GeekPhotographer

Adobe releases BETA 2 of Lightroom 3.0

March 23, 2010 | 2 Minute Read

Over the last while, i have been trying out Lightroom 3.0 beta as my main photography workflow. given i shoot RAW, and given the software is still beta, i use LightRoom’s “Write changes to XMP Side car” option. this way, if anything goes wrong, i still have my originals, and i just need to remove the side cars.

Anyway, BETA 2 has been released, and due to the fact i am actually writing this from my Hospital bed, i wont be playing with it for a few days (check out my Twitter feed if your actually interested). from the AdobeLabs website, here are the new features:

  • Improved performance throughout the application for faster importing and loading of images
  • Native tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras
  • Luminance noise reduction has been added to the previous color noise reduction improvements available in the first public beta for outstanding overall high ISO quality
  • Support for importing and managing video files from DSLR cameras for better overall photographic workflow control
  • Improvements to the import experience in the first beta to reflect public feedback
  • Improved watermarking functionality from the first beta to reflect public feedback

Lightroom 3 beta 2 builds on the enhancements introduced in the first Lightroom 3 beta release:

  • Brand new performance architecture, building for the future of growing image libraries
  • State-of-the-art noise reduction to help you perfect your high ISO shots
  • Watermarking tool that helps you customize and protect your images with ease
  • Portable sharable slideshows with audio—designed to give you more flexibility and impact on how you choose to share your images, you can now save and export your slideshows as videos and include audio
  • Flexible customizable print package creation so your print package layouts are all your own
  • Film grain simulation tool for enhancing your images to look as gritty as you want
  • New import handling designed to make importing streamlined and easy
  • More flexible online publishing options so you can post your images online to certain online photo sharing sites directly from inside Lightroom 3 beta (may require third-party plug-ins)*

Things i am interested in is the Performance (nothing can be fast enough!), import improvments and the Teathered Shooting. this is a very handy feature. So, if your interested, go check it out. but be warned. BETA = not production. i am a trained profesional and one day i will regret running BETA in production.