Afraid of missing out on the latest photo industry news while you’re out, well, actually taking pictures? Photo FOMO is all the news you might have missed this week, published on the weekends. Alongside the biggest stories of the week, like SmugMug’s acquisition of Flickr, Snapchat’s new camera glasses, DxO Labs possible bankruptcy, the (hopefully) end of that monkey selfie lawsuit, and the return of the Rolleiflex, find briefs on the latest in accessories and photo industry news from this week with Photo FOMO.
Fujifilm fixes the X-H1 … again
Fujifilm launched the second firmware fix for the Fujifilm X-H1, both to fix issues that only occurred in rare cases with a specific mix of settings. Firmware Ver. 1.02, released on April 26, fixes a bug that could cause using the “select folder” function inside the camera’s setup menu to overwrite image files. The update is available to download directly from Fujifilm.
Adobe apologizes and fixes Lightroom Classic bugs
Adobe recently updated camera profiles for the first time in years but the Lightroom Classic update had a few errors when using those presets. This week, Adobe apologized for the bugs and launched an update with version 7.3.1. The previous version had some errors when converting presets, sorting profiles, pasting profiles and in other work with the new camera profiles.
“We heard your feedback and felt that parts of the release didn’t uphold the level of quality that we hold ourselves to. We’re happy to report that these issues were resolved and now available for immediate download,” Adobe said.
Insta360 and Adobe collaborate to create DIY stitching option
A new, free extension will now allow the Insta360 Pro footage to be fully edited with Adobe Premiere Pro. The extension allows videographers to edit the shots before stitching to speed up the process. Because the pre-stitched files with a proxy version of the stitch are smaller files to work with, the format helps speed up the editing process, along with offering a speed boost by allowing only the segments used in the final video to go through the stitching process. During export, the plug-in generates a full resolution stitch with all the edits applied.
The extension will be released this quarter, Insta360 says, and is compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017 and later.
Budget lens company Meike moves into autofocus lenses
China-based company Meike offers lenses at a low price — if photographers are willing to focus manually. That is changing, however, with the company’s first lens using autofocus. This week, Meike launched an 85mm f/1.8 prime lens in mounts for Canon, Nikon and Sony E. The lens will also feature an all-metal body. While the company is known for budget lenses, there is no word yet on a price or release date.
Sony photographers could soon have a new film body option
Vintage Nikon and Canon cameras make it possible to use some of the same lenses on film and digital bodies (albeit often without autofocus or aperture adjustment). Sony shooters, however, could soon have the same option. Lex Optical is currently developing an open-source, 3D-printed E Mount film camera. The 35mm is a DIY build it yourself option with 3D-printed parts, but the company says they are considering selling some already made options through a crowdfunding campaign. The Lex doesn’t yet have a release date for the printing files and instructions.
VSCO X now boasts one million users
Photo editing app and social platform VSCO now has more than a million users paying for the X subscription. This week, VSCO CEO Joel Flory shared that the platform’s subscription membership, now about a year old, had grown to more than a million users, which brought a 91 percent increase in revenue for the company. The company also announced a new VP of Product, Allison Swope, who previously held several roles at Facebook, including product management.
