Lightroom - Should I stay or should I go..

space2ground1

My monthly subscription to lightroom & photoshop is about to expire and I'm really having trouble justifying the cost. I only use lightroom and not photoshop and once a week at most unless I've been to an event like a wedding etc.

I love lightroom but I've yet to find something that organises the photos along with giving me basic enhancement and editing.

I'd appreciate any advice on alternatives or if there's none that are available I'll just have to stick with it for another year.

Using a Macbook Pro (2011) with a graphics card thats now incompatible with lightroom although it manages relatively well. I've considered Affinity but it seems to be more an alternative to Photoshop. Its the basic editing of RAW files along with the photo organisation that wins it for me with lightroom.

Decisions decisions!

Bacchus

Would you consider the single license Lightroom 6? I think it's around €140 but it's a one off payment so if you're going to use it 1+ years, it's a much more cost effective way to have Lightroom.

space2ground1

I was actually just considering that this evening!

CabanSail

I just have the CC Suite. I use Photoshop a lot but also InDesign and PremierePro. Have a good deal but each year when the contract expires I have to contact them to renew it. So it's worthwhile talking to them and see what they can offer.

You are allowed to have the package installed on two devices. If you work with someone else you can both use it at the same time. So that could be a way to share the cost between yourself and a colleague.

LR is included in the suite. I did install it a few years ago but soon deleted it.

Bacchus

CabanSail wrote: »

I just have the CC Suite. I use Photoshop a lot but also InDesign and PremierePro. Have a good deal but each year when the contract expires I have to contact them to renew it. So it's worthwhile talking to them and see what they can offer.

You are allowed to have the package installed on two devices. If you work with someone else you can both use it at the same time. So that could be a way to share the cost between yourself and a colleague.

LR is included in the suite. I did install it a few years ago but soon deleted it.

Is CC Suite not more expensive? I assume you are referring to the package that includes all the Adobe tools.

space2ground1

I'm on the €10 (ish) a month plan. It was a special offer at the time.

Heebie

Sadly, they don't sell Photoshop by itself anymore. I'm glad I bought ps cs6 before they stopped selling it.
Last I knew they still sell lightroom as a package without their annoying subscription crapola. I'm still getting occasional updates for both of them. I'd imagine they will stop at some point.
I inform them of my dissatisfaction with their online subscription nonsense at every opportunity, but I think they're to into the idea of a captive paying audience to listen.

Dinarius

I gave up LR a few years ago in favour of Capture One

I love it.

Worth a try, IMHO.

D.

space2ground1

Dinarius wrote: »

I gave up LR a few years ago in favour of Capture One

I love it.

Worth a try, IMHO.

D.

Just had a quick look. Seems great but the standalone licence is €279+vat.
The Lightroom one off licence is a good bit cheaper than that.

Dinarius

space2ground1 wrote: »

Just had a quick look. Seems great but the standalone licence is €279+vat.
The Lightroom one off licence is a good bit cheaper than that.

Yes.

But, you're dealing with a tiny (relatively speaking) organisation. So, bug fix requests and feature requests are listened to.

Their Support is superb.

D.

Bacchus

Dinarius wrote: »

Yes.

But, you're dealing with a tiny (relatively speaking) organisation. So, bug fix requests and feature requests are listened to.

Their Support is superb.

D.

Honestly, unless you're a serious pro, are "bug fix requests and feature requests" worth paying double the price for Capture One compared to LR? I've heard good things about that software (particularly with Fuji files relative to LR) but with their pricing there's no way I'd leave LR.

I've dealt with LR support btw after I had an issue with CC not accepting my account details and they were back to me pronto. Issue resolved in about 10 minutes from me flagging the issue.

gloobag

Bacchus wrote: »

Honestly, unless you're a serious pro, are "bug fix requests and feature requests" worth paying double the price for Capture One compared to LR? I've heard good things about that software (particularly with Fuji files relative to LR) but with their pricing there's no way I'd leave LR.

I've dealt with LR support btw after I had an issue with CC not accepting my account details and they were back to me pronto. Issue resolved in about 10 minutes from me flagging the issue.

To be honest, their support and frequent updates are just a couple of many reasons Capture One is vastly superior to not just Lightroom, but any other raw editor out there. Nothing comes close to the image quality on import that C1 is capable of. The guys at Phase One create custom tone curve profiles for every supported camera that are based on actual shooting conditions and not theoretical maths. If you could do a side by side comparison, the difference in detail, colour and contrast can be quite significant.

By the way, if you're a Sony shooter you can get C1 for about €50.

Bacchus

gloobag wrote: »

To be honest, their support and frequent updates are just a couple of many reasons Capture One is vastly superior to not just Lightroom, but any other raw editor out there. Nothing comes close to the image quality on import that C1 is capable of. The guys at Phase One create custom tone curve profiles for every supported camera that are based on actual shooting conditions and not theoretical maths. If you could do a side by side comparison, the difference in detail, colour and contrast can be quite significant.

By the way, if you're a Sony shooter you can get C1 for about €50.

I'm dubious about the support being 1) that much superior and 2) being that important to anyone other than a serious pro. More regular updates could be a plus (depending on the updates) but I believe this is something Adobe are catching on to and my hope is they catch up in this area.

I am tempted to do a side by side with it against LR with my Fuji RAW files though. I'm VERY happy with what LR produces but it's always something people agree on with C1, much better support for Fuji.

CabanSail

I have seen a RAW engine comparison done a while ago. The engine used by LR is the Adobe one also used in ACR. It is OK when you drop it back to the 2010 version but not as good in the 2012 set up. Capture One was slightly better than ACR but the best one out the was still that used in Aperture.

The test was not how the image looked after import but just the shadow and highlights detail which was returned.

grogi

Bacchus wrote: »

Would you consider the single license Lightroom 6? I think it's around €140 but it's a one off payment so if you're going to use it 1+ years, it's a much more cost effective way to have Lightroom.

Did you eventually get the Dehaze function in non-CC version of Lightroom?

Dinarius

CabanSail wrote: »

I have seen a RAW engine comparison done a while ago. The engine used by LR is the Adobe one also used in ACR. It is OK when you drop it back to the 2010 version but not as good in the 2012 set up. Capture One was slightly better than ACR but the best one out the was still that used in Aperture.

The test was not how the image looked after import but just the shadow and highlights detail which was returned.

If you expose fully to the right - even overexpose a little (remember that what appears as overexposed on your camera's screen is a Jpeg impression of your image, NOT the full dynamic range of a RAW file) - and then choose Linear Response in Capture One's Base Characteristics, instead of Auto or Film Curve, you will see every stop of dynamic range that your camera can capture.

The image will look flat and dull, and maybe a little dark. But, it gives you the perfect base to work from and input your own curve.

There has been tons written on this. Just Google it.

But, you could try http://blog.phaseone.com/take-full-control-of-the-tone-mapping-by-using-a-linear-film-curve/ for starters.

D.