Have you converted from Adobe Lightroom?

seaodyssey

seaodyssey

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Name
Pete
Edit My Images
Yes
Have you converted from Adobe Lightroom?
to which Package

Have you changed your raw processing software recently, if so can you list some good points and bad points about your new software compared to adobe software.

I use Windows 10 so if you use MacOS please indicate in your post. I would expect software available on both platforms to behave the same or there abouts.

Did you use the catalog and keywords in lightroom, does your new software use similar and how easy is it to use.

Is the output better or worse than lightroom, are more steps required to get the same results

Thanks for your time.
Pete
 
I went to Capture one at the end last year after being with LR since V1 because I was fed up with how it brought detail of our some my Fuji files. I was initially very happy with the quality (and still am), but I miss the workflow, especially the LR Mobile app.

Keywording / colour tags and ratings work equally good in both.
Capture one output quality better on Fuji, but I've switched to Sony now, so probably no / little benefit.
Workflow - better in LR.
 
Furtim said:
I went to Capture one at the end last year after being with LR since V1 because I was fed up with how it brought detail of our some my Fuji files. I was initially very happy with the quality (and still am), but I miss the workflow, especially the LR Mobile app.

Keywording / colour tags and ratings work equally good in both.
Capture one output quality better on Fuji, but I've switched to Sony now, so probably no / little benefit.
Workflow - better in LR.
Click to expand...

Output from capture one is still better than LR for sony.
But workflow is very good in LR and hard to move away from since its rather good.

I am yet find a good enough *overall* replacement for LR :(
 
Tethering with Capture One is a LOT faster than it is with Lightroom - it's also easier and gives you more control.
 
Bought a used XT1 which my version of Lightroom won't process the RAF files
Tried capture one free but eventually bought iridient x
This converts to DNG so means I can then process using my normal workflow in Lightroom
 
gjhill said:
Bought a used XT1 which my version of Lightroom won't process the RAF files
Tried capture one free but eventually bought iridient x
This converts to DNG so means I can then process using my normal workflow in Lightroom
Click to expand...


You can convert RAW files to DNG using the free stand alone DNG converter from Adobe. I use it all the time. (y)

George.
 
I switched from Lightroom to DXO Photolab a while back, after trying many similar programs. The best in terms of output quality seemed to be Capture One and DXO, with both being superior to Lightroom IMHO. DXO was much cheaper, of course...

Now that I have DXO I'd say that I can get results as good as, or better than, Lightroom much more quickly.
On the down side, the cataloging is inferior to Lightroom, although I'm in the habit of organising by folder structure so it's not a big deal. I'm toying with using the (free) Adobe Bridge for this purpose.
The biggest negative with DXO for me is something I didn't realise immediately. As I have a 32" monitor, I tend to make some global adjustments with the image set to 'fit to screen' - things like contrast, or the 'Clearview Plus' adjustment (which is remarkably good). Unfortunately, in DXO, the 'fit to screen' view is not very well implemented and the image is significantly softened. As a result, it is very difficult to make these adjustments at anything other than 100% view where, of course, you can only see part of the image. I'm learning to adapt, but it's a definite negative.
All in all, though, I'm happy with the change :)
 
I still use LR6 for quick culling but now process in Topaz Studio for sport and stuff with a decent number of shots to get through. I selectively use DXO if I have more time and fewer shots to process.

Edit...using Win 10
 
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I'm using On1 2019 RAW convertor in place of LR and Affinity Photo replaces Photoshop, although with masks and layers, On1 does most of what I would have used Photoshop for.

On1 does not require a catalog, just browse your images and select what you want to work on.

No monthly Adobe rental fees here!
 
Brian G said:
I'm using On1 2019 RAW convertor in place of LR and Affinity Photo replaces Photoshop, although with masks and layers, On1 does most of what I would have used Photoshop for.

On1 does not require a catalog, just browse your images and select what you want to work on.

No monthly Adobe rental fees here!
Click to expand...
I've done exactly this too.
 
gcogger said:
Now that I have DXO I'd say that I can get results as good as, or better than, Lightroom much more quickly.
On the down side, the cataloging is inferior to Lightroom,
Click to expand...
After dabbling for a bit, I found 'difficult' files harder to get good in DxO compared to LR - maybe I need to practice more?

I guess that you mean Bridge CC? Indeed it is free, and has collections and keywords. Despite having PS, LR and DxO, I use it as my everyday image browser, since I hardly want to go through LR's clunky 'import' procedure just to quickly assess some already processed images. If I didn't use Bridge I'd probably use Faststone (also free).

Are you allowing DxO to save adjustments to sidecars, or have you switched that off so that it just uses its database?
 
