Lightroom 2 Rocks

[alcina]

OK, if you don't have it - get it. Stop putting it off and just pull the trigger. I think there are some "deals" on it this month, too.

I loved Lightroom but so far LR2 is just rockin' - and I've just started using and have no clue what most of the new things do yet. But it's incredibly powerful and the new tools are so easy to use and control.

I haven't been using photoshop much over the past year or so and LR2 is proving that I will be using it less and less because I can do so many of the tweaks (and some serious processing, too) right there without having to futz with opening another program at all. And the dual monitor support is soooo nice to have!

Anyway, it's money well spent whether you are shooting jpegs or RAW with a point-n-shoot or compact or with a dslr. I'm loving it.

 

[TheWallDiver]

Hi Alcina,

Thanks for the report on LR 2. I really like LR and was looking forward to the new version, but was waiting for reports from users (I'm a chicken - I'll let others try it first!).

I'm still using 1.4 and was considering upgrading especially after reading your post, but then I checked Wetpixel.

There are a number of people having significant problems with LR 2.

While not everyone is having problems, many people are. I thought I ought to give people here a heads up about it.

I think I'll wait until they come out with LR 2.X before I upgrade, just in case I'm one of the unlucky ones.

Wally

 

[DennisS]

I just bought two copies of LR2 for a customer today, what does it do that photshop doesn't

 

[justleesa]

What I couldn't find out with LR1 was if I can work with filters like I do with PS, is that possible?

 

[alcina]

Details of the problems would be handy (I rarely head to WP anymore and really would rather have problems listed here so I don't have to click yet another link anyway!) I have had no issues with it as yet and neither have any of the people I personally know, many of whom are shooting a serious number of images every week and using LR extensively.

Lightroom and Photoshop are two different things. Think of Lightroom, in general terms, as your film choice, developing solution and darkroom with Photoshop being your advanced darkroom techniques where layers are involved. This is terribly oversimplified but might help you get your head around it. LR also lets you do all your organizing with key words, various ratings etc - very handy for searching later or selecting images for one purpose or another. You can also export fast to various formats, sizes etc...easy peasy.

I use LR for virtually everything except making borders, adding text and anything that requires multiple layers or masks (advanced processing, kind of). I also use Photoshop for sharpening etc as I'm not yet comfortable with LRs sharpening processes and don't really know much about them. I don't go into photoshop to much other than run my border/copyright actions usually.

I don't use filters normally so don't know what LR can do on that score but LR gives you control of all your colours, clarity, saturation, vibrance, tonal range, exposure and a whole heap more and with the new tools you can localize your processing with masks.

Download the FREE version and have a play. Go wild with the sliders as until you really push things you won't get a feel for the incredible control you have on an image. Can't hurt and you might find you like it or not.

FWIW there are 15% deals around the traps until the end of August and then the price will go up (so rumor says).

 

[TheWallDiver]

Hi Alcina,

I'm sorry if I didn't include the details of the problem the first time.

First, unlike you I do read multiple sites, and I thought rather than repeat what is already written elsewhere I'd just point people to the source.

Secondly, there are multiple problems being reported and it would take me too much time to gather all the complaints and list them here.

The main complaint seems to be that it causes SOME computers to slow way down and even hang up.

Other problems are being reported also. Not everyone is having a problem, but many people are. It doesn't seem to be hardware related, and Adobe has acknowledged that there are problems.

I'm happy your copy is working well, and I look forward to trying it once they have fixed the bugs, but I thought I would give others a head's up so they can choose whether to buy it now and take a chance, or wait until later when they put out a revision (2.x).

I'd love for you to let us know what new features you discover as you use it, so later I'll have an idea what it can do when I try it.

Wally

 

[Ann Marie]

Hmm, Cardzard and DukeH2O turned me on to Lightroom at Invade the Keys. I'm still trying to learn how to do certain things but like it alot so far. LR2 may be worth checking out. Thank alcina!

 

[alcina]

Wally - LOL didn't mean to make you feel put upon In addition to using imaging software and my cameras every day, I do, in fact, read multiple sites - many of them photography related - if that means anything

Hanging has been a problem in quite a few imaging and video editing software packages for ages. It's nothing new. I know that the Beta version of LR 2 was having significant hanging issues but with the release of the real version (the one you buy and that is available at Adobe for a free 30 day trial), most of that seems to have been resolved. My LR 1.x used to do it, too; CS2 and CS3 still do it now and then. No biggie as it isn't something that happened on a regular basis. I had LR2 hang for the first time the other day - of course, I had about 20 other things happening and don't run a very powerful system Hanging is certainly not something that would keep me away from a product unless it was happening all of the time.

Adobe is very good with support, I've found. They have a great forum (just go to Adobe) and follow the links - you can narrow it down to just the product you are using and then search in that area. I was surprised how it easy it was as I used it for the first time the other day and immediately found the solution to what was a huge bugaboo in Premiere. Should have gone there first instead of getting frustrating trying to fix it on my own LOL

Each to their own, there's no one telling you that you have to get it right now...well, ok, I DID say just get out there and do it :rofl: And I stand by that...the problems I have encountered first hand and/or have direct knowledge of are minimal so aren't an issue imho. And the benefits its brought far outweigh any negative things I've found. I'm not picking on you, I just think sometimes we take what we read on the net and extrapolate far more than necessary. "Many" is a buzzword for me...we only really hear about the bad things and the zillions of people who aren't having problems just stay quiet (I find this a lot with lens reviews and the like, too, so it isn't just a software thing!)

Here's a link to what is NEW in LR 2

One of the coolest things is the ability to make local adjustments with a controllable and changeable brush. It's as easy as a click and mouse over. You can "paint" to adjust exposure, saturation, clarity, brightness etc while controlling precisely the area you are applying the change to both in size and density. No more having to futz around with layers in PS or doing multiple exposures and blending them. Obviously not something that everyone will use on every image, but I find that a small tweak with the brush even on day to day images - like of my dogs on the bright beach - makes a huge difference. WAY better than doing the ol' cover the spot you want less exposed with a piece of paper darkroom days LOL

I also very much like the clarity in LR2...LR1 was ok, but this one seems much nicer and the changes seem to flow better, imho.

Ann Marie - you'll love it once you get it. If you have LR now, the upgrade is still cheap and there are 15% off offers around the traps too. I think the price is going up at the end of the month, but they always have the free 30 day thing on their products.

I'm not a guru on it by any means as I simply use what I need on any given day, but I'd be happy to help with anything I can. I'm thinking another Kelby book is probably on my shopping list in the nearish future!

 

[TheWallDiver]

Hi Alcina,

I'm sorry if my tone came off testy, I didn't mean to same it that way. I'm just limited in my free time and I probably was a little brief. I apologize for sounding a little gruff.

I have really appreciated all the posts you have put together on this board regarding U/W photography and did not intend to be argumentative about Lightroom.

I was just trying to give potential buyers a heads-up that the new Lightroom may not be quite ready for prime-time.

I do agree with you that most people don't write unless they have a problem, so it is very hard to determine exactly how bad the problem is at this time, and like in your case not everyone is affected.

I haven't had a problem with 1.4 being slow or hanging (yet anyhow) so I thought that may be a significant flaw in the new version. That coupled with Adobe admitting they have a problem scared me off for now.

I had not used any of the resources on the Adobe site and I appreciate you pointing me towards them. I have quickly looked at them and will take a more in depth look later.

I also haven't had occasion to use their support yet. Good support is unusual these days, so I'm glad to hear you have had good luck with Adobe.

Thanks also for the link for what's new with 2.0.

Wally

 

[danclem]

We just returned from a photo shoot/digital class in the Florida Keys hosted by Stephen Frink. Dan Brown, Photoshop and Lightroom guru was present for much of the week and spent quite a bit of time with Lightroom 2. No one had any performance issues, and I am wondering if the slow down is platform specific (Mac vs PC?). About half of us were on PC's, the rest on Mac's.

It looks like Lightroom can take care of 90% or so of image processing. I find the "spot healing" tool a bit clunky. It is actually a clone and paste function, and there is no way to supress the cloned and paste circles in an image when it is toggled on. Better to work in CS3 for backscatter removal and image clean up.

One interesting thing we saw was that the "side car files" created when editing RAW files were not visible on Mac platforms, while they were on PC's. This is important in that if you start moving files around outside of Lightroom any adjustments that have been made will be lost without these companion files.

Last comment concerns loading large RAW files. While Lightroom is much, much faster than Adobe Bridge, it is still fairly slow importing and previewing large RAW files. A product called PhotoMechanic is a phenominally fast browser for an initial view/rating of shots. Apparently it reads the imbeded jpg image in RAW files much more rapidly than other programs. The numerical and color ratings also transfer into Lightroom.

So, from my perspective a great and much improved product. But don't ditch CS3 as you will still need it, and consider checking out PhotoMechanic.

Cheers,

Dan