Lightroom : 5 Beta is now available to download

[ricktas]

http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/2013/04/lightroom-5-beta-now-available.html

Note that BETA means it may still have programming errors etc.

[arthurking83]

I'm curious as to whether there is much in the way of advantages.
ie. easier processing methods etc ...


One thing I wished they would do properly is full NEF file handling, where the editing is done in a similar manner to how Nikon software does it .. saving in the NEF format as well. I'm really not a huge fan of the separate sidecar file method of maintaining edits.

[ricktas]

Someone I know has downloaded and tried it and they found the lens correction (perspective tool) is much improved. But they only downloaded it this evening and have not played with it a lot yet.

I have downloaded, but not installed it yet

[WhoDo]

I'm curious as to whether there is much in the way of advantages.
ie. easier processing methods etc ...
They've introduced content-aware fill with the clone/heal tool ... not previously available for cloning out objects. Spot heal worked on ... well ... spots, but this works on entire objects by painting over them. There are other improvements as well, including a perspective straightening tool, but the clone fill was of most interest to me. Check out Petapixel or DPR for a couple of video demos of the new features.

Performance seems a bit zippier, too, but that may only be because you have to create a new catalogue. Still stuck with the sidecar files for non-destructive raw editing though, Arthur. Not something either you or Andrew will rush to switch to from your Nikon editor. Good for folks like me, however, as it means I can probably get away without PSE for cloning operations.

[arthurking83]

I sometimes try LR for editing, and it's a lot more reasonable than say Photoshop was(is), in terms of comparing to CaptureNX2.

I'm not fluent with LR4, but can get my head around most of it's more photography friendly editing regime.
Photoshop is a nightmare by way of comparison!

Of course I still prefer CNX2, as it's a lot easier to do what I tend to do.

This content aware cloning sounds interesting tho.
Sometimes what I like(or prefer) to do is when doing a pano thingy, you sometimes get the black areas where no image is formed. Sometimes it's easier to clone stuff into the black areas when the subject is plain and simple, like grass or sand or whatever .. than to crop to eliminate these areas .. possibly losing other important parts in the process.

And you may be surprised to learn that I may in fact rush to a software such as LR(or whatever incarnation) .. Nikon haven't updated(properly) CNX2 for a good 3-4 ... or more, years now. Can't remember exactly, but it's been wayyyy too long, and with the recent events with Nik/Google and so forth, the future for CNX is currently unclear.

This is partly why I wish for 'proper' NEF file handling. I like the way Nikon software handles Nikon raw files, keeping everything neatly tucked into one file viewable by any image viewing program that cares to handle Nikon raw files properly!

[fess67]

I am torn and probably will not grab it at this time. I use LR4 all the time for cataloging but I cannot remember the last time I used it for processing. That said, I am wanting to get into panoramas and from what I am reading lens correction is a gggod first step so maybe that would make LR5 worth it!?

I love using Photoshop. I have CS6 and for me it it a part of the fun. I do set out with an image in mind, but I think about what I can do in CS6 rather than what I can do in LR (LR is the first step in my workflow, catalogue, CS6 is my modification route). IMO it is a personal preferance - mine is photoshop, I just love playing with it.