Hasselblad announced that starting March 12, all of their newly purchased cameras will include a version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. My guess is that they are talking about Lightroom 4 which will probably be released on March 6th.
Press release:
Hasselblad and Adobe announce an agreement to make medium format photography easier and more accessible to the world’s photographers.
Hasselblad today announced an agreement with Adobe Systems Incorporated that, beginning on the 12th March 2012, all newly purchased medium format Hasselblad H4D cameras will include a fully functional copy of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® software at no extra charge. Under this agreement, Hasselblad is creating new opportunities for all lovers of medium format photography as well as for aspirational 35mm professionals, advanced amateurs and enthusiasts to perfect, search, process and organize their images in a single solution regardless of their experience or skill level.
Chris Russell-Fish, Hasselblad Global Sales and Marketing Director said: “Integrating the Adobe platform with Hasselblad is a ground-breaking step. Changing platforms is always a challenge for timestarved photographers and digital operators but now all users can have the excellence of a Hasselblad image file married to the functionality and ease of use of Adobe Lightroom.”
Hasselblad customers who buy new medium format H4D cameras will receive Lightroom software with their new camera equipment at no additional cost.
Adobe spokesperson Tom Hogarty, principal product manager for Lightroom said: “We are excited that photographers who purchase a new Hasselblad H4D camera will now easily be able to combine it with the power of Lightroom software. The world of imaging continues to evolve quickly, so it is increasingly important to offer customers innovative and practical software options to refine, showcase and manage their images.”
The Hasselblad and Lightroom plan does not mean that Hasselblad’s Phocus software is being phased out. Said Russell-Fish: “We will continue to support our proprietary Phocus software. This new agreement is about providing choice for our customers. Lightroom has the advantage of familiarity with photographers, digital operators and enthusiasts worldwide. Phocus still offers high-end imagists some highly specialized tools and remains an integral element of our Multi-Shot cameras as well as our Phocus Mobile application, which enables wireless connectivity for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
We are also working on solutions to tethering and batch processing challenges, and integration of those solutions is not far off.” Hasselblad will run a worldwide programme of workshops and studio days based on medium format capture and Lightroom software.
