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Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Adobe Lightroom Q&A => Topic started by: Tony Jay on April 08, 2014, 05:03:36 am

Title: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Tony Jay on April 08, 2014, 05:03:36 am
At last!

Tony Jay
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Simon Garrett on April 08, 2014, 05:12:04 am
No new features, only new cameras and lenses, and some bug fixes. 

Apparently the bug that sharpness and noise reduction were not applied properly on some exports has been fixed. 
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: ario on April 08, 2014, 05:26:35 am
The ability to sync collection with the iPad looks like a new feature, to me.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Simon Garrett on April 08, 2014, 05:51:55 am
The ability to sync collection with the iPad looks like a new feature, to me.
You're quite right!  Sorry, I use Android, not iThings, so must have subconsciously blanked it out.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: PhotoEcosse on April 08, 2014, 09:49:58 am
Is this update for America only?

My v5.3 is still showing "Your software is up to date. No updates available at this time."
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: davidedric on April 08, 2014, 09:55:35 am
The i thingy is only available if you are a CC subscriber.    Discuss!
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: francois on April 08, 2014, 10:06:46 am
Is this update for America only?

My v5.3 is still showing "Your software is up to date. No updates available at this time."

When I opened LR this morning, I go the update available dialog. Links (for manual download) are provided at the end of this article (https://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2014/04/1277.html).
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Bryan Conner on April 08, 2014, 10:09:32 am
Is this update for America only?

My v5.3 is still showing "Your software is up to date. No updates available at this time."

I also clicked "update" in Lightroom 5.3 and was told that no updates were available.  But, if you use the link Francois provided above, you can find the download.  Works fine. 
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on April 08, 2014, 11:40:46 am
The i thingy is only available if you are a CC subscriber.    Discuss!

Hi David,

What's there to discuss.

As a purchaser (you know, pay in advance, no subscription) of the perpetual LR5 license, I feel the end of Lightroom without a subscription has just become more likely ...  Of course the App only being available to iPad users also shuts out the majority of tablet users (Android and Windows based), which seems a bit self-centered and arrogant.

Conclusion, they don't want me as a customer, just my money.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Simon Garrett on April 08, 2014, 11:50:23 am
It could just be that whoever developed Lightroom Mobile is an Apple fan, or more familiar with iOS and Objective C than with Android and Java, and decided to do Apple first.  But they're not stupid, and I think an Android version is pretty likely.  Almost no one is going to choose a tablet based on whether it runs Lightroom Mobile; they'll use Lightroom Mobile if it runs on their tablet.  

I've not developed anything on ios (only on Android) but I'd be surprised if there's an architectural reason why Lightroom Mobile can't be written to run on Android. 
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: barryfitzgerald on April 08, 2014, 01:44:01 pm
Hi David,

What's there to discuss.

As a purchaser (you know, pay in advance, no subscription) of the perpetual LR5 license, I feel the end of Lightroom without a subscription has just become more likely ...  Of course the App only being available to iPad users also shuts out the majority of tablet users (Android and Windows based), which seems a bit self-centered and arrogant.

Conclusion, they don't want me as a customer, just my money.

Cheers,
Bart

It's quite simple for me, if Adobe go down the subscription only route for lightroom then I'll simply use another product.
I have no need of PS anyway for what I do (still using an old version of paint shop pro I got for free)

Any company that tries to shove a concept down the neck of their customers ultimately will end up losing a lot of them.
Same applies for camera makers, some listen..some ignore, we know which strategy is doomed to fail

And yes I use android too, not Apple..again I make my own choices not what a company thinks I should use
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Alan Klein on April 08, 2014, 02:31:09 pm
 I got the New Version message below when I opened LR5.3 and installed LR5.4 OK on my desktop running Win 8.1

I have an iPad 4 and I'll be going on a trip next month.   What do I load on it to use it? 

5.4
Support for Lightroom mobile, a new service to access, organize, edit and share your images from mobile devices.
Fixes for bugs introduced in earlier versions of Lightroom 5.
Camera support for many new cameras, including the Fujifilm X-T1, Nikon D4s, and DJI Phantom quadcopter.
Current version : 5.3 (build 938183)
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Misirlou on April 08, 2014, 03:52:52 pm
There's a free Lightroom app in the iOS App Store today. You'll need that, and then some configuration work.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: john beardsworth on April 08, 2014, 05:15:51 pm
It could just be that whoever developed Lightroom Mobile is an Apple fan, or more familiar with iOS and Objective C than with Android and Java, and decided to do Apple first.  But they're not stupid, and I think an Android version is pretty likely.  Almost no one is going to choose a tablet based on whether it runs Lightroom Mobile; they'll use Lightroom Mobile if it runs on their tablet.  

