By Theano Nikitas

Adobe has been teasing photographers with sneak peeks of Photoshop CS6 for the past couple of months and tonight finally unveiled the software as a free public beta that’s available now for download. You can download Photoshop CS6 as a beta by clicking here.

We got an early look at the software, under NDA, at an Adobe-sponsored workshop last month. Click here to read our first impressions of Photoshop CS6.

Once you download the free beta of Adobe Photoshop CS6, tell us what you think of the software in the comments below.

By Theano Nikitas

After almost two months in public beta, Adobe has just released the finished version of its Lightroom 4 (download it here) image editing and organizational software. (The Lightroom 4 beta software officially expires on March 31, 2012.)

New features abound in Lightroom 4 ($149 full version; $79 upgrade), including some Develop module advancements, broader video integration, geo-tagging, book layout and direct-to-Blurb publishing as well as the oft-requested soft proofing functionality.

Other improvements, like more flexible DNG support, may be considered more like tweaks than updates but, overall, the differences between LR3 and LR4 are more notable than those between LR2 and LR3.

Rather than identify each and every new feature or enhancement, we’re going to concentrate on the most notable additions in this review.

Before you get too excited about Lightroom 4, those of you with older computers and operating systems — especially Windows XP — will have to upgrade to a 64-bit system. While I’m cross-platform and am covered on the Mac side, I’m a little saddened that I won’t be able to use Lightroom 4 on any of my Windows XP desktops. But XP is a little long in the tooth and we’re seeing a gradual transition away from the older OS. It had to happen sooner or later.

Still, minimum system requirements for LR4 are fairly modest. Beyond the 64-bit system, you’ll need 2GB of RAM and 1GB of free hard drive space. I worked with the beta on a 4.5-year-old Macbook Pro with 4GB of RAM and running OS X 10.6.8 (you’ll need 10.6.8 or 10.7 for LR4) and it ran fine.

Click here to read our full review of Lightroom 4.

Hold onto your hats, folks! Canon has officially unveiled its long-awaited EOS 5D Mark III, the 22.3-megapixel, full-frame, HD-shooting successor to one of the company’s most popular pro DSLRs of all time.

We got to spend some hands-on shooting time (see further down in this story) with a prototype of the Canon 5D Mark III this week, and as successors go, this camera is fairly loaded; even if its image sensor is only a tick higher in resolution that the 21.1MP 5D Mark II from 2008. (In contrast, the Canon 5D Mark III’s direct competitor, the Nikon D800, uses a 36.3MP full-frame chip.)

But let’s get the important stuff out of the way first: the 1080p-shooting Canon 5D Mark III is slated to go on sale at the end of March for $3,499 (body only) and as a kit with the 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens for $4,299.

While that’s nearly $1,000 more than the 5D Mark II initially sold for, Canon argues that the amount of new tech in the 5D Mark III justifies the bump up in price.

“The feature set on this thing is so far superior to the 5D Mark II, it’s worth it,” Chuck Westfall, Canon USA’s Technical Advisor in the Professional Engineering & Solutions Division told us during a hands-on preview with the new camera on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Canon 5D Mark II will remain in the line and its price will drop next week. Westfall wouldn’t say how much the price will be lowered on the 5D II but at least one site predicts it will go down by $300, starting this Sunday.

“The 5D Mark II will remain in the line for at least the next six months. It might go longer than that but it depends,” Westfall said. “There are people who will say I can get by with less so the 5D Mark II is there for them.”

Read more of this story and see additional photos by clicking here.

The New York Times‘ Bits blog published a report today suggesting that companies that make apps for Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch may have access to the photographs and videos you store on your devices.

When apps ask permission to access a user’s location information and the user grants it, the app “can copy the user’s entire photo library,” the Times reports.

Pros who use their iPhones to make images for business or pleasure should consider pressing “don’t allow” the next time an app asks to use your location data.

Lensbaby just unveiled a brand new Optic for its selective focus lens system. Called the Edge 80 Optic, this 80mm optic is compatible with Lensbaby Composer Pro, Composer, Muse, Scout and Control Freak.

The Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic ($300) is designed to transform Lensbaby’s bending lens bodies into an 80mm tilt-shift lens that creates a selective slice of sharp focus through a photo. Like the Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic, the Edge 80 features Lensbaby’s internal 12-blade adjustable aperture.

