Lightroom CC - Is it time to say good by?

[dirk]

What I do not like with Adobes move to subscription only models is, that you do not get really something for it. The very few new features they added since they offer subscroptions for Photoshop and Lightroom over the past 2 years show clearly, that it is just a cash cow model.

Adobe realized, that fewer and fewer people will buy every 12 months a new camera. So there is no need for them to buy a new RAW converter each time, because the old one is still working. At the same time, Photoshop and LR are so much advanced already, that there is not really a "big" feature missing. This is another reason for not buying very 12-18 months a new version of Photoshop and/or LR. They are "good enough" already.

So with the step to subscription only, Adobe makes sure that they force basically their customers to buy every year a new version/upgrade without providing every year meaningful features for them. Smart move. And it works. As you can read in the press release, Adobe never made so much money as in the last year. Without innovating anything except the forced payment

No, I prefer to spend my money elsewhere and only when I really want to spend the money, not when Adobe wnats to have it from me. LR 6 is my last version of Adobe products.

I added DXO Photolab already, will think about Capture One Pro too to "replace" LR6 as a future RAW converter. Maybe I will add even a software I never used before. Depends what kind of offers are out there in 2018. This could be Affinity or others. Depends also on the cameras I will use then. Not every RAW converter is the best for every RAW files

 

[psaltis]

I am also looking for a path put of LR. Considering Capture 1 Pro and also Luminar which is supposed to adding a DAM in their product. Used Luminar lately and was very pleased with the results. I shoot Fuji X system and have also been using Iridient products as well as they seem to be the de-facto standard for getting the most out of Fuji X-Trans sensors.

I just saw the other day where LR released the final non-subscription version this week.

 

[JosephSavage]

Do you use Lightroom? Can I advise you these - how to add presets to LightRoom
http://nuderetouching.com/blog/editing-techniques/how-to-add-presets-to-lightroom.html

 

[afshalders]

I am also looking for a path put of LR. Considering Capture 1 Pro and also Luminar which is supposed to adding a DAM in their product. Used Luminar lately and was very pleased with the results. I shoot Fuji X system and have also been using Iridient products as well as they seem to be the de-facto standard for getting the most out of Fuji X-Trans sensors.

I just saw the other day where LR released the final non-subscription version this week.

I tested Luminar for quite a while and sincerely I didn't like it with x-trans.

 

[keitht]

I find the Adobe subscription model for photographers very reasonable at $10 a month. For that, I get the very latest, cutting edge, editing tools for my photos. I would rather do this than pay many hundreds to own and hundreds to update.

 

[coldcoffee]

I find the Adobe subscription model for photographers very reasonable at $10 a month. For that, I get the very latest, cutting edge, editing tools for my photos. I would rather do this than pay many hundreds to own and hundreds to update.

Using Darktable means I don't have to pay either option

Shelton.

 

[mga010]

I am happily paying 140€ a year for Lightroom and Photoshop. Some are not satisfied, but these tools are more than okay for my needs. The last time I tried to switch to an alternative, it was either sub-par or too expensive. Subscriptions are just my way of encouraging the development of a product. You need to compare the lifetime of other software with the subscription. Most programs are outdated after at most three years and require an expensive update. And Adobe never disappointed me. I am keeping my files in RAW format, and important edits as TIFFs, just in case I ever lose Lightroom.

 

[Brian]

I've started using ART, Another Raw Therapee, after using Lightroom since version 3. Very easy to use, and uses industry standard camera and lens profile formats. I moved the camera and lens profiles from LR6 to ART, as they use the same file format. I've also played with Gimp, but still use my copy of Photoshop CS2. I've used Photoshop for 30 years now. Gimp was fairly intuitive- but CS2 does everything I need.

 

[dirk]

I find the Adobe subscription model for photographers very reasonable at $10 a month. For that, I get the very latest, cutting edge, editing tools for my photos. I would rather do this than pay many hundreds to own and hundreds to update.

I just update/upgrade if I want to. I do not like these "mandatory updates" through subscription models. For me it is like with cameras. If I want to upgrade, I buy it. Mew or used. But I would never give i.e. Nikon a monthly subscription and get i.e. every quarter a new Z6 with some added features which I might not need at all.

Additionally I have not understood yet what happens to my images and all edits, if I cancel the subscription. All all edits, all keywords, all ratings etc. then lost? How do I get them then back to my PC without a subscription?

 

[archer]

I just update/upgrade if I want to. I do not like these "mandatory updates" through subscription models. For me it is like with cameras. If I want to upgrade, I buy it. Mew or used. But I would never give i.e. Nikon a monthly subscription and get i.e. every quarter a new Z6 with some added features which I might not need at all.

Additionally I have not understood yet what happens to my images and all edits, if I cancel the subscription. All all edits, all keywords, all ratings etc. then lost? How do I get them then back to my PC without a subscription?

You will loose only Develop module and Map module. You still will be able to see all your edits, keywords, collections etc. Also you will be able to print.This has been discussed endlessly on DPReview.