What to do about Lightroom 5 and newer cameras...

The C1P library lets you define a catalog that uses referenced folders or one that puts images inside the catalog (remember Aperture?) or put your images in sessions. So C1P does not take a backseat to Lr when it comes to library functions.

JeffreyG wrote in post #18881101
My take is Adobe decided they would prefer to suck more money from professional users via subscription and simply cut the hobbiest user such as me loose. They only get $50-$75 from me a year anyway, so I guess they don't care if they can get $120 a year from more dedicated users. I currently have LR 6.14 which works for my current equipment. If and when I ever want a new camera I will have to make a new decision.

I dare say that there are 10 amateur users for every professional user. So effectively doubling income from pros while losing all income from half the amateurs (if they don't like the new math) seems to be not particularly good corporate arithmetic. OTOH, the attitude "It's only 10 per month" is pervasive, since so few think about true lifetime costs for subscription software over a lifetime of hobby.

I remember a time when I had to pay $1800 for the Adobe suite. $1800 got me Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Acrobat and I can't remember what else. If I recall, they didn't have a video editor at that time or it was not included. Memory fails me here.

At that time $1800 did not buy me the software but the license to use that software, as it still does today. $1800 lasted for about two years before I had to shell out another $1800 for the updated version. It was a lot of money but if you wanted to use what was demanded by the industry guess what, you paid it. If not, you got left behind. Adobe was the industry leader back then and still is. Not because I liked the program but because that's what the pros were using. Back then I HATED Photoshop. I much preferred Corel products. I still prefer CorelDraw over Illustrator but that's a different argument.

Let's do the math... $1800 every two years for the basic suite works out to $75 a month for the license to use the software. Again, you don't own it. You never did. Over time some products were dropped, others were added and I stopped buying the suite, preferring to get just the applications I needed. Photoshop and then Lightroom when it was released (roughly $680), along with a few other expensive non Adobe products (another $500-$600). It was still a good chunk of change that had to be updated every two years or so, give or take, in order to stay current. And I wasn't even a professional photographer but a graphic designer. Then Adobe offered a subscription plan. I could get the software I needed at a greatly reduced price spread over months rather than in one wallet draining lump sum plus all the updates and latest developments served directly to my computer. Hell yeah. Sign me up.

Sorry, but I don't see the downside to the subscription plan. I don't have to worry about outdated software that doesn't support my latest camera and I get the benefit of a team of programmers that are currently doing some phenomenal, industry leading, mind bending work in the world of image manipulation. All for the price of $10 a month for the photographer's package ($52 per month for the ENTIRE suite).

So yeah, you can call me an Adobe fanboy if you want. I just recognize a great deal when I see it.

BigAl007 wrote in post #18881120
Then what about exporting? Again I make significant use of the ablity to have export presets, along with using the Print module quite a lot. The Lr Print module is currently my preferred way of printing photographs.

I believe, this wasn't answered yet: The export function is very strong and you can define a wide range of 'recipes' that can be executed in parallel as a batch (https://help.phaseone.​com …nts/About-Process-Recipes). There is no 'print module' or anything similar in C1.

Wilt wrote in post #18880653
I have LR 6.0, a friend has a Canon 77D which is not supported in LR 6.0. I tried to get the upgrade to LR 6.14, but was not successful.

I used the free DNG convertor obtained rom Adobe, to generate DNG files from my friend's captured RAW files. My LR 6.0 worked just fine with the Canon 77D converted DNG files. The additional step to first create the DNG was very simple to do, and not very time consuming (for the 100 or so shots taken with my friend's camera.

THIS!!! Adobe FREE DNG converter... it works fabulously smooth and effortlessly! i did it and absolutely love i didnt need to upgrade my 5.71 LR. i originally bought it as 4.0 when Newegg had a free code to upgrade to 5.0 so thats how long IVE had LR going....

Wilt wrote in post #18881178
I dare say that there are 10 amateur users for every professional user. So effectively doubling income from pros while losing all income from half the amateurs (if they don't like the new math) seems to be not particularly good corporate arithmetic.

You assume the marketing geniuses can do math!

lacogada wrote in post #18880269
B&H still sells the standalone LR6 ... expensive though and you would still have the problem of it not recognizing any newer camera you may purchase.

There's also free software like Darktable and Raw Therepee.

... and the already mentioned DNG converter.

I would't buy LR6 at this stage. It has not been supported since 2017. If the DNG option or subscription does not work I'd look at something else. You spend $160 and any camera released 2018 and on won't open RAW files. Looks like the OP prefers long term solutions. This will happen some day anyway. Using a Mac you need to run El Capitan to use LR5. Both the OS and LR versions are old and eventually something has to be upgraded.

As for LR subscription I'm not trying the suggest the plan. I don't care what anyone uses. Just to clear up some myths I have been using the desktop version of LR called Lightroom Classic (LR Classic) since 2017, which is now Version 8.3. It is installed on my desktop just like LR5 and 6 were. I do not have a single file in the cloud. In fact you couldn't get a file into the cloud using LR Classic if you wanted to. It requires local file storage with an option to sync if you choose to do so and only mirrors the files. It is like smart previews that came out before subscription.

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=BWjP3UV84R8

As mentioned Lightroom which was released in December of 2017 is a mobile version that does send files to the cloud automatically. Anyone who has subscription downloads an app installer and you can install what you like. I never installed the mobile version of Lightoom. Bellow is the list of apps. Portfolio is a free website that is integrated with LR.

Outside of that I have DXO PL which very capable but no catalogue. It may be the developer I use if I ever cancel the plan. My only main complaint it does not even have a temporary adjustment history like for example PS has. ACDscee and Darktable are free. I have read good things about On1. C1 is good but a little pricey. If you are used to Adobe take a look at Elements.

Affinity is good too and inexpensive.

Your response, in the context of the professional doing his job, makes sense, no argument. Now put yourself in the shoes of the hobbyist -- who derives zero income from the use of the same software.

I understand, but hobbyist or pro, if a photographer wants to use pro software they have to pay industry prices. Development of software to meet a specific requirement is independent of who will eventually be using it. Adobe develops and markets to pros and serious hobbyist, both demographics that understand the need for quality processing software. Adobe delivers both the quality and technology required. There is no rule that says a casual hobbyist has to use pro software, but to complain that the software is too pricey for them... it's like me complaining that a Ferrari is too pricey to buy and shame on Ferrari for pricing their cars so high.

The other argument I was addressing was the assumption that just because people buy a piece of software they own it. We as photographer who strive to protect our copyrights through licensing should not be complaining when Adobe does the same thing. Quite the double standard in this industry, I would say.

I started using the software foundation (RAWShooter), what eventually became Adobe Lightroom, years before Adobe owned the software. I was pulled into the Adobe world by the sale of that company to Adobe. I chose to use software that I liked... it was not professional by that definition at that time. So I should be penalized by that set of circumstances?!

In the end, the decision is always - buy it or don't buy it. That decision will affect corporate strategy. Complaining on internet forums will not.

This is my point exactly. You are not being penalized. It has nothing to do with you. You make it sound as if Adobe is out to punish you for some infraction. I don't understand this way of thinking.

Your right. I shouldn't be responding to those who are complaining. It just add fuel to the fire.