Posted: 8/16/2011 5:10:08 PM EDT
| I love photography, but absolutely hate my workflow for post processing/editing. I've been using Photoshop CS for the last six years (earlier versions of PS before that) and I'm considering making a switch to Adobe Lightroom 3. Amazon and Newegg currently have it for $150 and I just may pull the trigger. Any one use Lightroom or maybe newer versions of Photoshop? Or even Aperture? Thoughts? |
|
Most of my work is done in PaintShop Pro 9 as it preserves all the EXIF data. I also have PaintShop Pro 13 installed and use it for some stuff. Photoshop CS5 gets used sometimes depending on what I need to do. I have Acdsee Pro 3 installed but do not use it for its asset management features.
For you Windows guys Corel has PaintShop Pro 13 on sale for $30 through the end of the month. It uses most/all of the Photoshop plug-ins at a much lower price point. I know a lot of folks that swear by LightRoom 3. |
|
I can do almost all my work in Lightroom. Occasionally there is a need for photoshop (pulling someone's face from one picture and replacing a blinking face on the "good" picture), but most of the time LR can do just about everything that is needed.
Right now I'm at right under 110,000 photos in my "main" catalog, and it performs just as well as small catalogs. But I have a pretty beefy system (do a lot of video editing). Download the 30 day trial, watch training videos that take you step-by-step through the entire program, and play around with it for a month. I wouldn't just go out and get it without learning & using it first... It is really not designed to be a photoshop replacement (which is a heavy-duty photo editor), but it IS designed to do almost everything that general photography requires (organizing, keywording, light/medium editing, etc). |
|
I have used Lightroom since the first version and really like it not only for its outstanding RAW conversion and processing abilities, but it's cataloging feature is great! I am running Lightroom 3 in conjunction with Photoshop CS5 now.
The workflow and integration of the two programs is really smooth and easy to use. |
|
Another Lightroom user here. The cataloging features are awesome and 90% of my editing can be done within the program. I do have CS5 for the other 10%. I'm also into HDR and use Nik's software for that. For Window's users you can't beat Lightroom. I can't comment on Aperture.
|
|
Well I 'took the deal' and bought Lightroom 3 from Newegg for $149. It arrived today and I'm now running 3.4.1 but haven't had a chance to really jump into it yet. I played around with the free trial a while back. I think it'll be a good fit especially at half price. Thanks to all for your input. Now I wait for Canon 5D Mark III.
Brian |
| Probably a good choice. I was ready to shoot Aperture this weekend. About half the pics I took on my Colorado trip looked soft. My settings were fine and they should have been sharp as a tack. Not so much. I was thinking that my new 16-35L had gone soft on me, and I was pissed. My son suggested restarting Aperture and the softness went away. I spent an hour or more testing the lens and was about ready ship it off to CPS. I'm ready to switch after that. |
| I use Photoshop CS4 in conjunction with Canon Zoombrowser. I use Zoombrowser to pick photos I want to develop, then I open them with CS4 and process them. It wouldn't work as well if I were going to be processing hundreds of photos, but I usually only want to keep/print/post a small fraction of the photos I take. For instance, on my last trip to Yellowstone, I took somewhere around 3000 shots in two weeks and only processed around 300. |
|
Quoted:
Probably a good choice. I was ready to shoot Aperture this weekend. About half the pics I took on my Colorado trip looked soft. My settings were fine and they should have been sharp as a tack. Not so much. I was thinking that my new 16-35L had gone soft on me, and I was pissed. My son suggested restarting Aperture and the softness went away. I spent an hour or more testing the lens and was about ready ship it off to CPS. I'm ready to switch after that. How's the 16-35? I am considering selling my 17-40L and putting it toward the 16-35L for the increase in speed. |
|
16-35L is an awesome lens. The boka is great. It's fast. It's sharp. Everything an L should be.
I sold my 17-40L and bought it. I did meet a guy this week shooting a corporate event (video 5D MKII) who claimed the 17-40L was sharper and that he was 'married' to it. I thought that was a bit odd until he showed me the tattoo on his forearm. It was the schematic lens diagram of the 17-40L I kid you not. That dude loved that lens. |