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Posted by on Aug 30, 2012 in News | 8 comments

What Does The Latest Lightroom 4.2 Release Candidate Mean For You


Adobe announced a release candidate for Lightroom 4.2 a couple days ago and I wanted to write a quick article on what this means to you as a Lightroom 4.1 user.

First, What Is A Release Candiate?
A release candidate is basically a beta version of the software, that has the potential to be a final version. Everything at this stage has been designed and tested thoroughly and unless there’s a significant bug that’s found/changed, the release candidate will eventually become the next version of the software.

When it comes to Lightroom, Tom Hogarty (the Lightroom Product Manager) says this about it on his blog:

The ‘release candidate’ label indicates that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers. The final release of Lightroom 4.2 may have additional corrections or camera support.

Does Lightroom 4.2 Have Any New Features?
4.2 has some bug fixes (you can read the full list over on the Lightroom Product Manager, Tom Hogarty’s, blog and new camera support for about 10 new cameras (again, the full list is over on Tom’s blog). For me personally, I wasn’t affected by any of the bugs (at least that I’ve noticed). And I don’t own any of the new cameras. However, it looks like the Nikon D800 is now supported in tethered capture, so that’ll be cool.

Am I Going To Download It?
Yes, I’ll be downloading it soon. I’m teaching at Photoshop World next week in Las Vegas so I’m a little hesitant to change anything before then. Not just Lightroom, but I’m usually hesitant to changing anything on my computer right before a big conference. But who knows… I’m not very good at waiting so I may tempt fate before then :)

Question: Have you (or will you) upgraded to the Lightroom 4.2 release candidate yet? Any thoughts so far?

Thanks and have a good one!

Matt Kloskowski

Matt Kloskowski

Education Director at NAPP / Kelby Training
Matt is a full time Education Director for the NAPP and Kelby Training. He's a best-selling author of various books on Photoshop and Photography co-hosts the live weekly photography talk show "The Grid" and is co-host of "Photoshop User TV". In his spare time he practices as a 1st degree black belt in Taekwondo and enjoys spending time with his family in Tampa, FL.
Matt Kloskowski

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Matt Kloskowski
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  • http://photoopolis.com susan

    im like you, a little hesitant though not b/c im presenting at PS World hehe. i’ll let others go first and see what they say. all upgrades are exciting though. love your presets btw matt.

  • Jack F

    I’ll wait til it comes out of beta since it doesn’t add any new features. And like you, I haven’t noticed the bugs that are fixed.
    I don’t currently subscribe to the Creative Cloud, I am using LR4 and PS CS5. But I know that if you are a member of CC Adobe will be releasing new features as they become available and us “owners” of the software will be “missing out” until the next version release. I don’t like the idea of paying $50 per month to use LR4 and PS but if the features are killer enough I may have to bite the bullet!
    How bout you Matt? Are you “owner” or “subscriber”?

  • https://www.facebook.com/girish.d.joshi.photography Girish

    Thanks a lot, Matt. Much appreciated.

  • http://gravatar.com/dougsundseth Doug Sundseth

    I don’t normally do Beta upgrades (even late Betas like this one) unless there’s a strong reason. I don’t have a strong reason this time, so I’ll be waiting until the full release.

  • http://williambeem.com William Beem

    I like the fact that Adobe provides public betas and release candidates. However, I’m going to wait this one out until they provide a final release for LR. There isn’t anything compelling to try out a pre-release version instead of sticking with the current release.

  • Mike Bowen

    Looking over the list of changes, I don’t see anything that I need to have, so I’ll just wait for the release is ready for general consumption.

    The 4.1 update with 32-bit support was a great update. I just read over at http://www.lightroomsecrets.com that Photomatix has a new plug-in that allows you to merge your photos to a 32-bit file without leaving LR. Looks promising for people who have Photomatix Pro and don’t have CS6 (like me).

  • http://www.facebook.com/john4jack Jack Larson

    Since I don’t have any of the mentioned bugs, I’m waiting.

  • http://jacklarson.aminus3.com JACK LARSON

    PS – another reason for not downloading it is that release candidates require me to re-program my WACOM tablet for the RC. You don’t have to do that for a regular update (i.e., PSCS6 13.0.1).