Looking for lightroom

So, I'm looking to upgrade my photo software to light room something or other. There is Lr 3, 4, 5 and 6.

There seems to be a Lr download that is ten bucks a month.... that's $120 a year.
PLUS -
$120 for year two.....
$120 for year three.....
$120 for ….. ah, you get it.

What I don't get is why anyone would buy (lease ?) computer software with a never ending bill attached.

I don't want to continuously PAY for some photo editing software. I want a program (disc) that I can download (from the disc) onto my comp and have it forever.... complete.... from the disc.....and use until I feel it's time to upgrade and PAY/BUY something new, which might be 10 years !


I looked around the site but couldn't find any threads about this subject. If there is a thread/discussion will someone please lead me to it ? Link maybe ? If there isn't , then how about some feedback here.

What do you all use and how did you come to have it. I can well imagine that pro's..... those who make $$$ on their shots might just consider the Lr monthly bill a business expense, but I don't .
Any help will be appreciated .

Let me add...… I have seen Lr 5 discs for sale "BRAND NEW" on ebay for around $60 . Seems like a complete package. Thoughts ?

You're right to be puzzled, Mike, and I don't see any flaw in your thinking.

I went away from Adobe years ago, since they announces their intention to
go for a subscription model and that is not a matter of money for me. I star-
ted then to look for alternatives. I've been with Capture one — never was a
bit convinced by Lr — but was using other product from that maker. I was
sure Adobe's move would trigger developers to go for it… and they did.

The first to show up with proper solutions was Serif, a UK firm, with a thing
called Designer — alternative to Illustrator — and then it was Affinity Photo
— an alternative to Ps.

These three softwares are the base of my business operations… and I am
now working on the beta version of Publisher, a layout application that is
hoped by many to take over InDesign in the industry.

The crazy thing is this is that pros will pay less for their apps than others.

I still have LR 5.7 on my old computer. That was a single purchase, not a CC subscription. However, Adobe no longer supports it.

Some folks want the latest, greatest, for everything. Subscriptions are perfect for them. I'm just too cheap for that game. If I were a pro, maybe. But I'm a hobby guy and expect to remain that way.

Buying the disk always costs extra. And, the days of disk only software are long over. Your software will require the latest bug fixes, which the disk cannot provide. As long as you are downloading the updates for fixes, you may as well download the whole works. Assuming you are no longer on dial-up! Welcome to the 2nd decade of the 21st Century.

There are threads on editing software, but they at too old to be of much help.

When Adobe got on their subscription horse I started looking around. Tried ACDSee, liked it, kept at it. That was a few years ago and ACDSee is still my main software, for both file management and RAW development. I scarcely ever use LR anymore.

For a freebie RAW developer RawTherapee is awfully good. But it's tougher to learn than ACDSee. Plus it lacks any effort at file management.

I'm always curious, so over the last year I've also tried out Affinity, Capture 1, and Luminar. Affinity and Capture 1 try hard to compete with Photoshop. Which is not my game, I was always more comfortable with LR than PS. Of this new wave of editors Luminar fits my needs the best. Luminar just recently added a file management module, another plus for it. I will stay with ACDSee for my file management, have zero desire to try to port all of that over to Luminar. I am tempted to pick up Luminar for RAW. But it ain't free (unlike RawTherapee) or already paid for (like my ACDSee) so I will wait and see. The price for Luminar is reasonable, maybe someday in the future.

My suggestion is to download trials of ACDSee and Luminar. Unless you are keen on the PS approach to editing.

Kelly Cook

I use Lightroom Classic CC with the subscription. You also get Photoshop in the bundle. The advantage is you always have the latest software with all the upgrades. If you buy a new camera, it will be supported. They come out with new features, you will have them. You can always get Adobe Elements for around 69 on sale if you prefer cheap. There are many others out there but I have used Photoshop for many years and prefer to use the industry standard.

You might license a version of some software and sit on it for years, but that proves to be the exception, not the rule, I believe. Most companies produce new versions for which you will pay if you want the new features. and that, for Adobe, has happened on 1.5 year-ish cycles. I bought LR 3, then 4, then 5, always late, at a discount. Paid $300 for PS a couple of times (again, late). All over a span of less than four years.

Do the math. I wasted money.

You also seem to overlook the fact that the Photography plan isn't just about LR, it's about PS, which used to cost you an arm and a leg. But for $10/month, less than a lunch out, I get both.

It's a bargain. I never see the $10. Adobe got this right. So I'm on the same page as Shadowfixer1.

Perhaps focusing on what you get, instead of what you pay, might cast things in a better light. But if you don't need/use PS, then the subscription may not be right for you. There are alternatives:

• CaptureOne
• On1 RAW
• Luminar
• Topaz Studio

And others that Kelly mentioned. Many have a free trial period. Go check them out. And there are other programs that appear to handle certain tasks much better than LR: Photo Mechanic comes to mind for culling.

