Basically, Adobe has worked with various camera vendors to get the ACR to approximate the same colors that are shown in the vendor proprietary software (Digital Photo Professional for Canon and Capture NX for Nikon, and a whole host of others.)  Matt did a great job of showing how close it gets while even still in beta.  I was convinced enough to go ahead and download the plugin to use in CS3.  Fair warning though, you do need at least ACR version 4.5 or higher to use these profiles (I have 4.6 installed).  Since my bodies are Canon-specific my interface may look a little different, but thought I’d share the screenshot of what it looks like for me:

My thoughts are that the Camera Landscape beta is the closest to what DPP shows.  Since it’s all happening in camera raw, as Matt stated, it just gives you a better starting point with less editing to get to your final results.  I really can’t wait to see how this develops and moves out of beta.  Just hope that Adobe sees fit to release the final shipping version for CS3 owners as well as CS4.  What about others – has anyone else installed this?  How do your pictures look?  Are they close to your vendor software?  Feel free to jump in with the comments!

In other news for Friday, this is the last day to participate in the economy-photography poll from the sidebar.  You RSS readers – stop in and vote, we’re trying to break 30, and only have until midnight!  Other than that, it’s been a great day – I even got some cool shots of the dog after our walk with the sunlight glistening in her eyes.

I’ll leave with my favorite What the Duck of the Week.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again on Monday – have a great weekend!

Turns out there are some LR issues with a few tools and with XMP sidecar files versus database entries.  If this is all gibberish to you, then don’t worry you are probably fine.  For the more technically inclined though, their readme file is something to look at before you upgrade ACR this go-around.

Linked here

Proof positive that the old adage of “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” can still apply in a modern world.  If you don’t have a specific need for the update (a very recent camera purchase), I’d hold off until the next update ships as this could break Lightroom to a degree, as well as prevent respecting of previous edits if you use the database option for XMP data.

In more CB-specific news, the last poll finally wrapped up today.  With 30 responses, here was the final tally:

The newest poll is now up on the sidebar.  2 weeks does seem to return more meaningful information as that gives people enough time to respond.  Feel free to chime in at your leisure.  The question is:  Does the current economic downturn had an impact on new photography-related purchases?  For those reading in feed readers, stop in to see the options and vote!  Let’s try to crack the 50-count this go around!

On a lighter note, the WTD series this week was really pretty darn funny.  Here’s my favorite:

Have a great weekend everyone, Happy Shooting, and we’ll see you back here Monday morning!