Adobe has released Camera Raw 7.2 and Lightroom 4.2 with the same raw processing updates for both, and with a corresponding DNG Converter 7.2 update. All are free updates for current licenses of the software. The updates include the usual bug fixes and add support for a long list of new cameras (including the Canon EOS 650D/Rebel T4i, Panasonic DMC-LX7, Pentax K-30, and preliminary support for the Nikon D600) new lens correction profiles, and more details that you can read about in:

• Lightroom 4.2 post at the official Lightroom Journal
• Camera Raw 7.2/DNG Converter 7.2 post at the official Lightroom Journal
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.2 ReadMe file

Remember that if you have versions of Photoshop and Lightroom that are too old for these updates, you can use the latest DNG Converter, which is free, to convert raw files from new cameras into the DNG format that older software can read.

Lightroom performance: Improved?

Many people have been experienced slow Lightroom 4 performance. While Adobe doesn’t mention specific performance fixes in their release notes, Lightroom guru Laura Shoe says that changes have been made to Develop module display updates that should result in more responsive performance. You can read about it in Laura Shoe’s blog post about Lightroom 4.2.

Back In Lightroom 4.1, I did experience delays when editing images. After working with Lightroom 4.2 for a bit, going from image to image and switching between Loupe and Develop does seem much more responsive now (almost instant) for images where previews have been built. And this is on a first-generation Mac Pro, which would be considered “old hardware” by now. Nice! I’m not sure how much faster it updates the preview while editing in Develop, but that’ll become evident the more I use this update.

How to update

To download the updates, go to:

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/

(Although Camera Raw hadn’t shown up yet when I posted this article.)

or:

To update Photoshop and Camera Raw directly, start Photoshop and choose Help > Updates.

To update Lightroom, start Lightroom and choose Help > Check for Updates. If you bought Lightroom through the Mac App Store, the update may take a longer to become available there because it has to wait for Apple approval.