Lightroom VS CS4/5 for editing RAW pics

[chessdrg]

I recently purchased the Nikon D90. I was using Photo Shop CS3 to do all of my editing for my RAW images with my D70S. Well, come to find out, CS3 does not support RAW pics for the D90. I have heard that Lightroom is the way to go regarding RAW images. Then on the other hand I am wondering if I should just stick to Photo Shop. What do you use/recommend and why?

Thanks for your input!

[danchez]

I had CS3 before upgrading to CS5 and I had the same issue with it not handling raw files. I had to convert them to DNG. Now, LR3 vs CS4/5.... I've taken classes on both and if you are comfortable using CS4/5, there really is no reason to add LR3 to your arsenal, IMO. I bought LR3 because I heard all the great things about it, but it's almost exactly the same thing as Bridge that comes with CS3/4/5 So, if you are comfortable using Bridge, I don't think there is any room to buy LR3. Once again, just my opinion.

[jeffkohn]

I agree with Dan. The RAW editing capabilities in CS5 are identical to Lightroom 3. If you're happy Photoshop I see no reason to bring LR into the mix. LR is primarily for people who don't want Photoshop (due to price or complexity). And I think you'll find that both Bridge and Photoshop have improved a lot from CS3 to CS5, well worth the upgrade.

[Sonny]

Read many or all the articles below.

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...oom-3-cs5.html

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...-elements.html

Lightroom vs. Photoshop

Lightroom vs Photoshop

Lightroom Vs. Photoshop (Comparison Video) Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider Blog » Photoshop & Digital Photography Techniques, Tutorials, Books, Reviews & More

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...ould-i-go.html

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...us-bridge.html

Lightroom vs Photoshop

[shnitz]

As far as editing, then I'll agree with the above posters that Lightroom and Bridge (the file viewer that comes with Adobe CS products) have identical editing capabilites. But, I think it should be clarified that Lightroom is more of a workflow program. It works to allow you to streamline your process from getting the pictures to your camera to getting them viewed (whether it's printed out or hosted somewhere). Need to quickly apply an edit to multiple pictures? Easy in Lightroom. Need to find an exact picture? Bridge is a browser while Lightroom is a database. I could go on, but if you want to get a bunch of pictures fixed, I recommend getting Lightroom. It's not as powerful as photoshop, but for photographer's, I think it provides most, if not all, that you'd want to do.

[danchez]

Originally Posted by shnitz

.... Need to quickly apply an edit to multiple pictures? Easy in Lightroom.

just as easy to edit multiple images in Bridge...

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by shnitz

As far as editing, then I'll agree with the above posters that Lightroom and Bridge (the file viewer that comes with Adobe CS products) have identical editing capabilites. But, I think it should be clarified that Lightroom is more of a workflow program. It works to allow you to streamline your process from getting the pictures to your camera to getting them viewed (whether it's printed out or hosted somewhere). Need to quickly apply an edit to multiple pictures? Easy in Lightroom. Need to find an exact picture? Bridge is a browser while Lightroom is a database. I could go on, but if you want to get a bunch of pictures fixed, I recommend getting Lightroom. It's not as powerful as photoshop, but for photographer's, I think it provides most, if not all, that you'd want to do.

Even from a workflow standpoint, I just don't see any compelling advantages to Lightroom over Bridge/ACR/Photoshop, unless you just don't need the available editing capabilities of Photoshop. But if you do use Photoshop, what does Lightroom actually bring to the table? Keep in mind the original poster already has and uses Photoshop, albeit an older version.

I can't help but think people who like LR so much more than Bridge/ACR formed their opinion of Bridge back in the CS/CS2 days, when I have to admit it left a lot to be desired. But CS5 Bridge is a very capable application, and has pretty much all the stuff that people seem to like so much in LR: key-wording (including filtering and searching), collections, stacks, batch edits, presets, etc. Sometimes its in a slightly different form than LR (maybe better, maybe not as good). But it's all there.

The only really big difference between the two is that Bridge is filesystem-based, while Lightroom uses the database approach. The Database paradigm has some speed advantages if you spend a lot of time searching and filtering based on keywords and other metadata, because this information can be quickly retrieved from the database while Bridge has to scan metadata directly from the image files, which can be slower. Personally, I'm fine with the filesystem approach, I rarely have to search on keyword because I use the filesystem to organize my files so that I can easily find what I want. The big downside to the database paradigm is that you have to go through the hassle of importing and exporting your files, and the database is only accessible to Lightroom.

[chessdrg]

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess I'm a little confused about the PNG format (Or is it DNG?)...My thing is I take the photos in RAW, then if I convert them to another file format just so that I can edit them in CS2, do I still have the same control to change/fix things like I do with the RAW image? Then I would have to save them as jpegs when I am finished editing them. It just seems like a third step. Thinking about just upgrading to CS5. :)

[rab3rd]

yes, DNG is a universal digital negative. I used it for many months after I bought my 5D2 while I was still on CS3. Adobe has a DNG converter that you run your RAW files through. All it does is make thgem so that just about any RAW converter can read them. It adds another step to your workflow which may or may not be an issue for you.

I have read that for long term file storage DNG is a good method as one never knows what the future holds as far as software companies go. Having said that I personally dont DNG anymore. I upgraded to CS5 partly becasue I got tired of the extra step in my workflow.