DxO Optics Pro 6.5.4 adds Alpha 580

February 10, 2011 – DxO Labs is pleased to announce the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v6.5.4 for Mac and Windows that adds RAW support for the Olympus E-PL2, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 and for the Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 in both its Standard and Elite editions. Further, 69 new DxO Optics Modules are now available to DxO Optics Pro users, covering numerous Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Panasonic, Pentax and Sony cameras.

Availability and price
DxO Optics Pro v6.5.4 for Windows and Mac, Standard and Elite editions are available from DxO Labs’ e-store and selected resellers at the following prices:
DxO Optics Pro Standard edition: $169 / 149 € / £ 99
DxO Optics Pro Elite edition: $299 / 299 € / £ 199
€ and £ prices include sales taxes and VAT.

All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro since June 1st, 2009 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 6.5.4.
System Requirements
2 GB RAM minimum
400 MB available disk space
Windows :
Intel Pentium 4 processor or AMD equivalent (Pentium Dual Core or higher or equivalent recommended)
Microsoft Windows XP 32 or 64 bits, Windows Vista 32 or 64 bits, Windows 7 (32 or 64 bits)
To process RAW images larger than 20 MPixels, a 64-bit operating system with 4 GB RAM is strongly recommended
Macintosh:
Intel-Mac
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
To process RAW images larger than 20 MPixels, 3 GB RAM is strongly recommended

The Alpha 580 – a three-way view

Once I had a quarterplate hand-and-stand camera, vintage 1920s. Attached to the front standard was a small reflex viewfinder, giving a miniature composition you could use at waist or chest level. On the same standard was a folding wire frame, with a companion eye-sighting window flipping up from the side of the body. This gave a direct view from eye level. But for the most accurate framing and focusing, a groundglass screen at back could be used with the shutter open and a viewing hood folded out.

Those three ways of viewing have never been available in a modern SLR. Until now! The Alpha 580 (for which you can also read 560 throughout this review, give or take the sensor) is the first modern SLR to offer three entirely different viewfinder systems, all with their own unique focus and exposure methods. There have been cameras made by Alpa and Praktina which had optical finders tucked in alongside their pentaprism, and Rollei invented a finder which could switch from eye-level to waist level at the flick of a lever. But the Alpha 580 offers three through-the-lens systems and it’s unlikely any DSLR will do so again.
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Adobe releases 6.3 and 3.3 raw with 560-580 support

Raw conversion for the Sony Alpha 560 and 580 models is now available from Adobe. Adobe has released the final ‘cut’ of Lightroom 3.3 and Camera Raw 6.3, along with other improvements on December 7th and a Bridge update which was released a week ago:

Photoshop CS5 12.0.2 update

December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh

TWAIN Plug-in update

December 7, 2010

Camera Raw 6.3 update

December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh

DNG Converter 6.3 update

December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh

Lightroom 3.3 update

December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh

Adobe Bridge CS5 4.0.4 Update

November 30, 2010
Windows | Macintosh