To see some more sample images shot with this optic click here.

To see sample videos shot with the Edge 80 Optic click here.

Lensbaby has also launched an Edge 80 optical simulator here.

Here are the product specs for the Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic. (More info in the press release after the jump.)

Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer

To read more of this story, click here.

In a statement posted on the Kodak Web Site under the title “Update on Kodak’s Transformation,” the company announced that it will cease producing digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames “to focus its Consumer Business on desktop inkjet, online and retail-based printing—areas that offer the most significant opportunities for profitable growth. Kodak will continue to offer camera accessories and batteries, which are universally compatible with other brands,” the statement said.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “The move during the first half of the year should save more than $100 million a year, and Kodak expects to book a $30 million charge from exiting the business.”

The statement also said that it was “likely” that some of the cameras, video cameras and digital frames it announced at CES would not be launched.

Eastman Kodak Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 19, 2012. In its filing in US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, the company reported that it has $6.8 billion in debt and $5.1 billion in assets. Kodak has struggled for years as the photography business has moved to digital photography.

Related: Kodak Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Kodak Shares Below $1, Could Be Delisted From NYSE

Is it us or does there seem to be a lot of photo gear news happening all of a sudden?

Along with unveiling a trio of new pro lenses earlier in the week, Canon has just posted high resolution sample images and videos shot with its new 18-megapixel Canon EOS-1D X flagship DSLR.

Download a few here, take a look, and tell us what you think of the Canon 1D X’s image and video quality in the comments below.

With a quite a few new camera models mimicking the retro look of classic rangefinders, Olympus has turned to old film single-lens-reflex cameras (remember those?) for inspiration on it’s newest digital camera, the 16.1-megapixel E-M5.

The mirrorless E-M5 is the first in a new line of Olympus OM-D (OM Digital) compact system cameras that use Micro Four Thirds image sensors. The OM-D E-M5 is based on the Olympus OM-4, a film SLR from the 1980s, though it looks like a miniaturized version of that model.

We got some hands-on time with the exceedingly cute Olympus E-M5 at the CES show in Las Vegas and were then shipped a prototype of the camera to play with for a few days after the show. The only catch — and it was a big one — was we weren’t given a battery for the camera so could not shoot images or access the new OM-D model’s performance.

Included with this story are some real-world images we shot of the Olympus OM-D E-M5.

Read more of this story and see more photos of the new Olympus E-M5 by clicking here.

Pentax is finally offering a way to tether its 40-megapixel 645D medium-format camera to a computer thanks to some just announced software that will let you transfer images from the camera to your PC via a USB cable.

Along with shuttling 645D photos to a computer, the new Pentax Image Transmitter software will let you simultaneously record images to the camera’s SD card. You can also remotely trigger the camera’s shutter from your computer with the software.

On the downside, the software will set you back an additional $200, whereas most medium-format models offer this feature for free. The Pentax 645D, however, is relatively reasonably priced for a medium-format camera , at $9,995.

More details on the software, which will be sold as a CD-ROM beginning in March 2012, are in the press release below.

PRESS RELEASE

PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION ANNOUNCES PENTAX 645D IMAGE TRANSMITTER SOFTWARE

DENVER, CO. (February 7, 2012)…PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION announced the PENTAX IMAGE Transmitter exclusive software for the transfer and saving of images taken with the PENTAX 645D medium-format digital SLR camera to a personal computer. The transmitter software is equipped to automatically transfer 645D images from camera to PC via USB cable.

Overview of the software:
• Available in CD-ROM format
• Transfer recorded images to a designated file on a personal computer
• Records the images simultaneously on an SD memory card installed in the camera
• The camera’s shutter may be remotely released using the personal computer
• Available in Japanese and English
• Operating manual included on the CD-ROM

The transmitter software will be available in March 2012 for $199.95 USD on www.pentaxwebstore.com.

NOTE: The camera’s firmware must be updated to the latest version in order to use this software. The latest firmware is contained in the CD-ROM. With the Windows version, Microsoft’s .NET Framework 4 software must be installed on a personal computer in advance

In the short-lived video tradition of “Sh*t Photographers Say” and “Sh*t Photographers Say [Official],” here’s “Shtuff People Say to Photographers.”

This one’s a little long but pretty dang funny. How many of these things have “clients” said to you?