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My view as a serious hobby photographer is simple. No Adobe products in my life. Period. There are things that are logical with subscription plan, servers, clou

by nbzso 6y ago

My view as a serious hobby photographer is simple. No Adobe products in my life. Period. There are things that are logical with subscription plan, servers, cloud, collaboration functionality. Designing creative software with dark UX is Adobe business model. In the past their software was highly overpriced but you can have a lifespan of 3-4-5 years with updates. The reason that people are falling in Adobe Subscriptions trap was the notion that there is no alternative. But there is, Affinity, Capture One, Darktable - free, Raw Therapy- free, and more. I have invested in platform independent metadata workflow since Apple killed Aperture and left photographers in Adobe hell. Side note: One of the reasons people to shoot film is the focus on creative process without complicated software relationships. Can you imagine, if you are an artist and your brush "must" have subscription license and suddenly crashes without internet connection? This is the future according to software companies. Services, services, services:)

GordonS 6y ago
I've got an ancient version of Lightroom (maybe 2010?) that I still use to manage photos on Windows. Feature-wise, it's great, but it is very slow and a little buggy. I've been meaning to try out Darktable since it introduced Windows support around a year ago, but it's difficult to find time to replace something that works :)
- _jal 6y ago
  I do that, too. I also run some 15-ish year-old machining software. I've mostly moved these into VMs with a fossilized OS that works for them. Between applications that keep getting worse with each revision, subscriptions and other annoyances, I think a lot of my software use will follow this model.
  - PicassoCTs 6y ago
    Same here- just put the whole setup in amber like the jurassic-park-fly - store the software at peak performance and keep it there. Bonuspoints if the VM is under Linux, to prevent the OS from sabotaging those efforts.
- wiredfool 6y ago
  I've bought 3 versions of lightroom over the years, and I'm still on LR5. Fired it up for the first time in a couple of years, and it's ... not working well. Cropping doesn't focus right on the drag, and some of the commands don't seem to 'take'. I'm done with Adobe, except for the _tons_ of photos and develop settings that I have in LR from 10 years back.
- nbzso 6y ago
  "it's difficult to find time to replace something that works" This is true. My process is hard and time consuming. The only added value is that is independent and can be fully migrated at any time. I use software for 20 euro - Fast Raw Viewer and then add Image Editing of your choice. Check out their suggested workflow: https://updates.fastrawviewer.com/data/pdf/FastRawViewer-Suggested-Raw-based-Workflow.pdf https://updates.fastrawviewer.com/data/pdf/FastRawViewer-Sug... https://www.fastrawviewer.com/ https://www.fastrawviewer.com/
StavrosK 6y ago
Capture One is amazing. I tried it at some point and switched to it immediately. It does much more than Lightroom, its layer system is much more flexible, and is faster (and not made by Adobe). I highly recommend it, my Photoshop usage dropped by 90% ever since, since I could do much more in Capture Pro.
- Existenceblinks 6y ago
  Same, I switched 3-4 years ago. My mistake was using LR and never tried something else for long time and wonder why my color grading skill wasn't improved that much. Once I import the same photo to Capture One and grading color the same way I do in LR, I was having a stupid face because it's so much better in anyway in Capture One. It's amazing. It's wise that they added the heal and clone tools, many people only use those two in PS.
- clumsysmurf 6y ago
  Last I checked Capture One was missing multi exposure things like HDR and panorama merging, has this been addressed ?
  - andromeduck 6y ago
    nope
- andromeduck 6y ago
  Its metadata DB corrupts super easily though, back it up or you'll be sorry.
  - StavrosK 6y ago
    Hmm, I do back it up but I've never had a problem.
  - stan_rogers 6y ago
    To be fair, the "proper" use case is based around the Sessions rather than the "throw the Lightroom migrants a bone" database feature that was tacked on later. It was never intended to be an asset manager.
AmVess 6y ago
I bailed on Adobe products a year or so ago. Their CC app is one of the biggest piles of garbage I have ever had to use. Adobe gave me a free month this year. I tried the latest version of PS vs Affinity and uninstalled after a few minutes. The uninstall process took over 30 minutes because for some reason CC itself was broken and had to be reinstalled before being uninstalled. There is zero reason for this. PS has a lot of good points, but one giant bad one: no real support for multi-threading. I have a 1GB test folder of images that Affinity can resize in 16 seconds. It takes PS one minute and 15 seconds longer to do the same task. Affinity uses all the cores available to it; PS uses only 1. I have an old copy of CS6 that I use for adding text to photos, and that's all I use PS for anymore, and maybe the occasional touch up. It is small (install is 500MB), does not require CC to manage it, doesn't spam my system with a zillion services and various programs that launch on start up, and it doesn't need an internet connection to install or use. Adobe is absolutely sitting still and everyone else is in the process of catching up or outright blowing past them in certain areas. Affinity 2.0 will probably be what a modern version of PS would be if Adobe didn't have outright contempt for their customers. I've been a PS user since if first came out, and was befuddled as to why they changed some keyboard shortcuts. I tried the new version this year and thought something was wrong with my PC or my keyboard. All of the shortcuts are second nature to me, and changing them after all these years for no good reason is a baffling decision. Adobe won't change their ways because they have massive lock in with professionals everywhere.
- texasbigdata 6y ago
  What's better is when it requires an update to "unlock" uninstalling it. Thx guys.
- nbzso 6y ago
  "I've been a PS user since if first came out, and was befuddled as to why they changed some keyboard shortcuts. I tried the new version this year and thought something was wrong with my PC or my keyboard. All of the shortcuts are second nature to me, and changing them after all these years for no good reason is a baffling decision." OMG. What? Why?
packetlost 6y ago
Having started out with Lightroom on their cheap $10/m plan, I tried a number of different tools and quite honestly, none of them came close. That is, until I purchased a license to Luminar AI. I also tried Luminar 4 awhile back, but it was too slow and clunky to replace Lightroom, but Luminar AI is so. damn. good.
nbzso 6y ago
Ranting on my own comment. There is a clearly biased point of view that "SaaS is the only model of software development that is profitable and valuable". Just stop it. There are valid use cases for SaaS. But if applied in general SaaS is not long term value for customer. The "old" model of software production is superior because of long release cycle, less bugs and incremental change with respect for established UX.
vvwvvwvvw 6y ago
Ironic that software pirates enjoy a better experience than paying customers. You can download preactivated one click install Adobe software.

