Im looking at upgrading from PS CS3 and either getting CS4 or Lightroom 2. I have heard some pretty bad reports from both new programs. Anyone have any bad experiences with CS4 or Lightroom? Thanks in advance.
joel
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Im looking at upgrading from PS CS3 and either getting CS4 or Lightroom 2. I have heard some pretty bad reports from both new programs. Anyone have any bad experiences with CS4 or Lightroom? Thanks in advance.
joel
I had a few problems with Photoshop CS3, but I have had no problems with CS4. I've never used Lightroom, so I couldn't tell you either way on that one.
-Erich
lightroom 2 is legit. if you spend most of your time in camera raw, then definitely go with that. it's fast, powerful, and flexible. there were some early bugs, but those have been ironed out. i have both lightroom 2 and CS4.. if you have photoshop CS3, you're not really missing out on a whole lot with CS4. it's nice, but you'll find a lot more refinement to your workflow with lightroom.
I have CS4 and LR 2.
Honestly, I use camera raw, which has nearly all the controls that LR 2 has, so I don't know why LR 2 is hyped the way it is.
If you are planning on owning a 5D Mk 2, you'll need the camera raw update that is present in CS4. CS3 won't support raw files from the Mk 2. Of course, you could open them in another program, then CS4 would handle the TIFF or other format just fine.
I have CS4. I'm not a huge fan of Lightroom. I own Lightroom 1 and have tried 2. I personally find using CS4 easier. CS4 has all the RAW adjusting that Lightroom has. My vote is for CS4.
Cheers,
Marc
yeah, you can do most of the same stuff in camera raw if you have a lot of time on your hands.. but LR2's interface and workflow allows you to review and process a large number of photos a lot quicker than you'd be able to in camera raw.. and you don't have to worry about file management.. and yes, lightroom's file management wacks the crap out of bridge.
i'd suggest just downloading the 30-day trial.. that's what hooked me.
I'd love to have the new 5D or 1D series but sadly my money is all going towards school right now.....well for now atleast. Im leaning more towards CS4 now, today I downloaded the trial version of Lightroom 2, and it is very different then what Im used to. My biggest problem at the moment is the fact that I cannot zoom in and out onto areas as easily as in photoshop because there is no dedicaded maginifiying glass.....atleast that I could find. Also When using the gradient tool which is very very nice, it froze up numerous times, and had to be excited out of. At first I thought some of the glitches were due to it being the 30 Day trial or my computer but from what I have been able to read on other forums is that alot of individuals are encountering these problems and there computer systems are alot newer and have more RAM then mine. If anyone else has advice I'd like to hear it before thinking about which to purchase.
joel
Obviously a PC user?
Aperture is a great program if you are on a mac.
If you have a 50D or 5D mkII you almost have to have CS4 if you use Photoshop. Having to convert to DNG is a pain.
I haven't used LR, but PS's RAW function seem primitive after using Aperture.
With Adobe jerking CS3 owners around, by not supporting newer cameras in a program that was only a year and half old, I decided to jump ship.
Quote:
Originally Posted by atticusdsf
Ah, yes, the infamous "file management" topic.
It's all well and good, if you start off with it in LR, but I know plenty of guys who use LR 2 and they don't use it for file management. Probably, because, they've already been using some other system that works for them. File management is the bane of any photo editing adherent, and LR's isn't any better, or worse, than others.
As for the amount of time spent in LR, vs CR, it may be so that you'd spend less in LR, but you're still going to spend time in it, regardless.
I think you need both. And they work together very well.
Lightroom has brought order to my image files, and when I need photoshop for a certain plugin, or other need it is easily used. If I used Apple I would still use Lightroom over Aperture because of the ease of use and integration with other Adobe products. I do highly recommend Capture One as well, it is the best for tethered shooting and has excellent RAW processing.
So after trying the trial for acouple of days now, I really like the new heal and clone tool as well as the gradient tool (when it doesnt freeze). As far as the picture management topic I've only messed around with the library module and find it alittle confusing at the moment. I use a external hard drives and flash drivesas well as2 other larger drives as back ups, and have came up with a filing system that along with my monthly planner, I can find a picture or group of pictures fairly fast. From whatI have been hearing Lightroom may have a nice filing system, but sense I have came pretty accustemed to the filing system I use I dont find it to be a real benefit for me.
Another question I have, is there a way to downsize the image or group of imagesyou are working on while working with it in lightroom? I dont always need to work on a "raw" image size (family functions, church functions etc).
thanks again
joel
Quote:
Originally Posted by unjx
Aperture does interact pretty seamlessly with PS. You can actually tell Aperture to open the RAW file in PS. It will send the tiff to PS you can do edits save it and Aperture will recognize the tiff as the new RAW. You can switch back and forth because the process is non destructive. If you are happy with the results Aperture will permanently replace it to reduce file size.
I find Aperture to have better RAW fine adjustments than PS RAW. I don't know about LR. After trying to work with clunky Bridge and PS Aperture is a breeze with its highly customizable file system. My only complaint about Aperture is that you can't just drag and drop one image. You have to go through the filing system.
Tethered shooting is a breeze with Aperture also.