Lightroom 3 has finally arrived. After many months of beta testing, Lightroom 3 has finally gone retail. So what does it bring to the table, and is it worth the upgrade? Can we finally leave Photoshop behind?
Taken the info direct from Adobe, here is the full list of improvements:
Well, thats quite a list. From my own perspective, I am more excited about some things than others, as will pretty much all other photographers, depending on their type of work and their workflow practices.
Noise Reduction
Well this is quite a big one for me, and speaking to other photographers, this is a feature that has quite impressed them. Using the same noise reduction algorithm as found in CS5, LR3 brings a significant jump in effectiveness compared to earlier versions.
Images that before now, I would have considered unusable, have all all of a sudden been given a new lease of life, and I am now more confident shooting at higher ISO levels, knowing that I can claw back the image quality that may have ruined an otherwise good image. I have found myself trawling back through my archives, revisiting images that I could work the new magic on.
Below is an image taken at a gig using my Canon G10 at 400 ISO (great camera for when you don’t want to be lugging the DSLR, but has serious low light issues), that I have gone back to to test the tool’s effectiveness. This is a crop of a small area of the image at 100% magnification.
[Click image for larger version]
As you can see there is a definite improvement over Lightroom 2, and even more so over the unprocessed image.
To be able to use the new more powerful noise reduction on your older images, they need to be converted to the new 2010 process through the calibration panel on the develop page. Adobe have warned that there may be a slight difference to your images, but so far I am yet to notice any significant difference. All newly imported images will automatically be rendered using the 2010 process with no option for the older version.
For my own work in a travel photography setting, there is a larger range of shots that can now be taken. All those times when you would see something that would make a great image, but lacked the time (or space) to set up a tripod, but handholding would mean an ugly mess of noise, I have now found a new confidence in the latitudes I can safely shoot in.
I can see this also being of benefit to wedding shooters, another group of shooters who often work in less than ideal light and often don’t have the freedom to use a tripod of flash.
Will I be dumping the tripod? No, although I wish i could.
Would I benefit more by upgrading to a D3s (or even D700)? Almost defiantly if I had the money. But what I’m imagining (or lusting over more like) is combining the two – I can only guess at the kind of lighting you would be able to shoot in.
Do I still have Noise Ninja installed? Nope, not when Lightroom’s built in NR is both more effective and more convenient.
Accelerated Performance
I don’t think anybody is going to complain about improved performance, but then has Adobe delivered?
Well, some aspects seem faster, others seem a little slower. Importing of images seems a little faster, but the rendering of full-size previews seems slower. The image sliders no longer lag and jump when your system is busy even if the rendering of the image has a slight delay, giving a smoother experience.
It will take time to decide if LR3 is truly faster, and i also think it will depend on your own workflow whether the changes will result in a net gain or loss of speed.
Lens Correction / Perspective Control
Although missing from the Beta version of LR3, lens correction controls are something i have been waiting for in Lightroom for a long time.
Apart from horribly abusing my images, lens correction/perspective control was pretty much the only reason I had for firing up Photoshop.
As well as manual control for fixing distortion, vertical & horizontal perspective control, chromatic aberration and vignetting, which in itself would be a godsend. It is the automatic lens profiles that are going to be a real time saver. Although there are only a handful of profiles for each manufacturer (Sigma Lens users are in for a treat as they are by far the most catered for), the ability to automatically correct any distortion in a non-destructive fashion is a big one.
If your body/lens combo is not listed, fret not; Adobe have released a piece of software for creating your own profiles (get it here), and hopefully, in the near future there may be official or otherwise a repository of profiles to suit every combination out there.
The included profiles seem to be accurate, although a more in depth test may be required
DSLR Video Support
Nice to have for the photographers out there shooting video. Although my cameras (D300s) can shoot video, it’s not a feature that I would use often. But then it’s handy to have somewhere to put the video I do shoot rather than being filed away in some folder never to be seen again.
Flickr Integration
This is a feature of Lightroom that i find is still in it’s infancy, but has potential to be a very powerful tool with the right support.
Once you have your Flickr account linked to Lightroom, any image in your library can be dropped into the Flickr folder on the left hand side panel. Once done, click the publish button and it uploads. No need to export and upload. If an uploaded image gets altered within Lightroom, the software keeps track of any changes and all it takes is a click of the publish button for the images to be synced.
A similar system is in place for syncing selected images in a folder or on a hard-drive.
All of this is more handy than revolutionary at the moment, but with the right support from both Adobe and 3rd parties it could become an integral part of some photographers workflow.
Imagine if instead of just syncing with Flickr, it could sync with your stock libraries or your online portfolio, removing the export and upload steps in one fell swoop, leaving more time for the more interesting parts of our work.
This is an area that I real hope gets developed – I am currently using colored labels to identify which photos have been uploaded to a library. I also, over time build up a number of folders containing nothing but images that have been exported from Lightroom in order to be uploaded to Flikr, Alamy, Photoshelter etc. Anything that helps me keep organised is a good thing in my book.
Image Watermarking
Again this is another feature that while hardly being revolutionary will be a handy time saver for some photographers. Simple to set up with either a text or graphic based watermark, Lightroom can be set to automatically watermark each image on export. For photographers needing to protect a large amount of images, it sure as hell beats doing it manually in Photoshop.
Easy-to-share slide shows with music
Slideshows in earlier versions of Lightroom were pretty sucky considering that they couldn’t be exported and hand to be played within Lightroom. So to have a slideshow feature that can actually create and export-able show that can be watched without the need of Lightroom is a welcome addition.
Easy image importing
Importing was easy anyway, so I’m not sure if this new interface is an improvement. I guess its a case of getting used to it. Time will tell if it is any easier/faster.
Tethered shooting
Not a feature that I would use very often, but would be of use to studio shooters. Although whether it is better than the other solutions out there, I wouldn’t be qualified to say.
One thing I can say is that for Nikon shooters, it is a cheaper solution than Camera Control Pro. It doesn’t work with all Nikon cameras, but most of the newer ones are supported (my back-up D200 is not). Canon users get tethering software bundled with the camera as far as I know.
Film grain simulation
I guess some will like this feature, others wont. There are three controls; Amount, Size, Roughness which do pretty much what they say on the tin. The grain looks natural but it is fairly easy to go overboard.
Its not something I would use much myself. Maybe if I were to sell some of my images as Fine Art prints. Again, its one less thing to go into Photoshop for.
More flexible print packages
I don’t often print from Lightroom, but the new print packages seem to be far more flexible than before. With a drag and drop interface, it is easy to setup fairly complex arrangements of different images, different sizes, overlays etc.
With a good selection of presets, it is easy to create contact sheets or an event style package of images. Even if you are not printing at home, there is the option to print to .jpeg for printing out at a local or online lab.
In conclusion
Are there features that are missing? Definitely, a proper clone/heal tool for one. The current iteration only allows you to clone a single spot. If you want to clone or heal something that doesn’t fit the shape of the brush, you end up having to chain together a string of spots or going into Photoshop to fix things.
There are features here that will find a regular place as part of my workflow, others that will probably never get used once the novelty wears off. The features used will differ from photographer to photographer depending on the field they work in, but in my opinion Lightroom 3 brings a strong range of features to the table and is well worth the price of the upgrade (especially for people in the US who get it for $99 rather than €99 we pay in Europe).
If you are not already using Lightroom? I heartily recommend it. It was a first day purchase for me several years ago and I have not looked back. The increase in workflow efficiency and organisation has been worth the initial outlay, and has only improved since then.
If I could only have either Lightroom or Photoshop, I would take Lightroom in a heartbeat.