Free-For-All with Adobe Lightroom Mobile, and the End of an Analogue Era [Tech Tuesday]

Adobe just released Lightroom for Android version 1.4, and not only is it free to download, but it doesn’t require a subscription to Creative Cloud. (Sidenote: Adobe released version 2.0 for iOS last month, which also doesn’t require a Creative Cloud subscription.) That’s the good news.

The caveat, however, is that if you want to sync images from Lightroom on your Android device to your computer, you will need a CC subscription. If you’re a CC subscription-resister but think you might want to sync your images from Lightroom mobile, you can give the Creative Cloud Photography plan a whirl to see if it makes sense.

Other than the syncing function, Lightroom for Android offers a range of functions. On the editing side, you can work with one-touch presets or manually adjust the exposure, tweak white balance, apply a tone curve and add a vignette. Basics like cropping and sharing are available as well, and that just touches on only some of the app’s features.In other news, Holga—those wonderful, funky plastic film cameras—have now gone out of production. Freestyle Photographic Supplies, the US Holga distributor, recently announced that the Holga factory has closed its doors after 33 years. If you’ve never experimented with a Holga, now may be your last chance to add one to your camera collection. And, if you’re a Holga fan, you might want to pick up one (or more).

The cameras, in a variety of formats, are available from Freestyle, as well as other photo retailers. While there seems to be plenty of stock available (for now), I ordered a new Holga last week so I wouldn’t miss out. If nothing else, you may want to add one of the Holga models to your holiday wish list or gift one to your alternative-photography friend. They’re not expensive (averaging around $40 or so) and are oh so fun to shoot with!