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DeepColor v2, New Stackers, Lens Distortion Correction, New Cameras, and a Big Android Update

Hey everyone, Ryan here.

We've been hard at work on Arsenal 2, and version 2.1.60 is now out on both the iOS App Store and Google Play. This is the biggest release we've done in a long time: DeepColor and all three stackers were rebuilt from the ground up, DeepColor now corrects lens distortion, and three new cameras are supported.

DeepColor v2

DeepColor got a complete rewrite this cycle. The new version is 2.1x faster on the same hardware, produces better starting colors, and its DNGs now preview correctly in Finder and Preview on macOS, with brightness that matches the JPEG in Lightroom.

The speed came from months of profiling and tuning every step of the pipeline for Arsenal 2's hardware. No single silver bullet, just a lot of small wins that add up to 2.1x.

There's a toggle in Settings → Stackers & DeepColor to switch between the new and old engines if you want to compare.

Lens Distortion Correction

DeepColor now applies lens distortion correction for most newer Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Sony E mount lenses. Wide angles benefit a lot, especially in the corners.

Manufacturers have leaned heavily on software correction over the last few years so they can ship lenses that are smaller, lighter, and cheaper, with the expectation that whatever processes the RAW will undo the distortion. A lot of the lenses people are buying today need this step to look right. Correction is also applied to the live DeepColor preview, and it can be turned off in Settings if you'd rather handle it in your editor.

New Stackers (again)

This is our third iteration of the stackers, and once we started pulling on threads from the DeepColor work we found wins we hadn't seen before.

  • 2x faster exposure bracketing, focus stacking, and long exposure stacking.
  • Much better highlight recovery in brackets. Trees against the sky and window frames against a bright outdoors come out natural: no dark patches, no halos.
  • Faster bracket previews on 36 MP and larger cameras, while the full-resolution merge finishes in the background.
  • A new aligner for focus stacks that's much faster and gives similar or better results.

The new Settings → Stackers & DeepColor screen lets you switch each stacker between the new and classic engine. One thing to know: with the new engine, brackets are capped at 7 shots (5 on the Sony A7R V).

Stack thumbnails now show a loading indicator while processing, the last-photo widget shows a stack icon and loader, and on Android a failed stack's thumbnail is tappable and tells you which stack failed.

New Cameras

You may have noticed we haven't released support for new cameras in a while. Sometimes camera companies change their USB communication interface or their RAW file formats and we have to do a lot of work to get things working with the changes. The last six months we had both changes happen at the same time. I'm proud to say we made it through though.

  • Canon EOS R5 Mark II. This one took some work on both photo downloads and Canon's new RAW format, but it's fully supported.
  • Sony A7 V. Sony quietly changed their RAW format with this camera, and nothing out there could read it. We reverse engineered the new format from scratch, so DeepColor works on A7V RAWs.
  • Nikon Z5 II. Thanks to Nikon for keeping things easier to support.

More cameras are in the pipeline, but no promises yet on which will land. The R5ii was one of the hardest cameras to get working we've had in a long time. Fortunately, we built some good foundations for getting more cameras in quickly going forward.

Android and iOS

  • Improved Android 17 and iOS 27 support.
  • Downloads survive Wi-Fi hiccups on Android. Share and Save to Phone now detect a stalled connection to Arsenal and retry on their own instead of leaving you waiting.
  • Save to Phone on Android now shows a progress notification while it works.

Bug Fixes

A few fixes for things you may have run into:

  • Holy Grail timelapses no longer start about two thirds of a stop too bright.
  • Lenses wider than f/1.8 now show their full aperture range (f/1.0 to f/1.6) on Sony and Fuji bodies.
  • The shutter speed dial lines up correctly on cameras where it used to be off by a step.
  • Canon EOS R: no more gray thumbnails when shooting RAW only.
  • Nikon Z7 II, Z8, and Z9: exposure brackets no longer pause for mirror lockup between shots. (This was an incorrect calibration that slipped through)
  • A second phone can no longer connect and lock out the phone that's already connected.
  • Android: sharing a photo after applying DeepColor could get stuck on the loading dots. Fixed, and shares now use the DeepColor strength shown on the slider.
  • Android: Save to Phone works again on Android 10 and newer.
  • Android: the Star Focus popup no longer stacks duplicates.

Wrapping Up

This release is mostly about two things: a really big jump in performance on DeepColor and the stackers, and lens distortion correction. The speedups are something we've been chasing for a long time, and it feels great to finally have them out the door.

Phones should automatically update to the latest app, which will then update the firmware when you first connect. If something isn't working right, send us an email at help@witharsenal.com. We read every one, and a lot of these fixes came directly from customer reports.

Hope you enjoy it.
- Ryan