Hasselblad has released an update to its medium format post-production program Phocus. Focus version 3.4 adds improvements across the board, including improved shadow and highlight tools, new adjustment layer tools, expanded live view options, new lens profile, and more.
The enhanced Shadow Fill and Highlight Recovery tools have been ‘significantly enhanced.’ Hasselblad says the updated algorithm ‘enables photographers to fully utilize the dynamic range available in their images,’ although exactly how it’s changed remains a mystery. In the event the updated methodology isn’t what a user wants, or the a user is working with previously-corrected images, Hasselblad has also included the old algorithm under a selectable version option.
Hasselblad has added Shadow Fill and Clarity options to the adjustment layer tools so they can now be used as local adjustments with the brush tool and linear and radial gradients. A new Detail tool has also been added under the exposure toolset. This new tool is used alongside the Clarity tool to fine-tune the local contrast in an image.
Focus 3.4 also includes a new Live View Aperture option that lets users ‘to automatically open to the widest aperture possible or to use the selected aperture instead when activating live view.’
Also new is an updated Noise Filter tool and additional lens profiles for the following lenses:
• XCD 2,8/65
• XCD 1,9/80
• XCD 2,8/135 with X Converter 1.7
To download Hasselblad Phocus 3.4, head over to Hasselblad’s Phocus download page.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)