I wish people would stop thinking in terms of "buying" software. You never buy it, you only license it. Yes, the licensing model has changed, so it comes down to whether you find that the price of a license is warranted. Even if I didn't sell my work I'd still subscribe because, for me, it's not at all expensive and the features are worth it.

YMMV

Download GIMP and give it whirl. It's a pretty powerful editor or at least it was when I played with it a few years ago.

I use lightroom cc and PS cc.....Im not sure if you can just get photoshop, but please know that PS contains camera raw filter which pretty much is lightroom. You might not be a PS fan as of now, but realize that PS is endless....there is always new stuff that you can learn, while lightroom is, although great (i use it all the time) a fairly regular and limited photo editor.

Stefan-Olsson wrote: I use lightroom cc and PS cc.....Im not sure if you can just get photoshop, but please know that PS contains camera raw filter which pretty much is lightroom. You might not be a PS fan as of now, but realize that PS is endless....there is always new stuff that you can learn, while lightroom is, although great (i use it all the time) a fairly regular and limited photo editor.

LR offers much, much more, than just RAW image processing. It's an asset management tool, it can handle mapping, it makes editing your image EXIF data quite easy (one or many images), it handles organizing your files, it provides for rating and classifying, and printing from LR is a whole lot easier than from PS. I won't mention book making or slideshows. ACR is not "pretty much LR". It's the image editor part of LR.

In any event, if you want PS, get the Photography package. PS alone is $20/month. Kind of a no-brainer.

True, if you are a "business" have clients and need to time manage in your editing, for sure lightroom would help. I was replying as a guy that have no time constraint at all. However, Photoshop has everything LR does (editing wise) and light years beyond capability wise.

Lightroom is like Garage band, and Photoshop is like Logic or Pro tools....A pretty and easy to understand interface but not much below the surface......My opinion of course.

I'm sure PS gets overlooked by a LOT of newbies, because its not easily understood and takes time to get into....Very much "instant gratification" sign of the times...

Hell you could easily get by just using iphone filters too.

The thing is ( and thanks for all the feedback so far)  I don't want to learn endless new things.  I want to learn how to use a/some good photog program as it is right now,  and be able to do it again and again and again with the different shots I take.  I am not trying to go forward into the photog and tech race.  That to me is a never ending treadmill.  I just want to be able to work on and adjust RAW files. To me, what is NEW is the shots we take.  Each one is new.  I don't want NEW software.  I don't learn fast enough to try and keep up with an industry.  Just show me something good that works right now, that I can pay for ONCE and own it !! 

In that case just buy the stand alone Lightroom 6 at B&H

NewavaMike wrote: The thing is ( and thanks for all the feedback so far)  I don't want to learn endless new things.  I want to learn how to use a/some good photog program as it is right now,  and be able to do it again and again and again with the different shots I take.  I am not trying to go forward into the photog and tech race.  That to me is a never ending treadmill.  I just want to be able to work on and adjust RAW files. To me, what is NEW is the shots we take.  Each one is new.  I don't want NEW software.  I don't learn fast enough to try and keep up with an industry.  Just show me something good that works right now, that I can pay for ONCE and own it !! 

No, don't just go buy LR. No disrespect intended to the above post.

There are trial periods for many programs. Set aside some images, and some time, and work with each program, one by one, doing the same sort of work in each. See which one clicks with you (makes the most sense for the way you think and approach editing). I believe that, if you give enough of them a chance, one will pop out as "the one". (Or maybe that's just my experience.)

I would strongly encourage you to look at On1 RAW, based on your comments here.

NewavaMike wrote: The thing is ( and thanks for all the feedback so far)  I don't want to learn endless new things.  I want to learn how to use a/some good photog program as it is right now,  and be able to do it again and again and again with the different shots I take.  I am not trying to go forward into the photog and tech race.  That to me is a never ending treadmill.  I just want to be able to work on and adjust RAW files. To me, what is NEW is the shots we take.  Each one is new.  I don't want NEW software.  I don't learn fast enough to try and keep up with an industry.  Just show me something good that works right now, that I can pay for ONCE and own it !! 

As I tried to say before, I got divorced from Adobe a few years ago. I definitely do not worship PS as the ultimate editor. Of the RAW editors with the more common adjustments that I have tried, Luminar was the quickest and easiest to learn. And does a very nice job. Of course Luminar is not an industry standard, I would never make such a claim.

heyitried

I bought LR 6 a few years ago.  I didn't like it but I still have it and don't pay rental fees.  Perhaps you can find it on Ebay or Amazon.  I use a product called Affinity Photo which is more powerful than Lightroom but doesn't have the archiving and storage features.  It is just an editing application.  last I saw, it was $50, no rental involved.