Why do you want to switch? I had a trial version of On1 and didn't really get on with it, the time it would have taken me to learn to the level I'm at with lightroom and photoshop is not worth the 'savings' on the subscription for me.

It's all well and good only paying once for a piece of software, but with the speed that tech (both cameras and software/computer hardware) is developing there will inevitably be a point in time where a paid update or new version is released that will be needed to make it compatible with your hardware. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
 
Brian G said:
On1 does not require a catalog, just browse your images and select what you want to work on.
Click to expand...

The suggestion of this as a workflow may already answer the question that I personally should stick to Lightroom.

Workflow
  • Create named folder on local drive and copy images from sd cards
  • 5* all potential images using photo mechanic, software is super fast for this
  • Move 5* images to a subfolder called ‘selection’
  • Import selection to lightroom, batch process, tweak individual crops etc.. and narrow down selection as I go.
Now i’m Interested in the possibility of a better quality output, and I’m not using lightroom for extensive cataloguing.

I just need enough control to manage a set of images, using batch processing and image flagging/filtering, does ON1 do this much?
 
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I switched to Affinity photo and I really like it.
 
dancook said:
The suggestion of this as a workflow may already answer the question that I personally should stick to Lightroom.

Workflow
  • Create named folder on local drive and copy images from sd cards
  • 5* all potential images using photo mechanic, software is super fast for this
  • Move 5* images to a subfolder called ‘selection’
  • Import selection to lightroom, batch process, tweak individual crops etc.. and narrow down selection as I go.
Now i’m Interested in the possibility of a better quality output, and I’m not using lightroom for extensive cataloguing.

I just need enough control to manage a set of images, using batch processing and image flagging/filtering, does ON1 do this much?
Click to expand...
Personally I always thought of having to "Import" all your images into the catalog was one of the big drawbacks of Lightroom.
On1 allows me to title and keyword all my images and then I can search for them in exactly the same way that I used to with Lightroom.
You can also "star" and tag images within On1.
One of the great advantages of keyword searching is that the program doesn't need to know in what directory or folder the images are located.
You do, of course, need to have the patience to title and keyword all your images after import.

In terms of ouput quality, I think that On1 provides a better quality result, more quickly than Lightroom, although exporting a final processed result can be a little tedious at times, and is one area where I think On1 could be improved.
 
Brian G said:
Personally I always thought of having to "Import" all your images into the catalog was one of the big drawbacks of Lightroom.
On1 allows me to title and keyword all my images and then I can search for them in exactly the same way that I used to with Lightroom.
You can also "star" and tag images within On1.
One of the great advantages of keyword searching is that the program doesn't need to know in what directory or folder the images are located.
You do, of course, need to have the patience to title and keyword all your images after import.

In terms of ouput quality, I think that On1 provides a better quality result, more quickly than Lightroom, although exporting a final processed result can be a little tedious at times, and is one area where I think On1 could be improved.
Click to expand...
Does On1 now allow tiered keywords, it was not very good in the 2018version, I have not tried 2019 yet.
 
I know lots of people like lightroom, and a lot of people use in professionally, but personally I've never got on with it.

I used Canons free DPP software for a long time and considering its free, its fantastic for that reason.

Capture One is in my opinion without a doubt the best. So much more control, quality and ease of use.
 
droj said:
After dabbling for a bit, I found 'difficult' files harder to get good in DxO compared to LR - maybe I need to practice more?

I guess that you mean Bridge CC? Indeed it is free, and has collections and keywords. Despite having PS, LR and DxO, I use it as my everyday image browser, since I hardly want to go through LR's clunky 'import' procedure just to quickly assess some already processed images. If I didn't use Bridge I'd probably use Faststone (also free).

Are you allowing DxO to save adjustments to sidecars, or have you switched that off so that it just uses its database?
Click to expand...
Yes, that's Bridge CC. I've not foundDXO to have trouble with 'difficult' files, but I guess it probably depends what is 'difficult' about them :)
I'm letting DXO create sidecar files, partly because it's the default and partly because I think a single catalogue is more prone to backup SNAFUs. (I once lost my Lightroom catalogue due to some confusion over backups and Lightroom upgrades).
 
I purchased acdsee ultimate 2019. I was using LR 5.7. I wasn’t an expert user of Lightroom. It’s been quite hard trying to learn a new way of editing and processing plus managing. Unlike Lightroom there is not much out there in terms of video tutorials etc. To be honest there are times I feel like just throwing the towel in and going back to LR. It does seem to be faster than my version of LR and it is feature packed. The sliders need more use to gain the same effect and I feel though have not tested that the highlight recovery works differently and so the output requires more you not to get close to blowing out highlights. (This could be different for different sensors) Canon 77D and 6D.
 
riddell said:
I used Canons free DPP software for a long time and considering its free, its fantastic for that reason.

