X

Adobe Lightroom 5.3 candidate supports hot new cameras

The test version of the photo editing and cataloging software handles raw photos from new Nikon, Fujifilm, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, and Canon cameras and squashes some bugs.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
See full bio
Stephen Shankland
Fujifilm's X-E2, a high-end camera with interchangeable lenses, is among those supported by Adobe's new image editing and cataloging software.
Fujifilm's X-E2, a high-end camera with interchangeable lenses, is among those supported by Adobe's new image editing and cataloging software. Fujifilm

Adobe released a test version of Lightroom 5.3 on Friday, giving the photo editing and cataloging software support for the season's hot new cameras like the compact Canon PowerShot S120, the high-end mirrorless Fujifilm X-E2, the full-frame Nikon D610 SLR, Panasonic GM1, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and Sony A7R.

In addition, Adobe said it's squashed a number of bugs, including one that has been driving me batty where exporting photos to Flickr would hijack Lightroom so you could see only images in the Flickr publish collection unless you restarted the software. Adobe said it's fixed, and my quick check confirmed it.

Lightroom is designed especially for handling photos in raw formats, which higher-end cameras -- including the first mobile phone, the Nokia 1520 -- can record. Raw formats take data directly from the image sensor without in-camera processing, a method that offers higher quality and flexibility but that is less convenient and saddles software makers with the requirement to constantly support new proprietary formats.

Other cameras supported by the update include the Fujifilm XQ1, Nikon 1 AW1, Nikon Coolpix P7800, and the Phase One IQ260 and IQ280. The Nikon D5300, Sony DSC-RX10, and Olympus Stylus 1 also are supported, but it's only preliminary support.

The software also can correct optical problems for a range of new lenses from Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Sigma. For full details, check Adobe's blog post on the Lightroom 5.3 RC.