Today Canon has released a new firmware version 1.2.2 for Canon EOS 7D. The firmware includes the following fixes:

1. Fixes a phenomenon in which the set aperture moves when shooting movies in manual exposure mode using some Canon lenses (such as macro lenses).
2. Fixes the AF point-selection behavior of the C.Fn III-7 (Manual AF pt. selec. pattern) custom function when set to [1].
3. Fixes the AF point display for the viewfinder electronic level when shooting in the vertical position.
4. Corrects misspellings in the Spanish and Thai menus for applicable products.

Download and install instructions at http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos7d/firmware.html

The One Day on Earth online community are seeking participants all over the world, including people using their 7D for filmmaking, to contribute with footage that document whats happening around the world on the single day 10/10/2010. If you are curious, visit http://www.onedayonearth.org/.

One Day on Earth Participant Trailer from One Day On Earth on Vimeo.

Jason Mongue has been playing with 7D and timelapse, and sent Planet 7D this nice little video from Maui:

You can watch Maui Timelapse from Jason Mongue in HD on Vimeo.

Technical stuff: Canon EOS 7D with EF-S 18-55 f/2.8 and EF 70-200 f/4L. Mix of video and raw/jpg stills. Processed in Lightroom 3 and Premiere Pro CS5. Music is "He Man" by Bondage Fairies.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 has been released. It includes a new improved Raw processing engine, automatic lens correction, improved noise reduction and sharpening, and other stuff similar to the updates in Camera Raw 6.x (Photoshop CS5). But Terry White also introduces some features specific for Lightroom 3 in his top-5 favorite new features demo in the video below.

The video can also be watched at AdobeTV.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is available as a free trial download.

Lightroom 3 and Creative Suite 5 are soon to be released, but Lightroom 2.x and Camera Raw for Photoshop CS4 also got an update today. Probably their last. Use built-in update-service of your Adobe programs or download the updates to these popular image processing applications free from Adobe's site:

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.7 update for Windows
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.7 update for Mac
• Adobe Camera Raw 5.7 and DNG Converter 5.7 for Windows
• Adobe Camera Raw 5.7 and DNG Converter 5.7 for Mac

As explained in the previous post, you most definitely want to update to Camera Raw 5.7 in Photoshop CS4 (or Photoshop Elements 8) if you plan to use it together with the upcoming Lightroom 3.

A few days ago Adobe presented the upcoming Adobe Creative Suite 5 including Photoshop CS5. The new Adobe software should be available in shops in mid-May, and here's a list with some of the new things for photographers found in Photoshop CS5:

• Camera Raw 6 with same Raw-engine and tools as found in Lightroom 3, including new demosaicing algorithm for improved detail and resolution.
• Improved sharpening tool (Both Photoshop and Camera Raw)
• Improved noise reduction tool (Both Photoshop and Camera Raw)
• Improved vignette tool (Both Photoshop and Camera Raw)
• Grain tool in Camera Raw
• Automated lens correction for geometric distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting. Based on lens and camera profiles. I haven't seen this feature mentioned in connection with Camera Raw 6 or Lightroom 3. So it might be "native" Photoshop only, and not in the Raw engine? Update: In a post on Photography Uncapped it sounds like the new automated lens correction also is available in Camera Raw. Update 2: I'm still not 100% sure if it is in Camera Raw 6.0 shipping with CS5, but it should for sure be in the not so far away Camera Raw 6.1 update. Adobe has a nice demonstration of Lens Correction in Camera Raw 6.1.
• Content aware fill.
• Puppet warp
• Improved Refine Edge tool for refining selections
• Better HDR tool
• 64 bit system support now on both PC and Mac (CS4 has 64-bit support on PC already). However for Mac only Intel based computers are now supported.
• Return of File Browser inside Photoshop. Now called Mini Bridge.