Capture One is in my opinion without a doubt the best. So much more control, quality and ease of use.
Click to expand...

Lots of adjective's, not much evidence in that post.
 
seaodyssey said:
Does On1 now allow tiered keywords, it was not very good in the 2018version, I have not tried 2019 yet.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about that, although keyword management is one of the enhancements of v2019 over v2018
It's not a function I use.
 
I use dxo photolab 2 more than Lightroom now. I especially like that it creates a small info file for each raw file.

It means that I can edit the photos on my laptop, with a better screen for photos and it’s of course portable. I can then go home and use a removable hdd and copy them to my desktop to do the heavy lifting.

Dxo imo does an amazing job of nr with my d810 files. The files take a long time to process (circa 40 seconds on a dual Xeon machine).
 
I'm reading this with interest but don't have too much to add as I've been using LR for about 4 years now (aperture before that). I did look at other options while I used Fuji as I hated working with those raw files in LR but in the end I ditched Fuji and kept LR. I'm used to LR now and have about 16k of photos in there all edited, keyworded, catalogued etc so I'm in no hurry to change but... God, some aspects of LR infuriate me. I hate some of the little things that I would say are glitches but have been there forever.

Like if I select multiple images on the filmstrip, I cannot do global actions to them, like export or reject. Instead, it will just apply whatever I do to the first image selected. If I want to do global stuff I have to do it from grid view.

I cannot delete images if I'm in a collection, I have to be viewing all photos or previous import. Drives me insane that one.

I cannot output a 4k slideshow despite it being 2019. In fact the whole slideshow module feels like it needs a major rethink.

I have no shortcut to rotate an image 90 degrees in the develop module but do in the library module. Why?

And I seem to always be dealing with syncing errors between Macbook and imac. Although I have to say it's nice that I can do this at all. It has been a game changer in general.

I like Lightroom. It does so much so well but some things that seem like little trivial easy fixes are so infuriating. I cannot be the only one can I?
 
No and don't intend to, took me long enough learning the basics and no wish to start anew on something else.
Had versions 1, 3 and 6 so looks like I'm in for the long haul
 
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tijuana taxi said:
No and don't intend to, took me long enough learning the basics and no wish to start anew on something else.
Had versions 1, 3 and 6 so looks like I'm in for the long haul
Click to expand...
One thing the manufacturers of alternative software have done is to make their programs look and feel like Adobe, to the extent that things like sliders have similar names and functions and keyboard shortcuts (e.g. like using the bracket keys to enlarge and reduce brush sizes) work in the same way as Adobe, so there's not that much "learning" to do.
Apart from learning the menu layouts (which I still don't really like) I found the switch to On1 very straightforward, to the extent that I'd probably now struggle if I went back to Lightroom.
Interface aside, one of the things I like about On1 is that I get better results than I did with Lightroom, which for me, is worth the cost of changing.
 
Use to have the adobe cc package and it was very good with my Canon set up plus have LR6 Standalone, then once I switched to Fuji I wanted a total new editing set up so got Capture one Pro 11 and Affinity Photo. Then got the Pro 12 upgrade and am very happy with it, for me I think C1 Pro 12 work together very well as now have Nik Collection and all my Topaz plugins working well in Affinity Photo, plus I just like how both work with my Fuji Raf files.
 
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For me LR is a complete package and works well with the plug ins I have installed.
Also have a good selection of presets built up now and find them very handy.
Another big plus is the print module, really is excellent and would miss it a lot.
Not interested in being persuaded that other programs are better, just answered the op's question
 
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I can't be bothered to change my Adobe Lightroom for something else.

Firstly, I have other things to do than change LR for something else, and end up spending more time learning how to use the new software.
Secondly, I have an Adobe Creative Cloud membership as I needed Photoshop and InDesign, so may as well have Illustrator and Lightroom anyway.

I do use the catalogues and keywords in my LR, it became easier when you read Scot Kelby's book on Lightroom.
 
I switched from LR (after using LR from version 1) to C1, via DXO, about 10 years ago, as my main raw processor.

I still use LR and DXO, occasionally. Catalogue is more robust in LR than C1, but I use sessions in C1, along with Neofinder to catalogue the sessions, so don't really miss the LR catalogue.

I by far prefer the workflow in C1 to LR. I think the overall quality is better from C1 than LR, but it's the workflow that keeps me with C1.

I know nothing about other LR alternatives, but if you are looking for a robust all in one package, I don't think C1 is as good as LR, even though the C1 cataloging improves with each release. Many people, however, seem perfectly happy with the C1 catalogues. I find them slow, clunky and a bit flakey.

If you are happy to mix and match, I like combining the capabilities of, Photo Mechanic, Fast Raw viewer, Capure one, Neofinder and Photoshop.
 
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