by nbzso 6y ago

GordonS 6y ago

I've got an ancient version of Lightroom (maybe 2010?) that I still use to manage photos on Windows. Feature-wise, it's great, but it is very slow and a little buggy. I've been meaning to try out Darktable since it introduced Windows support around a year ago, but it's difficult to find time to replace something that works :)

_jal 6y ago
I do that, too. I also run some 15-ish year-old machining software. I've mostly moved these into VMs with a fossilized OS that works for them. Between applications that keep getting worse with each revision, subscriptions and other annoyances, I think a lot of my software use will follow this model.
- PicassoCTs 6y ago
  Same here- just put the whole setup in amber like the jurassic-park-fly - store the software at peak performance and keep it there. Bonuspoints if the VM is under Linux, to prevent the OS from sabotaging those efforts.
wiredfool 6y ago
I've bought 3 versions of lightroom over the years, and I'm still on LR5. Fired it up for the first time in a couple of years, and it's ... not working well. Cropping doesn't focus right on the drag, and some of the commands don't seem to 'take'. I'm done with Adobe, except for the _tons_ of photos and develop settings that I have in LR from 10 years back.
nbzso 6y ago
"it's difficult to find time to replace something that works" This is true. My process is hard and time consuming. The only added value is that is independent and can be fully migrated at any time. I use software for 20 euro - Fast Raw Viewer and then add Image Editing of your choice. Check out their suggested workflow: https://updates.fastrawviewer.com/data/pdf/FastRawViewer-Suggested-Raw-based-Workflow.pdf https://updates.fastrawviewer.com/data/pdf/FastRawViewer-Sug... https://www.fastrawviewer.com/ https://www.fastrawviewer.com/

StavrosK 6y ago

Capture One is amazing. I tried it at some point and switched to it immediately. It does much more than Lightroom, its layer system is much more flexible, and is faster (and not made by Adobe). I highly recommend it, my Photoshop usage dropped by 90% ever since, since I could do much more in Capture Pro.

