can anyone tell me if they've bothered to include SOFT PROOFING in LR!!!!!???!?!??!?!?!? I mean... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS THE POINT OF A PRINT MODULE WITHOUT SOFT PROOFING!!!!!!! WHY EVEN BOTHER!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! [tears hair out] Sorry for yelling, but it's really a pita. Who likes to make all their adjustments in LR, then having to go make MORE adjustments in PS just to print?!
Okay, rant off.
Sounds great! I wonder what it'll do to high iso M8 files?
Is it possible to keep in the computer both LR 2.5 and LR 3 in parallel? I need to continue accessing my LR 2.5 catalogs although I do not mind to create new separate LR 3 catalogs for the new pictures I add.
I also wonder if it will be possible to unistall LR 3 beta and return to LR 2.5 when the beta expires. LR 3 looks good so far but the price tag will determine if I update or not.
Does anyone have answers to those questions? Thanks,
Arturo
Is it possible to keep in the computer both LR 2.5 and LR 3 in parallel? I need to continue accessing my LR 2.5 catalogs although I do not mind to create new separate LR 3 catalogs for the new pictures I add.
I think so.
I am perfectly happy with 2.5 as for now.
I see the LR 3 release notes say 'Lightroom 3 beta will not overwrite or interfere with a machine that currently has Lightroom 1 or Lightroom 2 installed.' but I am not 100% sure that answers my question above.
Anyway I think I will give it a go after having updated my Time Machine backup.
Arturo
Very interesting on the Chroma noise correction. How well does this work on scanned files? I have a bunch of color .tiffs from a local lab and the scans have lots of chroma noise (I did not know that was what it was until seeing the examples posted here, thanks). I will download the beta after I get back from work and try this out. Maybe my color photos from the wedding can be salvaged after all!
Range Loser
10-23-2009, 06:01
Hi, quite new to Lightroom, been using the clunky NX from Nikon, I don't like the way I have to import images into Lightroom, is there a way of just picking one RAW image from a folder and converting it to a tiff without messing about with imports. I realise this is all about workflow, and I don't know the software very well yet. Any tips?
Hi, quite new to Lightroom, been using the clunky NX from Nikon, I don't like the way I have to import images into Lightroom, is there a way of just picking one RAW image from a folder and converting it to a tiff without messing about with imports. I realise this is all about workflow, and I don't know the software very well yet. Any tips?
Research lightroom catalogs and let lightroom organize your images for you. It's 100 million times better than just converting random files here and there in your library.
Range Loser
10-23-2009, 06:26
My problem is, I only ever get the odd decent shot from a shoot and don't want hundreds of rubbish pictures hanging round in Lightroom somewhere, even if they are well catalogued. I just want to be able to browse the folder and select the odd one for conversion.
mabelsound
10-23-2009, 06:28
I have a bunch of color .tiffs from a local lab and the scans have lots of chroma noise (I did not know that was what it was until seeing the examples posted here, thanks).
I have never seen chroma noise on lab scans--that's awful! You should give it a try and see if it works.
My problem is, I only ever get the odd decent shot from a shoot and don't want hundreds of rubbish pictures hanging round in Lightroom somewhere, even if they are well catalogued. I just want to be able to browse the folder and select the odd one for conversion.
This is easy in LR2, and I have no idea why LR3 is so bent on automating this process. I find it extremely irritating, and hope there will be a way to switch it off.
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