I've been using stand alone classic LR 6 on a very old macbook air for quite some time. Using older cameras that were supported in the older LR6, I've managed to get by even though its a little slow rendering 1:1 full size previews. Space was limited on the older macbook air, so I'd often have to move photos off to a hard drive after I've editted them.
However with a newer camera (the sony a7c) the RAWs aren't automatically supported, and the files are quite big. I bought a new macbook pro with a larger hard drive, thinking I would initially use the DNG convertor and install my old LR 6 onto the new macbook. However it turns out the old LR software doesn't work in the new macOS.
I'm not keen on the subcription model for the latest LR classic with adobe creative cloud. Photography is just a hobby that my interest wax and wanes with. I know there would be periods where I wouldn't use the adobe software for many months, and it would feel a complete waste paying for software that I don't use. I also don't like the idea of an endless subscription. I don't use photoshop or know how to use it well, so I don't see as much value with the photo shop bundled with it.
I've fiddled around with a few different free/open source software, and may continue trying some of the trials for the paid alternatives. However so far it's been a struggle with the new software.
-I've been using 'narrative select' to cull and rate images. Actually not a bad software, only 4 projects a months for free, can pay for more projects. Some limitations in that it doesn't show histogram or highlights/shadow clipping. Would be good to have basic push/pull of RAW files
-Darktable - seems overwhelming, no idea what to do - probably pretty powerful but seems a steep learning curve
-Rawtherapee - seems more easier to use than dark table, however still a learning curve. Feels clunky a bit sluggish even with a fairly high specced macbook. The star ratings from narrative select doesn't seem to transfer over
-Digicam - only just trialling it for sorting and organising photos. Doesn't seem too bad, however the star rating from narrative select seems to only transfer over to the jpg file instead of both RAW+jpg. Could be more of a thing to do with narrative select only applying star ratings to the JPG and not both the JPG&RAW when they are grouped together.
So all this time spent trialling and learning new software, makes wonder if it's actually worth it? I've become very familiar using LR6 and comfortable with the sliders, shortcuts, and just how everything works. I haven't been following the latest LR updates, but the new LR classic seems even more powerful with their automasking tools.
So should I just suck it up and pay for LR CC? I'm really not keen and gonna hate paying for it when not using it during more busy or uninspired periods. It is possible to switch the creative cloud subscription on/off as you need it? Once you switch it off, can you still export your previous edits?
I've haven't gotten around the non subscription, paid software, as I want make sure I have the time to get a good grasp of it during the trial period, but which ones are most like LR that I should look at? I am not that fussed with the tagging/organising/archiving side of LR (I'll try get by with a folder system), but I am after something that I can use to cull images and powerful non-destructive RAW editor.
However with a newer camera (the sony a7c) the RAWs aren't automatically supported, and the files are quite big. I bought a new macbook pro with a larger hard drive, thinking I would initially use the DNG convertor and install my old LR 6 onto the new macbook. However it turns out the old LR software doesn't work in the new macOS.
I'm not keen on the subcription model for the latest LR classic with adobe creative cloud. Photography is just a hobby that my interest wax and wanes with. I know there would be periods where I wouldn't use the adobe software for many months, and it would feel a complete waste paying for software that I don't use. I also don't like the idea of an endless subscription. I don't use photoshop or know how to use it well, so I don't see as much value with the photo shop bundled with it.
I've fiddled around with a few different free/open source software, and may continue trying some of the trials for the paid alternatives. However so far it's been a struggle with the new software.
-I've been using 'narrative select' to cull and rate images. Actually not a bad software, only 4 projects a months for free, can pay for more projects. Some limitations in that it doesn't show histogram or highlights/shadow clipping. Would be good to have basic push/pull of RAW files
-Darktable - seems overwhelming, no idea what to do - probably pretty powerful but seems a steep learning curve
-Rawtherapee - seems more easier to use than dark table, however still a learning curve. Feels clunky a bit sluggish even with a fairly high specced macbook. The star ratings from narrative select doesn't seem to transfer over
-Digicam - only just trialling it for sorting and organising photos. Doesn't seem too bad, however the star rating from narrative select seems to only transfer over to the jpg file instead of both RAW+jpg. Could be more of a thing to do with narrative select only applying star ratings to the JPG and not both the JPG&RAW when they are grouped together.
So all this time spent trialling and learning new software, makes wonder if it's actually worth it? I've become very familiar using LR6 and comfortable with the sliders, shortcuts, and just how everything works. I haven't been following the latest LR updates, but the new LR classic seems even more powerful with their automasking tools.
So should I just suck it up and pay for LR CC? I'm really not keen and gonna hate paying for it when not using it during more busy or uninspired periods. It is possible to switch the creative cloud subscription on/off as you need it? Once you switch it off, can you still export your previous edits?
I've haven't gotten around the non subscription, paid software, as I want make sure I have the time to get a good grasp of it during the trial period, but which ones are most like LR that I should look at? I am not that fussed with the tagging/organising/archiving side of LR (I'll try get by with a folder system), but I am after something that I can use to cull images and powerful non-destructive RAW editor.