I've not developed anything on ios (only on Android) but I'd be surprised if there's an architectural reason why Lightroom Mobile can't be written to run on Android. 

Adobe does tend to favour Apple, but I suspect this is simply down to the number of Lightroom users who use iPads. As a guide, at my Lightroom site 60% of mobile traffic is iPad and 21% iPhone. That doesn't leave much space for Android and the most obvious device is the Galaxy - at 3%.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: barryfitzgerald on April 08, 2014, 05:24:34 pm
I installed the 5.4 update
My identity plate was replaced with the nasty mobile one (it was still there I had to change it back though)
I was then prompted with a guide to lightroom mobile.

I dislike in your face stuff being pushed at you like this (which is quite useless to me for 2 reasons)
It only works on Apple
You need a subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud service for it to work (which I don't have)

It's pointless getting into a debate about android v apple, let me just say this there are plenty of apps for both platforms (ie camera control apps and similar) for me to feel both are deserving of support. Personally I dislike both Google and Apple just as much so there is no bias around here  ::)
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: davidedric on April 08, 2014, 05:48:46 pm
Quote
Hi David,

What's there to discuss.

As a purchaser (you know, pay in advance, no subscription) of the perpetual LR5 license, I feel the end of Lightroom without a subscription has just become more likely

That is exactly what I meant to discuss.   Adobe has seemed to repeatedly reassure users that the CC and standalone versions of Lightroom will remain equivalent.   This is just the first example of divergence.

Dave
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: jpegman on April 08, 2014, 06:15:48 pm
I worried about my Android tablet and phones also, but, fear not Android users [and iPhone users :)]

According to Laura Shoe's blog

http://laurashoe.com/2014/04/07/adobe-releases-lightroom-5-4-along-with-lightroom-mobile-and-web-view/

Adobe expects to also release Lightroom mobile for iPhones later this year, and then will follow with support for Android devices.

Jpegman
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Schewe on April 08, 2014, 06:25:45 pm
Adobe has seemed to repeatedly reassure users that the CC and standalone versions of Lightroom will remain equivalent.

Show me where Adobe has ever said that Lightroom in CC and as a perpetual license would remain "equivalent"...I'm pretty sure I've never heard them say that. What they have said is the Lightroom will continue as a perpetual license and as part of CC. LR 5.4 has the same desktop functionality in both versions. The ability to use LRm is an added function for CC subscribers. They didn't take away any functionality to LR 5.4, they added new functionality to the CC version. There's a difference...
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: hjulenissen on April 09, 2014, 01:17:08 am
My (non-CC) 5.3 claimed that there was no update available. I clicked the Adobe links found inside Lightroom and a small amount of clicking inside adobe.com did not get me anywhere.

Then googled and wound up on adobelabs. Links to LR 5 beta, but no 5.4 update.

Finally found the direct link in a discussion about the update. Downloaded and installed.

I expect Lightroom to tell me discretely at application startup whenever there is an update to LR, even if it is an update that I will have to pay for (i.e. 5.x -> 6.x).


I get that Adobe really, really wants people to go CC. If all that they do to push us is keep the (seemingly quite lame) Lightroom Mobile exclusive for CC, while updating LR at the same pace for all paying customers, I am kind of happy about it.

-h
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Robert55 on April 09, 2014, 01:33:56 am
Got the usual update notification in Lr at starting up the programme [12 hrs ago]
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Schewe on April 09, 2014, 01:34:26 am
I expect Lightroom to tell me discretely at application startup whenever there is an update to LR, even if it is an update that I will have to pay for (i.e. 5.x -> 6.x).

It's my experience that older full versions 5.x, would never tell users there was an entirely new version available such as to 6.x. %.3>5.4, yes...and why it didn't for you I don't know.

Are you in the US? I imagine (but don't know for a fact) that it takes a while for new versions to propagate to outside of the US.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: jeremyrh on April 09, 2014, 02:21:58 am
When I clicked "Check for updates" from within LR5.3 I was told no new updates available, but when I quit and restarted, I was asked if I want to upgrade to 5.4. Which I did.

As a side issue, LR seems to have disappeared from the list of installed applications on my Creative Cloud menu-bar thingy. I am wondering if it is still recognised by LR that I am a CC customer ....
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: jeremyrh on April 09, 2014, 02:24:03 am
I make my own choices not what a company thinks I should use
That's what they've got you believing :-)
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Simon Garrett on April 09, 2014, 05:24:23 am
As a side issue, LR seems to have disappeared from the list of installed applications on my Creative Cloud menu-bar thingy. I am wondering if it is still recognised by LR that I am a CC customer ....
Same for me.  It offered to update Photoshop and Bridge, but then Lightroom appeared only in the lower list, as though I didn't have it installed.

