9 Messages
•
194 Points
Lightroom Desktop: A toy for consumers, not a tool for photographers
I have taken my time and really tried to like Lightroom CC before posting this. It's hard because I have been a long time user of Adobe Products and, although I have lived with bugs and blunders, I have never outright slammed Adobe like I'm about to.
I have used Lightroom since Beta. Lightroom is where 95% of my photography workflow lives - the remaining 5% is Photoshop, but I still access the photos through Lightroom. I have a great system that lets me use and sync my Lightroom catalogs on multiple computers (Thank You One Drive). I keep an 8TB NAS on site and access the full resolution photos from it. On top of that, I back everything up to Amazon Glacier in case of a catastrophic failure or natural disaster.
Because of my setup, Lightroom CC intrigued me. A place to both store my files and edit them with a professional tool. Then I actually tried to use it and wondered why Adobe is even calling this product Lightroom.
This is not Lightroom - this is a toy. Something for consumers and amateurs. This is not the robust, full featured product that Adobe now brands as "Lightroom Classic" as if the people that use it are not forward thinking individuals, but dinosaurs relegated to extinction.
Lightroom CC is closer to Apple Aperture than it is to Lightroom "Classic" It's "elegant" interface is clearly aimed at smartphone users. It's "smart/AI/Machine learning" Search tool is nice, but lacks the intelligence of the photographer that shot the image, so tagging is still a necessity. The tools that professional photographers rely on in the Develop module have been dumbed down into cute icons and presets. Plus - with the lack of a printing module - Adobe is clearly targeting people that will never print their photos.
I could continue to rant, but since I do not like being entirely negative, I will ask Adobe to re-think their Product naming. Lightroom CC is NOT Lightroom. It should not have a name that confuses what Lightroom is and should always be. A professional tool for cataloging and managing one's entire workflow from digital negative to print.
Rebrand Lightroom CC - Lightroom Elements Cloud would be more appropriate. Brand this for the people it is intended for - consumers. And while we're at it, Don't brand REAL Lightroom as "Classic" it's demeaning to the professionals that will continue to use it on a daily basis.
I have used Lightroom since Beta. Lightroom is where 95% of my photography workflow lives - the remaining 5% is Photoshop, but I still access the photos through Lightroom. I have a great system that lets me use and sync my Lightroom catalogs on multiple computers (Thank You One Drive). I keep an 8TB NAS on site and access the full resolution photos from it. On top of that, I back everything up to Amazon Glacier in case of a catastrophic failure or natural disaster.
Because of my setup, Lightroom CC intrigued me. A place to both store my files and edit them with a professional tool. Then I actually tried to use it and wondered why Adobe is even calling this product Lightroom.
This is not Lightroom - this is a toy. Something for consumers and amateurs. This is not the robust, full featured product that Adobe now brands as "Lightroom Classic" as if the people that use it are not forward thinking individuals, but dinosaurs relegated to extinction.
Lightroom CC is closer to Apple Aperture than it is to Lightroom "Classic" It's "elegant" interface is clearly aimed at smartphone users. It's "smart/AI/Machine learning" Search tool is nice, but lacks the intelligence of the photographer that shot the image, so tagging is still a necessity. The tools that professional photographers rely on in the Develop module have been dumbed down into cute icons and presets. Plus - with the lack of a printing module - Adobe is clearly targeting people that will never print their photos.
I could continue to rant, but since I do not like being entirely negative, I will ask Adobe to re-think their Product naming. Lightroom CC is NOT Lightroom. It should not have a name that confuses what Lightroom is and should always be. A professional tool for cataloging and managing one's entire workflow from digital negative to print.
Rebrand Lightroom CC - Lightroom Elements Cloud would be more appropriate. Brand this for the people it is intended for - consumers. And while we're at it, Don't brand REAL Lightroom as "Classic" it's demeaning to the professionals that will continue to use it on a daily basis.
Responses
dave_roberts_6779374
159 Messages
•
4.2K Points
3 years ago
0
0
andrew_5745380
5 Messages
•
486 Points
3 years ago
I appreciate having a streamlined browsing UI, with most of the same image editing options from the old Lightroom. It's great having my images available everywhere, without wrestling with my own storage setup.
On the other hand, you're dead right that the branding is confusing, because it's clearly a very different product than the old Lightroom, and not aimed at the same people. If they had done a better job of explaining things, they might have avoided p*****g off the professionals who need the advanced features.
8
jao_van_de_lagemaat
259 Messages
•
6.1K Points
3 years ago
I don't agree. Aperture was far more full featured and rich than Lightroom CC. Aperture was closer to Classic. Heck even the cloud based Apple Photos is more full-featured than Lightroom CC. It prints, it can change capture dates, etc.
Lightroom CC is a nice little experiment in my opinion and sort of fun to play with but it is far from a professional tool. I really wish they did not change the name to a product that already exists and that has a reputation of being a fully-fledged tool. There are so many people that download and Lightroom CC and are utterly lost because everything changed and every feature they use is missing. That could all have been avoided by better naming.
1
dan_donovan
20 Messages
•
342 Points
3 years ago
Personally, I am a commercial photographer and use Capture One to process my raw files. However, I am trying out LRCC to manage my final images. Overall, it is working out very well! I really have the best of both worlds: a high quality and fast way to process raw files, plus the benefits of Adobe's cloud to manage the final photos. It is SO NICE to have all of my recent photos (commercial, fine art, stock and personal) available to me on any device...and backed-up! And oh yeah, the search ability of Sensei! I am also going back in time to add other important images to LRCC. I have figured out how to make the Lightroom ecosystem a valuable tool and am excited about the future of LRCC!
0
richard_snow_l26rmehrbfo7y
9 Messages
•
194 Points
3 years ago
Glad it's working for you, but I cannot see how a commercial photographer can even afford to have their photos in Adobe's $10/TB/month cloud.
As for Sensei - may be nice for your purposes, but for me it just doesn't work. Today it's smart enough to find "shoes" or "waterfalls", but at this point it cannot differentiate between "Arethusa Falls" and "Angel Falls", which is what I need it to do. Tagging is still required.
As for your photos being available on any device, this can be achieved in many different ways at this point - and I'll never use an uncalibrated phone or tablet to make photo edits - again Adobe is aiming this at people that don't print and only want to "play" with their photos to make them just good enough for social media and web. I cannot see how it will ever be part of my workflow or the workflow of the majority of photographers.
0
0
alexander_walter_5792557
2 Messages
•
92 Points
3 years ago
0
0
dan_donovan
20 Messages
•
342 Points
3 years ago
4
0
jao_van_de_lagemaat
259 Messages
•
6.1K Points
3 years ago
0
0
dan_donovan
20 Messages
•
342 Points
3 years ago
Looking at the big picture, I believe Adobe and LRCC will be better positioned in the future to help me as a professional photographer. For instance, creating a book, slideshow or making prints will be perfect for my finished files (when those are added to LRCC). And I'm sure keywording functionality will improve over time as well. Also, it will be great to have access to Lightroom tools in order to make minor adjustments to photos when needed.
I realize LRCC is not there yet, but I am willing to have patience as it grows.
4
0