Topaz Photo AI v2.3.0 released…and a new teaser for the next launch

There is a new v2.3.0 update for Topaz Photo Ai (get it here). At the same time Topaz CEO Eric Young launched a teaser for the upcoming new version:

Hi, and thanks so much for trusting our products with your work over the past few years.

In 2024, our photo and video products will experience the most significant evolution since our first AI product six years ago. I wanted to share what you can expect out of our products in the next few years.

We believe that generative AI should improve your work rather than replace it, so our product development philosophy focuses on three principles:

  1. Enhancement vs replacement: for improving your work without altering its core essence.
  2. Natural and photorealistic results, vs fantastical: for your photos and videos where preserving reality matters.
  3. On-device processing, vs cloud: for a faster workflow, more editing options, and private processing.

We think that these principles are essential for professional use cases, but currently undervalued in AI research. As such, we’re accelerating this direction with our three core products:

Photo AI
Photo AI is designed for photographers, and solves many photo quality problems like noise reduction and sharpening better than anything else. In 2024, we will use generative AI to greatly improve the quality and experience of other photo editing tasks.

Video AI
Video AI delivers you sharp, steady, and smooth footage without motion artifacts. In 2024, you will see improved AI model quality, a better app experience, and more integrations for professional editing workflows.

Gigapixel
Built for everyone, Gigapixel 7 brings improved upscaling model quality and better usability. Later this year, we’ll release fundamental improvements to our upscaling models that unlock another level of quality, better than anything else you’ve seen yet. Afterwards, we will bring Gigapixel to more platforms than just desktop.

We’re incredibly excited about this direction, and you’ll soon see some of these improvements in the next few months.

We’d also love your feedback as we’re filling our roadmap for the rest of the year. What would you love to be able to do with your images and videos that you can’t currently? Is there anything you wish our current products would do better? We will read and consider every comment.

Thank you again for trusting our products, and we will do everything possible to continue earning that trust!

Thanks,
Eric Yang
CEO, Topaz Labs

—-

 v2.3.0 Press release:

This week we have several new additions to the app and updates to existing tools as well. There are 2 new upscaling models – Standard v2 and High Fidelity v2, as well as update to the Remove model for Windows machines. Please see the notes below for more information about these models. Additionally, the Object Selection Brush is now available for use in the Remove tool. Finally, the Adobe Lightroom Classic plug-in will now add images back to their original Collections once exporting is done.

Standard v2 and High Fidelity v2:

  • For Standard we’ve improved the deblur consistency (blurry patch issue)
  • For High Fidelity we’ve improved the grain preserving consistency for low denoise/remove jpeg sliders
    • For use cases requiring keeping original noise/grain, select this model and tune down the two sliders.
  • For High Fidelity we’ve fixed the tile blending artifacts
  • For both models we’ve fixed the tile artifacts on Apple Silicon Mac’s Neural Engine
    • There is an option to turn off Neural Engine but it will slow down processing
  • For quality in general, the models should be more generative

Remove Model:

  1. Improved the speed of the tool via steps distillation
  2. Solved some quality issues via larger data augmentation

Note: If you are experiencing issues with the Remove tool on macOS Sonoma a potential fix is updating to the latest version of Sonoma

a bit of everything…


Panasonic 9mm New Life For m4/3

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
The Lumix Gear I Actually Use On A Daily Basis (Josh Cameron).
OM-1 test at Mapcamera.
How to Choose a Laptop for Video Editing (Explora).
The Ultimate Guide to Manual Focus in Photography (42West).

Plenty of news on the facebook OMD group, Panasonic FF and the GH5 group.
I kindly invite you all to follow me on Youtube, Instagram, Threads for more broader camera talk :)

a bit of everything…


Mesmerizing Cardistry captured on the LUMIX GH6

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
What do you do if you find your stolen items for sale on Ebay? I get the chance to find out (Mike Lane).
The Pros and Cons of Travel Tripods (Explora).
Biggest Camera Releases of 2023 (42West).
G9II tested at Mobile01.

Plenty of news on the facebook OMD group, Panasonic FF and the GH5 group.
I kindly invite you all to follow me on Youtube, Instagram, Threads for more broader camera talk :)

Sean Robinson interview about the G9II

Sean Robinson has been interviewed by Charbax. At the end he takes a shot on 43rumors (I mean this in a cute way) saying the G9II sales are strong. First of all, my info came from a couple of important store managers. I am only happy if for some reason they told me wrong things or if the general picture is different from the few accounts I got.

And like I told you many times, the G9II is a superb camera…while in my opinion a tiny bit too expensive.

a bit of everything…


Which Olympus/OM Camera Is Right For You? | MPB

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
LUMIX Live: New Camera? Start Here
Panasonic Lumix G9 II im Test (Chip.de).
Tips for Taking Character Portraits (42West).
Top New Lenses of 2023 (Explora).

Plenty of news on the facebook OMD group, Panasonic FF and the GH5 group.
I kindly invite you all to follow me on Youtube, Instagram, Threads for more broader camera talk :)

Manny Ortiz was robbed of his camera equipment. Here is how you should avoid it.

As you can from the video below Manny Ortize was robbed of his camera equipment ($16,000 value).

If you are afraid to get robbed and not find your gear again than you have to probably buy the Apple Airtags (now 14% off on Amazon) and the Quick Release Plate for AirTag from Smallrig (here on Amazon). It’s the best way to keep track of your camera. Although I hope one day camera manufacturers will offer some kind of in camera solution for this to keep track and eventually lockdown your camera so that nobody can access it.