16 replies to this topic

[PebblzNnutz]

Just found this in my email this morning, I don't know what to think of this yet.

 

 

The End of Perpetual/Standalone Lightroom Licenses

[Merco_61]

It was always just a matter of time after they introduced the subscription model to combat the fact that PS and LR were the second most pirated software on the planet after Windows.

[dcbear78]

I'm liking Lightroom Classic so far. Well, other than the dodgy name. Good improvements and no issues I found.

[ScottinPollock]

I am guessing that "Classic" will eventually be going away. They're keeping it around for now because the new "Lightroom" is woefully unfinished.

 

While you may not agree with the new feature set Adobe decides on for the new LR, this is generally a good thing as it seems they are finally going to clean out all the old cruft that has been in LR for years.

[Ron]

This morning I was greeted with a banner from Adobe Creative Cloud informing me that I had/have 6 updates pending. I have yet to install them but probably will after they 'simmer' for awhile.

 

My understanding is that installing Lightroom CC Classic completely transforms your Lightroom database so I'll probably keep the old version around until I'm comfortable with the upgrade.

 

I have mixed feelings about this though. One one hand, I've been looking for a CC version of Lightroom that keeps pace with Photoshop, etc. On the other, I feel that doing away with the stand alone version of Lightroom may just serve to drive more customers away from the platform. Depending on your feelings about Adobe, this may or may not be a bad thing. (looking at you, Scott! )

 

--Ron

[Ron]

Thom Hogan has weighed in on this. His thoughts are here.

 

--Ron

[csgaraglino]

I just spent 4 hours today with Adobe Support to find out that Classic can’t convert any of my Catalogs with out horribly crashing on launch - each and every time! His response: Well Mr. Sgaraglino, you have found a legitimate bug!

3 hours later, I have removed all LR products, plugins and cleaned my whole system. Downloaded, the previous version of LR, restore backups and now have a working copy - so as long as I don’t turn on LR Mobile Syncing, that is! BAM, Crash again!

My advice; stay away from both! If they can’t get the tried and true version to function, what makes them think I’ll trust 20 years of photos to their Cloud!

Chris Sgaraglino
Product & Commercial Photographer

[dcbear78]

The overwhelming majority of people have no problems. Yes there will always be the odd anomaly that causes some people problems. But I'd hardly give a blanket advice to people not to upgrade. Especially when the improvements are well worth it.

And the only way you will find out either way is to try for yourself.

[Ron]

Chris, your experience is why it's usually a good idea to install the new version in tandem with the old one. It's unfortunate that you had this happen and I do feel your pain.

 

--Ron

[PebblzNnutz]

After thinking about it I will just keep using v6 until I get a new body (it won't be for a while though) seeing as I can't do anything about what Adobe does. I'm one of those that don't want to "rent" software monthly. Mainly because I don't know how long my internet will last. We're using an outdated satellite connection that is currently our only option here that won't be upgraded by the ISP. Anyway, in the meantime I will be looking at some other DAM options that will work on my Mac.

[Ron]

Adobe has indicated that they will support Lightroom 6 at least until the end of the year. After that is anyone's guess but they have spent a great deal of time ramping up their 'totally in the cloud' vision so I don't see them giving that up without a fight.

 

The good news for those, like you, who detest paying subscription fees is that a number of other companies are rushing to fill the gaping hole that Adobe is leaving open. Personally, I think that's the dumbest thing Adobe's ever done. I'm sure having that boxed product prevented many people from totally abandoning the Adobe ecosystem already. Now... or soon, that will be gone. And, along with it, a lot of customers.

 

They can tout the cloud til the cows come home but it won't make a lot of photographers trust their images (also read: livelihood) to it.

 

--Ron

[Merco_61]

After thinking about it I will just keep using v6 until I get a new body (it won't be for a while though) seeing as I can't do anything about what Adobe does. I'm one of those that don't want to "rent" software monthly. Mainly because I don't know how long my internet will last. We're using an outdated satellite connection that is currently our only option here that won't be upgraded by the ISP. Anyway, in the meantime I will be looking at some other DAM options that will work on my Mac.

It might be worth downloading a trial version of Photo Mechanic and put it through it's paces. It uses the full IPTC standard and keywords are searchable in Spotlight. It is easy to link audio notes to raw files using the time stamps even if you use an external dictaphone instead of having it built-in in a single-digit Nikon.

[ScottinPollock]

I'm sure having that boxed product prevented many people from totally abandoning the Adobe ecosystem already. Now... or soon, that will be gone. And, along with it, a lot of customers.

The sad reality is that Adobe doesn't care. They are making so much money from the folks willing to rent, they have no problem showing their customers with boxed copies the middle finger.

[Ron]

The sad reality is that Adobe doesn't care. They are making so much money from the folks willing to rent, they have no problem showing their customers with boxed copies the middle finger.

 

Well, they've pretty much got the graphics market wrapped up (with the full CC suite). And, like it or not, Lightroom (Classic, 6, etal) is still one of the best DAM's on the market. So, I guess they feel that they can flip the bird at anyone they choose. Like I said, I think it's dumb. Even by Adobe standards.

 

I'll keep using Lightroom as long as the Classic version remains available. But I throw up in my mouth a little at the thought of keeping my (serious) stuff in their cloud so that's probably not gonna happen. I do have a few iPhone and Android snaps on their servers but I also keep the originals locally.

 

--Ron

[TBonz]

No need to use their cloud storage...my images and catalog are right here on my system...just renting the software and don't need their storage...

[frostystones]

Is there some confusion here? there is no mandate to store your images in the cloud. I am using the subscription LR/PS and all my images are saved on my drives.

I have used the mobile app as well, but it's not there for me yet.

[TBonz]

With the mobile app, I believe it does use the cloud to make sure images are synced, however you also specify a folder to sync.  I basically chose an empty folder to sync and moved select images to the folder, thus not having to upload / sync all of my images...