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Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
Adobe Systems released Lightroom 5.7 Tuesday night, adding support for two high-profile new higher-end SLR cameras, the Nikon D750 and Canon EOS 7D Mark II , and Apple’s iPhone 6.
The software is used to edit and catalog photos, in particular those shot with proprietary raw formats that offer higher image quality and more flexibility than the JPEG format. All SLR cameras and higher-end compact models can shoot raw photos, but enthusiasts have to wait for software updates from companies like Apple and Adobe before they can use raw photos from the latest cameras.
Lightroom 5.7 also supports raw photo files from some high-profile new “mirrorless” cameras, which are more compact than SLR cameras (named after their single-lens reflex mirror) models but which come with interchangeable lenses. Among those supported are Panasonic GM5 , the Samsung NX1 , the Olympus Pen E-PL7 and the graphite version of the Fujifilm X-T1 . It also can handle raw files from a high-end compact camera, the Panasonic LX100 .
The new software also supports an unusual new smartphone, sold in Europe only, Panasonic’s new CM1, a host of new lenses, and the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Although the iPhone doesn’t offer raw photos, Lightroom can still correct some lens imperfections with the JPEG files.
Adobe Systems
Lightroom is steadily increasing in size. The Windows version (download) is 953.2MB and the Mac version (download) is 528.5MB.
As digital photography has evolved, photo cataloging software emerged as an important way for people to get a handle on collections that grow by leaps and bounds. But the smartphone era poses new challenges to the market. That’s because — unlike with photos from compact cameras and SLRs — people don’t have to transfer their shots to a personal computer to make them useful. People can see and share them directly from their phones, and software like Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive, Apple’s iCloud, and Google’s Google+ can automatically synchronize photos across multiple devices.
Adobe’s Lightroom remains popular with enthusiasts who want more active photo management, though — popular enough that Apple stopped new development of its rival software, Aperture. Another change in Lightroom 5.7 is the inclusion of a tool Adobe released in October that lets people transfer their Aperture photo catalogs into Lightroom.
Adobe is adapting Lightroom for the modern era. One example is Lightroom Mobile for iPads and iPhones, with Android support coming later this year. Another is the ability to share collections of photos online through the Lightroom for the website. Lightroom 5.7 now includes a share button for sharing those collections and can import comments left on the Web into Lightroom.
Lightroom 5.7 also includes several bug fixes along with the new camera and lens support. For a full list, check Adobe’s detailed Lightroom 5.7 description.
