Well, there it is. The new "beta 2" version of Lightroom 3 is now available for public consumption @ the Adobe Labs website.
New in Lightroom 3 Beta 2
- Improved performance throughout the application for faster importing and loading of images
- Native tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras
- Luminance noise reduction has been added to the previous color noise reduction improvements available in the first public beta for outstanding overall high ISO quality
- Support for importing and managing video files from DSLR cameras for better overall photographic workflow control
- Improvements to the import experience in the first beta to reflect public feedback
- Improved watermarking functionality from the first beta to reflect public feedback
For the full scoop about everything they've packed into this update (and why) check out this page: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/. Terry White has also whipped up a very nice "what's new" video already – check it out at his site: Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast.
To me, it feels like Adobe is indeed headed in the right direction with Lightroom 3. Better image quality and performance are always at the top of any photographers feature list, and the tweaks here and there that they've focused on this time around will definitely make the program more efficient, versatile and flat out fun to use. The noise reduction in particular looks phenomenal in this version and I can't wait to try it out. One less thing to have to do in Photoshop is always a time saver.
I just hope they release the "real" version 3 soon, because it would be really, really nice to be able to use the tools I've been spoiled with in the beta versions on my actual LR catalogs. Adobe is now stating "The current Lightroom 3 public beta 2 will expire on June 30, 2010", so I guess it'll be at least a few more months of waiting before we see a full-blown LR3 release. Damn 