Existenceblinks 6y ago
Same, I switched 3-4 years ago. My mistake was using LR and never tried something else for long time and wonder why my color grading skill wasn't improved that much. Once I import the same photo to Capture One and grading color the same way I do in LR, I was having a stupid face because it's so much better in anyway in Capture One. It's amazing. It's wise that they added the heal and clone tools, many people only use those two in PS.
clumsysmurf 6y ago
Last I checked Capture One was missing multi exposure things like HDR and panorama merging, has this been addressed ?
- andromeduck 6y ago
  nope
andromeduck 6y ago
Its metadata DB corrupts super easily though, back it up or you'll be sorry.
- StavrosK 6y ago
  Hmm, I do back it up but I've never had a problem.
- stan_rogers 6y ago
  To be fair, the "proper" use case is based around the Sessions rather than the "throw the Lightroom migrants a bone" database feature that was tacked on later. It was never intended to be an asset manager.

AmVess 6y ago

I bailed on Adobe products a year or so ago. Their CC app is one of the biggest piles of garbage I have ever had to use. Adobe gave me a free month this year. I tried the latest version of PS vs Affinity and uninstalled after a few minutes. The uninstall process took over 30 minutes because for some reason CC itself was broken and had to be reinstalled before being uninstalled. There is zero reason for this. PS has a lot of good points, but one giant bad one: no real support for multi-threading. I have a 1GB test folder of images that Affinity can resize in 16 seconds. It takes PS one minute and 15 seconds longer to do the same task. Affinity uses all the cores available to it; PS uses only 1. I have an old copy of CS6 that I use for adding text to photos, and that's all I use PS for anymore, and maybe the occasional touch up. It is small (install is 500MB), does not require CC to manage it, doesn't spam my system with a zillion services and various programs that launch on start up, and it doesn't need an internet connection to install or use. Adobe is absolutely sitting still and everyone else is in the process of catching up or outright blowing past them in certain areas. Affinity 2.0 will probably be what a modern version of PS would be if Adobe didn't have outright contempt for their customers. I've been a PS user since if first came out, and was befuddled as to why they changed some keyboard shortcuts. I tried the new version this year and thought something was wrong with my PC or my keyboard. All of the shortcuts are second nature to me, and changing them after all these years for no good reason is a baffling decision. Adobe won't change their ways because they have massive lock in with professionals everywhere.

texasbigdata 6y ago
What's better is when it requires an update to "unlock" uninstalling it. Thx guys.
nbzso 6y ago
"I've been a PS user since if first came out, and was befuddled as to why they changed some keyboard shortcuts. I tried the new version this year and thought something was wrong with my PC or my keyboard. All of the shortcuts are second nature to me, and changing them after all these years for no good reason is a baffling decision." OMG. What? Why?

packetlost 6y ago

Having started out with Lightroom on their cheap $10/m plan, I tried a number of different tools and quite honestly, none of them came close. That is, until I purchased a license to Luminar AI. I also tried Luminar 4 awhile back, but it was too slow and clunky to replace Lightroom, but Luminar AI is so. damn. good.

nbzso 6y ago

Ranting on my own comment. There is a clearly biased point of view that "SaaS is the only model of software development that is profitable and valuable". Just stop it. There are valid use cases for SaaS. But if applied in general SaaS is not long term value for customer. The "old" model of software production is superior because of long release cycle, less bugs and incremental change with respect for established UX.

vvwvvwvvw 6y ago

Ironic that software pirates enjoy a better experience than paying customers. You can download preactivated one click install Adobe software.