Strating over with post processing software. Best?

Have used LR 3 and PS programs for a lot of years with older cameras.
Never needed a lot of PS and have done some basic work in processing with LR but I'm not what I would say is proficient. So now I have a new camera body that LR3 doesn't support and rather than just jump into LR CC I'm wondering what are other options I should explore.
What would you recommend and why?

sidg wrote in post #18776582
Have used LR 3 and PS programs for a lot of years with older cameras.
Never needed a lot of PS and have done some basic work in processing with LR but I'm not what I would say is proficient. So now I have a new camera body that LR3 doesn't support and rather than just jump into LR CC I'm wondering what are other options I should explore.
What would you recommend and why?

Well as you are already familiar with Lightroom 3 moving to Lightroom CC seems the logical choice as you will already have a good understanding of how it works. And considering that you have just spent about $5500 on a new camera body, then the subscription fee is comparable to loose change.

Thankfully I'm at a point personally and professionally that I don't have to worry about nickle and diming this hobby anymore so I'm not so much concerned about the money as I am the ease of use and time required to use it well.

sidg wrote in post #18776582
Have used LR 3 and PS programs for a lot of years with older cameras.
Never needed a lot of PS and have done some basic work in processing with LR but I'm not what I would say is proficient. So now I have a new camera body that LR3 doesn't support and rather than just jump into LR CC I'm wondering what are other options I should explore.
What would you recommend and why?

sidg wrote in post #18776617
Thankfully I'm at a point personally and professionally that I don't have to worry about nickle and diming this hobby anymore so I'm not so much concerned about the money as I am the ease of use and time required to use it well.

Even though you are not proficient in LR, I'd stick to it, the LR CC version that is.
Learning a new software that may be completely different will perhaps just add to your confusion.

Assess what it is that you would like to improve in your processing and search YouTube for the appropriate videos to improve your skills. Alternatively, enroll in a decent LR course that will take your PP skills to a new level. I assume that you have some time to spend and money is not an issue, so go and accomplish your mission. Think about the satisfaction you will derive from your new PP skills!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year !

It depends if you want a DAM or not. If you do the only real competitor is ACDsee which is apparently the most advanced compared to LR. C1 is now offering a DAM but I don’t know anything about it. A little expensive.

If you get into CC you are a little hooked because if you decide to quit the plan you can use everything except the Develop and Map modules. You can use the DAM, Export page and you get 2GB of cloud storage apparently forever. Adobe likes to keep you close

There are quite a few out there. I also purchased DXO PL for prime noise reduction but don’t use it as much as I thought I would. PL 2 addded a rating system but no where near a real DAM. Darktable is free but I didn’t care for it.

Lots of choices but I’m glad went with the plan. LR8 now and it will probably blow you away with all the changes since your version. LR is a bit of a commitment with the way it is set up so take that into consideration. You get all the updates on a continual basis but based on the version you are using it doesn’t seem that important to you. Nothing wrong with that and you aren’t alone. Many are happy using older versions.

Ah Yes, New camera not compatible! Just went through that, but I found a solution. I just purchased the Fuji XT-3 and found the software I want to use is not yet compatible. Well, I've been looking at Adobe alternatives for quite some time now as Lightroom does not render Fuji images very well. A little sharpening or Clarity and we now have worms!

My solution was to use the first item able to handle my Fuji XT-3 files. But only for rendering an culling, Capture One Pro for Fuji was the first compatible software so I gave it a try. It opens Fuji files correctly and now has the Fuji Camera Profiles available also. So I open my files and immediately export to Full size Tiff Profoto RGB (16 bit). This gives me workable files.

With Tiff files a whole new world opens up. You can now use anything and everything so experiment and find WDWB(fm) "What Does What Best for me". For some Adobe does all, for me I find several products each do something better than the others. Each of us need to find WDWB(fm).

I find Capture One renders my files best - Dx0, Luminar, and Lightroom have the best tools for developing - Photomatix, Aurora, and Lightroom do best for HDR - For Panoramas it's Lightroom and On1. Libraries it's Lightroom, On1, and ACDSee. Capture One really has fantastic Color Management if you're into that and if you like to manipulate your images there's nothing like Photoshop.

Bottom line once you are using Tiffs there's a whole world out there, you just need to find what works best for you. Sometimes the experimenting is what makes it fun

If I was heavy into portraiture I'd give C1 (which I tried twice) a more serious look. For what I do it doesn't support lens corrections with telephoto lenses. However I don't know how it would compare to an LR/PS file using something like ColorcChecker Passport.