However, I updated LR manually (from the download link), and some time later in the day I noticed that the CC app had caught up, and now showed Photoshop, Bridge and LR as all installed and up to date.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: davidedric on April 09, 2014, 06:10:12 am
Quote
Show me where Adobe has ever said that Lightroom in CC and as a perpetual license would remain "equivalent"...I'm pretty sure I've never heard them say that. What they have said is the Lightroom will continue as a perpetual license and as part of CC. LR 5.4 has the same desktop functionality in both versions. The ability to use LRm is an added function for CC subscribers. They didn't take away any functionality to LR 5.4, they added new functionality to the CC version. There's a difference...

Yes, there is a difference.   Perhaps Adobe's line should be that "There will be a component of CC called Lightroom and a perpetual licence product called Lightroom.   However, they will not necessarily be the same product"

I have perhaps had too much experience of software companies who, having exhausted the licence revenue from their product, elect to add new functionality as an extension, not part of the original product, and therefore requiring a separate licence.   I appreciate that is NOT what Adobe is doing with CC, but it is not too hard to see LRm (or future "extensions") appearing as an additional product under the perpetual licence model, if they were though to be revenue generating.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Simon Garrett on April 09, 2014, 06:31:52 am
Yes, there is a difference.   Perhaps Adobe's line should be that "There will be a component of CC called Lightroom and a perpetual licence product called Lightroom.   However, they will not necessarily be the same product"

At the moment, they are identical.  You can use the perpetual licence download to update a CC installation.  

I have perhaps had too much experience of software companies who, having exhausted the licence revenue from their product, elect to add new functionality as an extension, not part of the original product, and therefore requiring a separate licence.   I appreciate that is NOT what Adobe is doing with CC, but it is not too hard to see LRm (or future "extensions") appearing as an additional product under the perpetual licence model, if they were though to be revenue generating.

Agreed.  I've experienced it several times.  You get what they say is a perpetual licence including upgrades, only to find that upgrades appear in a "new" product, and your everlasting product gets parked.  

Adobe have made no pretense about this: for them, the future is CC and rental-based licensing.  The continued limited support of Photoshop CS6, and continued availability of Lightroom perpetual, are a compromise so as not to leave existing customers  that don't like rental completely stranded, but new things will be CC, I'm sure.  

The various reports I've read of Adobe (e.g. a recent one in The Economist) are positively gushing with support for Adobe's "boldness" in stepping away from yesterday's model, and embracing the future.  IMHO they're not likely to turn back now, unless rental revenue falls to cripplingly low levels for a long time (years not months), by which time the company would be toast anyway.  Maybe they've got it wrong - big successful corporations full of very clever people have got it wrong many times before.  Not sure that's likely, though.    
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: john beardsworth on April 09, 2014, 06:44:22 am
Simon's referring to this (http://www.economist.com/news/business/21599370-adobes-bold-embrace-computing-cloud-should-inspire-others-super-subs) - bit of a puff piece though! Did you also see this Forbes article (http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2014/03/28/should-wall-street-reward-adobes-falling-profits/), Simon?
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Simon Garrett on April 09, 2014, 07:52:07 am
Simon's referring to this (http://www.economist.com/news/business/21599370-adobes-bold-embrace-computing-cloud-should-inspire-others-super-subs) - bit of a puff piece though! Did you also see this Forbes article (http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2014/03/28/should-wall-street-reward-adobes-falling-profits/), Simon?
No I hadn't seen the Forbes piece, thanks for the link John. 

I think it nicely analyses the problem.  Perhaps I've placed too much weight on the Economist view. 

As the Forbes article points out, many photographic users of CS/CC were seeing less and less innovation (of the sort they wanted) with each new release, and were becoming less inclined to shell out for the upgrades.  And, of course, the market for photographic software is changing fast as photography changes.  Have we reached a plateau with Photoshop, requiring a step change - of the sort newcomers are much better at than incumbents? 

The intial CC single-app price of $19.99 was out of the question for me.  But $9.99 seemed, well, OK.  Upgrading LR every time and Photoshop every 2 or 3 (when one could) averaged out at about the same in UK price as the CC offer.  I took the view that the $9.99 offer is time-limited, and that LR will eventually go CC anyway (or be left to attrophy as enhancements occur only in new products, as with Lightroom Mobile), so I signed-up. 

Time will tell, I guess, but I think it might be another year or more before we see whether Adobe were "right" (from a shareholder point of view, that is). 

Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: madmanchan on April 09, 2014, 11:43:53 am
Yes, the Lr 5.4 update has the usual stuff for a dot release: new camera support, new lens support, and bug fixes.  The "no new features" part (exception for Lr Mobile support, since that's a different product) is standard for a dot release.  There won't be any new "base" features for Lr till the next major version. 
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Wayne Fox on April 10, 2014, 07:00:19 pm
That is exactly what I meant to discuss.   Adobe has seemed to repeatedly reassure users that the CC and standalone versions of Lightroom will remain equivalent.   This is just the first example of divergence.

Dave
There is no divergence.  There is only one version of LR.  Owning the license for LR doesn't involve any rights to any creative cloud content or Lightroom mobile, which is what the new feature is about.  It isn't a feature of LR, it is a feature of creative cloud.

As far as those worried about "apple" first, many companies develop for iPad/iphone first then port to android, because it is more economical and yields revenues faster.  There is pretty wide fragmentation of android devices and operating systems, so I think it's not really about favoritism, but just the most efficient way to get things done.  I"m sure we'll see LRm on android tablets as soon as adobe can manage it, they certainly are motivated to make the CC more appealing and useful to as many of their customers as possible.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: bjanes on April 10, 2014, 07:23:52 pm
When I clicked "Check for updates" from within LR5.3 I was told no new updates available, but when I quit and restarted, I was asked if I want to upgrade to 5.4. Which I did.

As a side issue, LR seems to have disappeared from the list of installed applications on my Creative Cloud menu-bar thingy. I am wondering if it is still recognised by LR that I am a CC customer ....

When upgrading to LR 5.4 via the CC app, I noted the same thing, but on upgrading to the latest version of the CC app, LR is now listed among the CC installed programs.

Bill
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: David Eichler on April 21, 2014, 07:53:12 pm
No new features, only new cameras and lenses, and some bug fixes. 

Apparently the bug that sharpness and noise reduction were not applied properly on some exports has been fixed. 

Four updates until something like this gets fixed? Seems like it has routinely been taking them this long to get all the major bugs fixed for each version. Just about in time for them to release the next version. Although I have LR5, courtesy of the CC, I have stayed with LR 4 while waiting for them to go through most of the update cycle. Maybe now I can safely update without any major impediments to workflow.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: john beardsworth on April 22, 2014, 02:32:41 am
Four updates until something like this gets fixed? Seems like it has routinely been taking them this long to get all the major bugs fixed for each version. Just about in time for them to release the next version. Although I have LR5, courtesy of the CC, I have stayed with LR 4 while waiting for them to go through most of the update cycle. Maybe now I can safely update without any major impediments to workflow.
No, it wasn't four updates till it was fixed. Unless Simon is referring to a different bug, that bug (sharpening fails to apply if image exported at less than 1/3 of dimensions of original) was found in 5.0 and fixed in 5.1. You could have "safely" updated then.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: David Eichler on April 22, 2014, 03:09:15 am
No, it wasn't four updates till it was fixed. Unless Simon is referring to a different bug, that bug (sharpening fails to apply if image exported at less than 1/3 of dimensions of original) was found in 5.0 and fixed in 5.1. You could have "safely" updated then.

Well, actually that particular bug was actually fixed in version 5.3, along with a whole bunch of other bugs: http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2013/12/lightroom-5-3-now-available.html

So, update 5.4 did not actually have any major bug fixes. However, I still need to do some research to find out whether there are any remaining major bugs before finally starting to use LR 5
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: john beardsworth on April 22, 2014, 03:26:55 am
OK, 5.3 rather than 5.1, but I am pretty certain that bug only lasted for a single dot version. It only really affected people who exported files for web use, which included me, but I'm not convinced it qualifies as major. It's your choice, of course, but there's never been any real reason for sticking with 4.
Title: Re: Lightroom 5.4 released
Post by: Simon Garrett on April 22, 2014, 04:15:39 am
Well, actually that particular bug was actually fixed in version 5.3, along with a whole bunch of other bugs: http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2013/12/lightroom-5-3-now-available.html

The list of bugs that Adobe reported fixed in LR5.4 included "Sharpening/Noise Reduction were applied inconsistently depending on crop and export image size".  See http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2014/04/1277.html (http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2014/04/1277.html)

So, update 5.4 did not actually have any major bug fixes. However, I still need to do some research to find out whether there are any remaining major bugs before finally starting to use LR 5

Adobe reported specifically over 20 bugs fixed.  I'm not sure how one would judge whether any is "major".  

I am not aware of any major bugs in LR5.4, compared to LR4.  However there are a number of improvements that make LR5 significantly better for me, including improved perspective correction, improved clone/heal tool, and radial filter.  It's also (IMHO) faster than LR4.

There were a number of bugs in the original LR5.0 release, mostly fixed in LR5.2 (the first dot release - LR5.1 was missed to get back in synch with the ACR dot releases).