...and lots of other things. You can find a collection of demonstration videos to watch on AdobeTV:

• Photoshop CS5 Feature Tour

The "internal raw engine" in Photoshop CS5's Camera Raw 6 and in Lightroom 3 are basically the same. And Camera Raw 6 makes Photoshop CS5 fully compatible with Raw adjustments made in the upcoming Lightroom 3. So if you plan to use Lightroom version 3 for Raw processing, you are able to continue the work on your photos either in Camera Raw 6 or "native" Photoshop CS5. But you will also be able to keep this workflow with Photoshop CS4 (or Photoshop Elements 8) since Adobe is preparing a Camera Raw 5.7 release for this (currently available as a release candidate). Camera Raw 5.7 will have full "rendering support" for the new raw engine, but will not have GUI controls for the new tools (new sharpening, new noise reduction, etc.). So all Lightroom 3 settings are applied and rendered when importing Raw files from Lightroom 3, but you cannot change settings for the new tools found in Lr3. This also means you will not be able to take advantage of the improved sharpening or noise reduction if you do your Raw editing solely in Camera Raw 5.7 (though you should still be able to get the advantage of the new demosaicing algorithm, promising more details in Raw photos). At least this is my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong...

You might also be interested in the new Photoshop CS5 if you work with video. And of course the full Adobe Creative Suite also include new versions of Premiere Pro and After Effects:

• What's new for video in Photoshop CS5
• CS5 Production Premium Feature Tour
• Premiere Pro CS5 Feature Tour
• After Effects CS5 Feature Tour

The new firmware version 1.2.1 for Canon EOS 7D released today incorporates the following improvements and fixes:

1. Extends the timing at which the high temperature warning indicator is displayed and the timing of automatic shut down of the camera due to a rise in internal temperature during Live View or EOS Movie functions.
2. Optimizes program shift when the ISO setting of the camera is set to AUTO.
3. Corrects a misspelling in the French-language menu.
4. Corrects a phenomenon in which vertical magenta-colored banding appears in still images taken in movie-shooting mode.
   (This only occurs when in Manual exposure mode and when the ISO speed is set to "H". Note that this phenomenon only affects units with Firmware Version 1.2.0)

Download at:

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos7d/firmware.html

Today Adobe has released the second beta version of the forthcoming Photoshop Lightroom 3, their digital darkroom and workflow software. The beta software features a complete new "RAW engine" for improved image quality and a number of new features and optimizations compared to previous versions of Lightroom. The beta are available to the public as a free download in a version that will expire on June 30, 2010. New in beta 2 compared to first beta are improved performance, native tethered shooting for a select of Nikon and Canon cameras (including Canon EOS 7D), luminance noise reduction, import and managing of video files, and more.

The new "RAW engine" in the Lightroom Beta is also a preview of what to be found in the next big update of Camera Raw for Photoshop CS, since they use the same engine for Raw processing.

Update 24/3 2010:: ... and Adobe Creative Suite 5, including Photoshop CS5, is also coming soon.

It has been pointed out by Philip Bloom and others, that the movie "Tiny Furniture" that won the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at South by Southwest Film Festival, is actually shot entirely with the Canon EOS 7D. The movie is by the 23 year old Lena Dunham, and you can watch the trailer here or on Vimeo:

22-year-old Aura returns home after college to her artist mother's loft with the following: a useless film theory degree, 357 hits on her YouTube page, and no shoulders to cry on. Starring Dunham and her real-life family, Tiny Furniture is tragicomedy about what does and does not happen when you graduate with no skills, no love life, and a lot of free time.

I have been traveling the last two weeks, and returning this weekend I was somehow disappointed that no big Canon news had occurred while I was gone. I mean, at least rumor sites had expected a new camera (1Ds Mark IV) announced together with a new lens or two. But no such thing happened. All we got in this round was announcements of a few new printers and compacts, a firmware upgrade for the 5D Mark II and a small update of DPP and other Canon EOS software. The new 5D firmware is a bit interesting for 7D owners though. Through the firmware update Canon adds manual sound level control, increased audio sampling frequency and other improvements to the video part of 5D Mark II. If Canon can do it on 5DII, they can probably do it on 7D too. But do they want to?...

While I was gone Benoit Millot also sent Planet 7D the above nice video combining 7D footage with 3D animation. It is not completely new, so some might have seen it already. But if not, check it out in HD on Vimeo...