Lightroom CC vs Lightroom Classic

webmastadj

As I am sure we all are aware, the new Lightroom CC came out today, and I was wondering what is everyone's first impressions.

From what I can tell so far, Lightroom CC has all the same features as the classic and is faster. You can even import the presets to Lightroom CC from Lightroom Classic which was a win for me. I think my biggest worry / problem with lightroom CC is the focus on the cloud.

I can understand the value of storing images in the cloud then being able to edit them from anywhere, but I don't like the ever perpetual cost having all my photos sitting there. Local storage is so much cheaper in the long run than cloud storage for static items. I would say an option to have your most recent photos synced to the cloud and still have the local storage on the back-end would be the ideal for me.

Another thing I just noticed is the lack of export options. Where is the export to flickr (for those of us that still use it)? How about exporting and including a watermark, size changes, etc.? Without this, that is another reason to stay with the Lightroom Classic.

In conclusion, I will be staying with Lightroom Classic for now. Maybe if I want to edit photos on the go (which is rare for me) I will move them into Lightroom CC.

How about the rest of you? Have you tried it yet and do you see yourself braving the cloud?

PB_PM

No intention of using the LR CC cloud stuff, or using Adobe's storage, not going to trust my images to them. For the next little while I'm going to use Classic, but I think the writing is on the wall for "Classic" now. Adobe will push the new CC hard going forward, and in a year or two it will be the only option.

No longer is it a matter of considering other options, other options are a must in the near future, that much is clear now.

WestEndFoto

I don't mind paying the monthly subscription for $10 US per month for Lightroom Classic CC (photographers). I am already on that plan. I spend about that much on coffee everyday.

But regarding Lightroom CC, if Adobe thinks that I will agree to nudes of my muses sitting in their cloud when not even Equifax can avoid getting hacked, they are smoking dope. I will give up the benefits of their file management system and go to Capture One in a heartbeat.

webmastadj

@PB_PM I would agree. It is sad but true, Lightroom classic is going to die eventually. What would smart of Adobe to do, is use classic until they are able to master the local storage aspect of Lightroom CC (if they ever do) combined with the cloud storage. Even still, I only have one editing desktop and that workflow works for me.

@WestEndFoto The security aspect is a very good concern especially when shooting nudes or other sensitive subjects. The last one anyone wants a client photo leaked when you promised privacy.

My concerns with switching to another platform are:

1) What happens to all my edits I have done in Lightroom? I don't keep jpg of the finish edits, I just export them, upload them and delete them. There is no need to keep three of the same file, that is one of the major advantages I see of lightroom. (btw way, Lightroom CC doesn't have snapshot ability that I can find, that is a major fail for my workflow)

2) I use the library function. It is nice to be able to preview all my RAW photos and organize them in albums. Going away from using a library will be a tough thing for me.

dissent

Lightroom CC or Lightroom Classic CC - Which Workflow is Best for You?

dissent

Yeah, I don't see a big plus for me to move my files exclusively to the cloud. And I can't see me using Lightroom on my phone to edit much of anything. That's a small screen, and my visual acuity is going in the opposite direction.

PB_PM

I can see the cloud system being popular with pros who travel a lot for work, and do basic reviewing of images on the go. For the vast majority who simply take/edit photos at home as a hobby, it's just pointless, unless you have no other backup mechanisms setup.

snakebunk

I am like PB_PM, first they removed the perpetual license and next they will remove file storage, and I think it is time to move on. I just need to fint an alternative with hierarchical keywords, I really need that.

Vipmediastar_JZ

I upgraded to Classic. The LR mobile on phone and tablet work fine. Classic is faster then before. I was able to freely edit without slowdowns during import. After import the editing was faster than normal.

WestEndFoto

I just upgraded to Classic. Now I am importing about 10,000 D850 images. It has been building previews and indexes all night. I will let you know on the weekend how long it took.

Killerbob

I must admit the entire notion, that I would switch to an entirely cloud based storage solution, is ridiculous... Almost alarmingly so.

Living in Greenland I am lucky if my upload to the internet approaches 2Mbps, and currently I would have to upload 510GB, and that's just the RAW files for 2017 that I have in my Lightroom Catalog.

There are the legal complications, the privacy concerns, and not least, the technical challenges.

Besides that, it is actually pretty lame to use... Kind of like Photos on a Mac.

