Lightroom 8.0 is an unusual release in so far as it’s the first full update that doesn’t include many major new features. Furthermore, and unlike every previous full version update, it doesn’t upgrade your catalog. So, rolling back to any version between 7.0 and 7.5 is relatively straightforward.
As implied above, new features and enhancements won’t jump out at you. In fact, some may be of little, if any use to a sizeable number of Lightroom users.
Depth Range Mask
OK, so here’s an example of a new feature that Adobe will make a big deal off, yet it’s only available to customers capturing photos with Apple iPhones such as the 7 plus, 8 plus, X and later when using portrait mode with the built-in camera. The files must also have been captured be using the HEIC file format.
How does it work?
Depth Range Mask works in a similar way to Luminance Range Mask (has range and smoothness sliders) present in local adjustments tools (i.e. brush, graduated filter and radial filter). However, instead of the selection being based on a range of Luminance values, it selects based on a range of depth values. You can also use the eye dropper tool to sample a point or an area.
The “Show Range Mask” checkbox allows you to view the depth map of the image in black and white representation as demonstrated in below example.
Image courtesy of Adobe Inc.
Red denotes the actual area masked which is an intersection of depth and local adjustment applied. A similar feature has also been added to Luminance Range Mask.
Single Step HDR Panorama Merge
The Single Step HDR Panorama feature will allow you to select a sequence of exposure brackets and merge them to an HDR Panorama in a single step.
Single-step HDR Panorama Merge
New Tether for Canon
With this version, Adobe have improved speed and stability when tethering supported Canon camera models. There are now two menu items for tethering:
- Tethered Capture for Canon
- Tethered Capture for Nikon & Other
You can also now select the shutter speed, aperture, ISO and white balance from the Tether control bar.
Over time we can expect to see similar enhancements being added for Nikon and other camera vendors.
A full list of cameras tether support in Lightroom Classic 8.0 can be found at Tethered Camera Support
Process Version Improvements
Lightroom Classic CC 8.0 includes a new Process Version (Process Version 5). Process Version 5 includes the following imaging updates:
- Improved Negative DehazeThis update improves the usability of the minus/left range (from 0) of the Dehaze slider, making it much more perceptually uniform, and providing a more useful range, especially for HDR images.
- Improvements to image quality behaviour for high ISO raw filesThe improvements manifest as reduced purple/magenta color cast in the shadows, and improved shadow detail.
Video and Slideshow Library
Adobe have updated have the Video library for Lightroom Classic 8.0. This will impact any workflow related to Videos and all of Slideshow module. In addition, AVI movie files are no longer supported on macOS.
HEVC file support (macOS)
Beginning with this release, Lightroom Classic supports Apple’s HEVC video format (High Efficiency Video Coding, also known as H.265) on macOS High Sierra v10.13 or later.
For further information, see HEIC and HEVC media files support in Lightroom and Camera Raw.
Updated System Requirements
With version 8.0 Adobe has also updated the system requirements. For some customers these new requirements may present a problem, but Adobe need to make these changes now to facilitate future plans and to avoid issues resulting from Apple and Microsoft deprecating APIs
- macOS 10.14 Mojave is officially supported in this release.
- If you use Windows 10, you’ll need version 1703 or later.
Auto Update
As with all of today’s Creative Cloud updates, Adobe has introduced a new Auto-update feature. Therefore, your Creative Cloud apps are now automatically upgraded whenever a new version is available. For Lightroom Classic, you cannot have two versions of the app running simultaneously on your computer. Your existing app preferences and settings are migrated to the latest version. However, you can manage the update preferences using the Creative Cloud desktop app as described in Manage auto-update for individual apps
Support for new cameras and lenses
For a full list of supported cameras and lens profiles, see these resources: