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The copy of Lightroom you have right now isn't going to suddenly stop working, even if the next version becomes part of CC. If somehow it does fail to do the j

The copy of Lightroom you have right now isn't going to suddenly stop working, even if the next version becomes part of CC. If somehow it does fail to do the job for you in the future, you can switch to DarkTable, RawTherapee, CaptureOne, or any number of other programs.

secabeen 12y ago
True, but it won't handle or process RAW files from your new camera. Yes, you can use the free Adobe tool to convert RAW to DNG, but that adds another step, and reduces some of the current simplicity of Lightroom.
- dublinben 12y ago
  You can't expect software written before your camera was even released to support it. It will never stop working for existing cameras. What more can you expect?
jonknee 12y ago
It will stop working if you ever get a new camera. RAW formats are all different and Lightroom needs constant updates to support new camera models. It's a huge mess, the camera companies don't make the specs public and the formats change subtly with camera releases. Adobe obviously gets access to the formats, but open source tools are left to guess and it shows. I just had this burn me when I got a new camera (Panasonic GH4) and I couldn't import a thing. Even worse is that I was on a road trip and didn't have a way to install the software that came with the camera (also terrible, but I took photos at Yellowstone and badly wanted to see them). As of the last week an update came out and now I'm good to go, but if you want to remain on an old version of Lightroom it can indeed be tricky. None of the other programs you mentioned are anywhere close to Lightroom. For example, while RawTherapee can technically open images from my new camera, it displays them incorrectly. They're not even the right size and I don't want to talk about color.
- lukasb 12y ago
  good lord, why don't the camera companies publish specs?
  - jonknee 12y ago
    It's rage inducing, but I think they are of the opinion that it's part of their secret sauce. I get the idea that they're all similar enough so that open source apps can get most of the way there, but Adobe has the full specs and is able to get them perfectly.
- SourPatch 12y ago
  You might want to play around with Darktable (http://www.darktable.org http://www.darktable.org). I have no affiliation other than using it a bit. I use an Olympus EM-5 and it handles the raw files just fine.
  - jonknee 12y ago
    I have an E-M5 too (great camera!), but it has been out quite a while which helps out. It's still not perfect though, the color is off a bit for the E-M5's RAW images (.ORF). The GH4 images are unusable in Darktable, they look they have been through an Instagram filter. This is straight off the camera in both Darktable and Lightroom: http://i.imgur.com/6v0mbUb.jpg http://i.imgur.com/6v0mbUb.jpg

secabeen 12y ago

True, but it won't handle or process RAW files from your new camera. Yes, you can use the free Adobe tool to convert RAW to DNG, but that adds another step, and reduces some of the current simplicity of Lightroom.

dublinben 12y ago
You can't expect software written before your camera was even released to support it. It will never stop working for existing cameras. What more can you expect?

jonknee 12y ago

It will stop working if you ever get a new camera. RAW formats are all different and Lightroom needs constant updates to support new camera models. It's a huge mess, the camera companies don't make the specs public and the formats change subtly with camera releases. Adobe obviously gets access to the formats, but open source tools are left to guess and it shows. I just had this burn me when I got a new camera (Panasonic GH4) and I couldn't import a thing. Even worse is that I was on a road trip and didn't have a way to install the software that came with the camera (also terrible, but I took photos at Yellowstone and badly wanted to see them). As of the last week an update came out and now I'm good to go, but if you want to remain on an old version of Lightroom it can indeed be tricky. None of the other programs you mentioned are anywhere close to Lightroom. For example, while RawTherapee can technically open images from my new camera, it displays them incorrectly. They're not even the right size and I don't want to talk about color.

lukasb 12y ago
good lord, why don't the camera companies publish specs?
- jonknee 12y ago
  It's rage inducing, but I think they are of the opinion that it's part of their secret sauce. I get the idea that they're all similar enough so that open source apps can get most of the way there, but Adobe has the full specs and is able to get them perfectly.
SourPatch 12y ago
You might want to play around with Darktable (http://www.darktable.org http://www.darktable.org). I have no affiliation other than using it a bit. I use an Olympus EM-5 and it handles the raw files just fine.
- jonknee 12y ago
  I have an E-M5 too (great camera!), but it has been out quite a while which helps out. It's still not perfect though, the color is off a bit for the E-M5's RAW images (.ORF). The GH4 images are unusable in Darktable, they look they have been through an Instagram filter. This is straight off the camera in both Darktable and Lightroom: http://i.imgur.com/6v0mbUb.jpg http://i.imgur.com/6v0mbUb.jpg