Apr 5

Apr 5 Saturday Speculation: New Version of Lightroom at Photoshop World Next Week?

Just a quick disclaimer. I don’t have any rumours or inside information. This post is just meant as a bit of fun, and this is pure speculation, so if that bothers you, turn away now :-)

I am wondering if we might see a new version of Lightroom at next week’s Photoshop World. At the very least I think we might see a beta of the next version. I don’t have any hard facts or inside information, but I do have two reasons for reaching this conclusion.

Firstly, a short while ago, Adobe released a beta version of the next Camera Raw update. This was a typical update and as per usual it addressed some bugs and added some new cameras. What was unusual about the update is that Adobe didn’t release a Lightroom beta at the same time. In the past betas of incremental updates of Camera Raw and Lightroom have been released around the same time, but it’s been a couple of weeks now and there’s been nothing. Fuji XT1 owners are starting to get restless as support for their camera hasn’t been added yet (yet is in Camera raw and even Apple has supported it in Aperture, and Apple has historically been slow with releasing new camera support). This makes me suspect that Lightroom is due more than an incremental update.

Secondly, if you look at the previous release schedule of the last few Lightroom releases, this has been around the time when it’s been announced.

Lightroom 5.0 – Released on June 10, 2013
Lightroom 5.0 beta – Available on April 15, 2013.
Lightroom 4.0 – Released on March 5, 2012.
Lightroom 3.0 – Released on March 23, 2010.

While there was a longer time between 3 and 4, Adobe has been speeding up releases lately, so a one year schedule seems plausible. Of course they could just release an intermediate release with extra features (5.5). Or it could all be just a coincidence.

Anyway, I could be completely wrong, but I do find the delay between the last camera raw beta and the Lightroom equivalent curious. I suspect that the next version will probably be subscription only too, so brace yourself for that one!

[UPDATE] Or, maybe not. According to Fuji Rumors, a source has told them that Lightroom 5.4 is due next week.