undefined

points

[-]

I was a lightroom user for almost 20 years, and their licensing ridiculousness was enough for me to: - change up my workflow, avoiding raw so I can use simpler editing processes - do way less editing - take way fewer photos

It sucks, but I just can't justify their insane pricing scheme. I've been looking for Linux-capable tools for a while, and Darktable / Rawtherapee are a long way from what I'm after. What you describe sounds like a dream.

by Arainach23 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

This seems like an overreaction that punishes you more than Adobe. There are a number of other tools - until fairly recently Capture One offered perpetual licensing, for instance. Giving up RAW to spite Adobe is like being angry at Microsoft Office subscription pricing and saying you'll abandon word processors and just use a typewriter instead.

by edb_1236 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Back when Adobe upended their perpetual licensing, Capture One was touted as _the_ alternative and I gave it a try since my new Sony camera's RAW format wasn't supported by the last perpetual-license Lightroom version anyway. And man, coming from Lightroom, Capture One was one of the most horrendous usability experiences I have ever had in a creative tool. Even after keeping on trying for a long time, I could absolutely not find a workflow that worked for me and that wasn't filled with obstacles, pains, slowness, inexplicable UI design choices and illogical workflows that totally broke the creative process. It made me miss and appreciate Lightroom so much. But as a photo hobbyist I couldn't justify Adobe's then-new licensing model anyway and the hobby just dwindled away. I ended up finding other paths to express my creative side instead.

If Capture One still is like this, I wouldn't really be surprised if there's truth to the other comment here claiming that their current owners are trying to offload them.

by switchbak22 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

I don't have spite for Adobe, that seems like a projection on your part. But I can't justify the purchase, and have adapted the way I take photos as part of that.

It's more like finding the subscription for a CAD program too expensive, and swapping to something more primitive instead. If that offends you, I think you gotta have a long hard look in a mirror some time.

by Arainach22 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

The point is that there are many options, at many different price points including free, that don't involve giving up 95% of the data your camera sensor provides and don't lock you into getting the exposure perfectly right the first time or else.

FastRawViewer, DxO, Affinity, Darktable, Capture One. Those are just the ones I personally have installed. There's also RawTherapee, a number of camera OEM-specific tools, and more.

by fooblaster19 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

I looked to see if any of these tools support the hdr gain map export that Lightroom supports, and of course, absolutely none of them do. I can't use these.

by Arainach1 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

The person I'm replying to didn't like Adobe and so went back to shooting JPEG. You can't do HDR Gain Mapping from a JPEG either.

by vr4621 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

Capture One is a shitshow, however, and their new owner is actively trying to offload them, so a risk.

by bigbuppo18 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

Capture One still offers a perpetual license for US$349... it's the option down at the bottom, of course. And they still do discounted upgrade pricing on that, too.

by bzzzt12 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

They didn't do that last time I looked. You can only trade in your perpetual license for a discounted 'upgrade' to the subscription version.

by qmr23 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

Absurd to let them affect you so. There are powerful alternatives many of them open source.

by switchbak22 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Absurd? What's with you folks and your strongly charged language?

Please recommend these "powerful alternatives", because I have explored the space and found nothing that replaces Lightroom in a way that I find acceptable. Please omit Darktable and Rawtherapee as I've already evaluated those.

by larusso16 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

I think non native speakers may not have a good feeling how charged a word or phrase is.

In their defense you only spoke about dropping your raw workflow for something simpler not that you looked for a special HDR RAW support.

I know it’s Apple and may not what you look for but does Photomator tick these boxes?

by switchbak1 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Yeah that's a good point that I often forget about, thanks.

I wasn't looking for RAW hdr, just plain jane RAW support that handles moderately new cameras. I stayed on with the old Lightroom as long as I could, but a) it didn't handle my new Sony RAW files, and b) new Mac versions made it impossible to run.

I've moved away from Apple, as that was the last thing tying me to it. Photomator might be nice actually, maybe a good reason to dust off the iPad - cheers.

...

Edit: mobile editing has come a long way since I last checked. Photomator seems really great - between this and a desktop-first approach (Darktable / Davinci) I think this solves all my needs. Big thanks for the recommendation.

by Melatonic21 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

Lightroom mobile (only) is pretty cheap (still a subscription obviously) and does RAW. Depending on your workflow and device its not bad.

by theSuda1 hours ago|

prev|

[-]

I regret spending money on multiple pro versions of Hitfilm in hindsight. I found Resolve very daunting as a beginner and Hitfilm's layered editing felt easier at the time. But looking back I should have just spent it on Resolve pro license. I stopped using Hitfilm way before my last license expired just because Resolve just felt better once I got a hang of it.

by gmanley1 days ago|

prev|

[-]

It's a bit convoluted to get to but you can also "rent" a license for $30 a month through Blackmagic Cloud. As with many, I'm not a fan of subscription licenses but it was valuable for me to use for a month to evaluate if the Studio features warranted the investment in the permanent license. Specifically some of the Fusion effects are Studio only.

by jwrallie19 hours ago|

prev|

[-]

That’s quite reasonable. Props for them for doing it.

Without updates included, buying a lifetime license nowadays feels more like a subscription which expires as soon as your OS upgrades instead. It also creates a lot of friction with different file formats when you try to collaborate. companies know how to exploit this to force you into subscriptions.

by agup79212 hours ago|

prev|

[-]

I have become a huge fan of Davinci Resolve. Its free version carried me for a long time!