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New Photoshop And Lightroom Updates

Adobe has rolled out the April 2026 updates for Photoshop and Lightroom, bringing Photoshop to version 27.6 and Lightroom to its latest desktop release, with a mix of AI tools, workflow changes, and performance improvements. A lot of the focus this time is on making everyday editing a bit quicker and less tedious, especially for photographers dealing with large files, layered edits, or big batches of images.

In Photoshop, the Remove tool now has an improved “Find Distractions” mode, which can pick up and remove things like people, wires, and general background clutter more reliably, while still letting you check the result before applying it. There is also a new Reflection Removal feature, meant for photos shot through glass, which tries to clean up reflections without messing with the rest of the image. The updated Rotate Object tool also makes compositing a bit easier by letting you adjust perspective directly on the canvas. On top of that, Generative Fill keeps getting expanded, with better natural language prompts and support for multiple reference images, so you can fix or extend parts of a photo without getting too deep into masking.

Lightroom gets a more workflow-focused update. AI-assisted culling is meant to help sort through large shoots by looking at things like focus and exposure, which can speed up the selection process. Search has also been improved, so you can use more natural queries to find specific images in your catalog. Alongside that, Adobe is reporting faster slider performance and better support for newer camera formats (including the recent compressed RAW format introduced in the Sony A7 V), which should make general editing feel a bit smoother, especially when working with large RAW files.

More Chinese Brands Prepare AF Zoom Lenses

There is a lot happening in the Chinese lens market right now, and it is not just about recent announcements. New reports suggest that, alongside Thypoch and Laowa (Venus Optics), two more Chinese manufacturers are preparing to release autofocus zoom lenses. There are no confirmed details yet, neither the brands nor the specs have been revealed, but the expectation is that these lenses could arrive later this year.

To put that into context, this follows some recent moves in the same direction. Thypoch has already stepped into the space with its 24–50mm f/2.8 AF zoom, marking a shift away from its usual manual-focus primes. At the same time, Laowa is rumoured to be working on a 14–24mm f/2.8 AF, which would be a first for the brand in terms of autofocus zooms.

More broadly, this fits into a pattern that has been building over the past few years. Chinese brands started with affordable manual primes, then moved into autofocus primes, with companies like Viltrox and TTArtisan becoming more competitive on both price and performance. Moving into autofocus zoom lenses is the next logical step, but also a more technically demanding one, especially when it comes to optical design and autofocus systems. If more manufacturers follow through, it could increase competition in a segment that is still dominated by a few established players, particularly in terms of pricing.

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Photographer Spotlight

Discover amazing photographers

This time in the Spotlight: Paulo Marques

You can find him on Instagram as: @paulomadeiramarques

A few photos of his:

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