With the move from Lr3 to that latest you have to remember that there are now two different,and diverging versions of Lr. You have Lr CC Classic which is also billed as Lr 8.x. This is the version closest to what you are used to with Lr3. It has a local catalogue file and you save all of your images to local drives. It does have some ablity to sync with the Lr mobile apps you can get for phones and also to the web interface that you can access from any browser. Otherwise Lr CC Classic has all had a couple of new process versions, so some of the tools and sliders will look different. It will though be able to convert your existing catalogue to the new format, and will correctly apply the older version edits to your existing images.

The other alternative is Lr CC, this is the totally new program this is finally what many think of when the words cloud computing is bandied about. All the original files are uploaded to the Adobe servers, although you can still keep local copies. This is fully integrated into the mobile apps, and you essentially get the same tools as you do in those mobile apps. I don't really know that much about Lr CC since trying to run it at the same time as you have classic syncing with mobile it seems to cause issues on both sides.

All of the Adobe programs are now paid by a monthly subscription payment. You get both Lr CC and Lr CC Classic for one single payment, so you could try them both out. There is the Photographers bundle that also includes the latest version of Ps and is something like $10, I think it was £8 last time I checked in the UK.

Alan

sidg wrote in post #18776617
[...] I'm not so much concerned about the money as I am the ease of use and time required to use it well.

There are quite some alternatives to LR - however, if you put ease of use on top of your list, then you might want to be more precise about what you need. I am using both Capture One and an older version of LR - but ease of use is not part of these packages.
Alternatively, you might just want to use Canons DPP (limited but fairly easy) or den continue with LR3 by converting the files you want to edit to dng? The raw converter do usually support the latest cameras and LR3 is supporting dng files (?guessing here?).

Just did a major overhaul to my workflow. Busting out Apple's Aperture MAnaged RAW files and importing to Lightroom. Had LR 5 and 6 and finally bit the bullet for the LR Classic CC. Glad I did. And yes free Photoshop. Having an old Photoshop CS4 version, I am up to date.
I am also on a Phone Subscription, cable, Internet as well.......l.
I guess that's life.
The new Photographers plan is a welcome addition.

sidg wrote in post #18776582
So now I have a new camera body that LR3 doesn't support and rather than just jump into LR CC I'm wondering what are other options I should explore.

I'm just wondering why this is a problem.

BigAl007 wrote in post #18777119
With the move from Lr3 to that latest you have to remember that there are now two different,and diverging versions of Lr. You have Lr CC Classic which is also billed as Lr 8.x. This is the version closest to what you are used to with Lr3. It has a local catalogue file and you save all of your images to local drives. It does have some ablity to sync with the Lr mobile apps you can get for phones and also to the web interface that you can access from any browser. Otherwise Lr CC Classic has all had a couple of new process versions, so some of the tools and sliders will look different. It will though be able to convert your existing catalogue to the new format, and will correctly apply the older version edits to your existing images.

The other alternative is Lr CC, this is the totally new program this is finally what many think of when the words cloud computing is bandied about. All the original files are uploaded to the Adobe servers, although you can still keep local copies. This is fully integrated into the mobile apps, and you essentially get the same tools as you do in those mobile apps. I don't really know that much about Lr CC since trying to run it at the same time as you have classic syncing with mobile it seems to cause issues on both sides.

All of the Adobe programs are now paid by a monthly subscription payment. You get both Lr CC and Lr CC Classic for one single payment, so you could try them both out. There is the Photographers bundle that also includes the latest version of Ps and is something like $10, I think it was £8 last time I checked in the UK.

Alan

I pay for the whole year. I don't need to see a monthly charge. My renewal date was Nov 29th. I got an email from Adobe saying that if I renewed a week earlier I would get two months free so I did.

Peano wrote in post #18777204
I'm just wondering why this is a problem.

I has to go the DNG route for several months and I hated it.

digital paradise wrote in post #18777216
I pay for the whole year. I don't need to see a monthly charge. My renewal date was Nov 29th. I got an email from Adobe saying that if I renewed a week earlier I would get two months free so I did.

I pay annually via Amazon. The last renewal cost me £80 as opposed to £120 that Adobe charge, plus I have just renewed my CPS membership and Canon have given me an additional 2 months free subscription.

sidg wrote in post #18776582
Have used LR 3 and PS programs for a lot of years with older cameras.
Never needed a lot of PS and have done some basic work in processing with LR but I'm not what I would say is proficient. So now I have a new camera body that LR3 doesn't support and rather than just jump into LR CC I'm wondering what are other options I should explore.
What would you recommend and why?

Unless the cost is a problem you might want to seriously consider a Creative Cloud Photography plan subscription.

Why? It's high quality software. You are familiar with the interface. There is a world of official and unofficial support and learning guides.