WestEndFoto

WestEndFoto said:

I just upgraded to Classic. Now I am importing about 10,000 D850 images. It has been building previews and indexes all night. I will let you know on the weekend how long it took.

OK, less than 20 hours for all of that. And the backup took less than 5 minutes. It used to be a half hour.

WestEndFoto

Definitely snappier.

PB_PM

First thing LR Classic did when I tried to edit a photo, glitch with the crop tool, image disappears when crop tool is selected. Then it wouldn't change images, and finally after a bit of that it crashed. It is faster, at crashing. Good start I'd say.

If you use GPU acceleration, make sure you graphics drivers are up to date.

Gjesdal

Apart from their really idiotic renaming, the only issue I've had so far was a rather big one. They no longer support Dolby sound in Win7.
Had issues with Nvidia drivers when I upgraded to Win10 when the free upgrade was available, and Win8.x was never an option. This time upgrade went fine, but I had planned to make a BTS video not use all afternoon upgrading system...

This really doesn't affect my use of Lightroom as I don't use that for video, but others might?

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/dolby-end-of-support.html

Killerbob

BTW - I can confirm that Lightroom Classic CC uses all the CPU power available on a Mac Pro. Exporting 7 images to Photomatix Pro, creating an HDR image used all 8 cores in my Mac Pro, and actually kicked into hyper threading, using 16 cores to calculate on.

Nice speed improvement indeed:)

PB_PM

Looks like I cannot use GPU acceleration with classic at this point. If I do LR crashes when I try to use the crop tool, or switch images in the develop modular. Turned it off, no trouble at all (Nvidia GTX 1070 with latest non-beta drivers from Oct 9th).

The good news is that the app is much faster, even without GPU acceleration.

Vipmediastar_JZ

I have the gpu accelaration on a 2012 MBP. Only one 1 crash so far. I don't remember what caused it but its definitely faster. The face detection finally finished after upgrading to classic.

dumer

Killerbob said:

BTW - I can confirm that Lightroom Classic CC uses all the CPU power available on a Mac Pro. Exporting 7 images to Photomatix Pro, creating an HDR image used all 8 cores in my Mac Pro, and actually kicked into hyper threading, using 16 cores to calculate on.

Nice speed improvement indeed:)

Great to hear such improvements.

spraynpray

I am at the stage where I have downloaded the updates, but not updated until I got a clear idea of whether it is a good idea or not. The download warns me that the old versions will be deleted. :-/

Put simply, is this CC update a good idea - I'm using a W10 PC?

PB_PM

Cannot think of any reason why not, works fine on my Win 10 PC (with recently released fall update). It’s faster than the old version, and seems stable enough after updates. If you run into any bugs try disabling GPU acceleration and see if that helps, did for me.

If you are concerned, make a backup of the current version to an external drive and revert if needed.

Killerbob

I kept a copy of my "old" Lr libraries for a while, but the new version is better, faster, and more stable than the old one, so I have regained a few GB on my SSDs.

No reason to stay with the older version if you are licensed to the new versions anyway.

webmastadj

I would agree but I am running Mac. The new version is faster. Pushes my old iMac (2010) to it's limits...time to upgrade to that shiny new iMac Pro.

Ton14

Here is a link, where you find the instructions to upgrade and also keep your old version Andrew.

https://www.lightroomforums.net/threads/what-a-week-in-the-lightroom-world.33094/

Lightroom classic updates your catalog to a new version, so when you keep the old version you have to work with 2 catalogs, before starting anything, make a backup from your original (old) catalog, you need this one anyway for working with the old (2015CC) version. You can't reverse the new LR classic version to the old format and the 2015CC version is not in your subscription anymore, after upgrade without keeping it

I threw myself backwards in the future and upgraded to LR classic, it works good from the beginning. The best thing is in the local adjustments, masking luminance or colour possibility, everything works the same.

Lightroom CC works like Lightroom mobile, you still can synchronize your COLLECTIONS with your phone or tablet via your LR cloud, where you get 20gb space from Adobe, but these "smart previews" don't take space from those 20gb.

Don't make the mistake to transfer your catalog in Lightroom CC !!!!!

If you do by accident, you can go back, but loose your keywords (and hope for the best, I think).

spraynpray

OK, great - thanks for the input guys.

That's all good to know Ton, thanks man.