I have used Photoshop since 4.0 and presently have CS2. It has been my plan to upgrade to CS5 when it becomes available, but there is so much discussion here about Lightroom that I would like some informed opinions as to whether or not I make a mistake by getting CS5 rather than LR.
From what I have gathered on FM I can do more, and maybe do it better, with PS rather than LR. It also seems that LR is more useful when processing large numbers of images which is something I don't do.
I'm a hobbyist with a 50D who takes 1,500-2,000 pictures per year, uses maybe 200-250 on a website, and prints perhaps 30-50, mostly 5x7 and 8x10 high quality prints.
Is there any reason for me to buy LR rather than upgrade to CS5? Clearly I'm comfortable with PS.
Lightroom is useful for processing large numbers of images, as you mentioned, but for the me its biggest attraction is the digital assessment management aspect. You should be aware that it uses a database structure, which takes some getting used to.
One of the more useful features is that you can take a catalogue of your images on a portable hard drive or keep a copy on your laptop (if you have one). The catalogue is composed of previews, not the actual image files, and is only a fraction of the size of your image files.
However, it's not a pixel level editor as Photoshop is. You can do a lot with Lightroom but it doesn't replace PS, at least not for me.
Lightroom is a great front-end editor and image management system, but it does need CSx or some other powerful image editor for some things. Lightroom and CS2 would make a good combination.
Not sure about Bridge in CS2 but if Bridge in CS5 is important to you and you will like it, go for CS. I love LR, shoot similar to you, print a bit more, and do 90% of processing in LR, saving PS for complex editing, cloning and other situations where nothing but layer masking adjustments is crucial.
Organizationally LR is superior to Bridge and more powerful as database manager.
Scott
To add to the "Get Photoshop" sentiment, keep in mind you have to upgrade your version of Photoshop to keep your upgrade privileges. CS5 will be the last upgrade CS2 qualifies for; if you don't buy a CS4 or CS5 upgrade, you'll be buying your next version of Photoshop at full price.
I rarely use PS for anything other than the occasional HDR merge these days. Now that Lightroom has local edits I find I really never have a need for PS. I was an adjustment layer junkie with PS for a long time, but LR is just way, way smoother and more directed at photography than graphic arts. On the flip side, from the RAW editing side of things pretty much anything LR can do ACR can do as well - so in that sense you don't loose much sticking with PS besides the nice DAM interface of LR. I find Bridge to be a kludgey hunk of garbage best left uninstalled - but LR is wonderful after a brief learning curve.
I'd wait an see what all actually gets added to LR3 before making your decision.
I am a huge Lightroom fan. For me it handles all the adjustments and really shines in the organization department. I would suggest going to Adobe Labs and downloading Lightroom 3 beta and give it a test drive. I find its pretty intuitive and very useful. Adobe has put a lot into Lightroom and it is designed from the ground up for photographers.
If you do qualify for the upgrade of CS2 to CS5 I would do that, otherwise consider the latest version PS Elements. While LR will do most of what you need, the option of layers and other adjustments in PSCS4/5 makes it worth having.
I certainly appreciate all the suggestions and shared wisdom everyone has provided.
Since CS5 is still some months away, I am going to download and try Lightroom 3 beta and get a firsthand look as to what it can do for me and whether or not it's something I want to incorporate into my process.
You would think I could have come up with that on my own, but I didn't!
Adobe has tended to offer package discounts when new versions of Lightroom or Photoshop come out, too, so if you like it you may be able to get a screaming deal for both applications.
If you are shooting 8 frames a second of sports all day, coming home with thousands of images you are going to want the superior cataloging capability of LR. If you are someone creating a gem of a wedding image for the front of the wedding album, you will want the superior editing tools and layering capability that PS offers. IMO its not that one is better than the other it is just which serves your type of work best. Good advice from Colinm about the additional cost of buying a full version of PS if you don't upgrade soon.
I bought Lightroom and, for the life of me, couldn't even crack the user interface, didn't want to reload/categorize my files and so I never used it. I am very happy with CS4 and certain specialized plug-ins.
So do you really want to invest lots of time in two new programs? Because, it's for certain that CS5 will have some very neat things that LR won't have and, probably, some improvements to Bridge that will overlap LR. But WAIT: until CS5 has been out there and debugged (6 months?) before you get it. Take all the time you save between debugging and LR and put it to photography.
Lightroom is the best purchase I did. Great user interface. It's great to select images, the first editing and the conversion. The fine tuning is done with PS.
I bought the LR book from Martin Evening and also did read it, maybe that's the difference compared to some others with bad experiences.
I think both programs are pretty indispensible however if I just had to choose just one it would be LR. I'd also recommend Kelby's book Adobe Photoshop Lightroom2 for Digital Photographers as it explains things much better than the manual.
You may also want to take a look at the Nik plugin suite for both LR and PS... IMHO, its a must have time saver for serious editing.
I use them both--LR in the field to assess and cull images, and to make a few quick emailable images for blogging, etc (The 'field' for me is 'the boonies' as I do wildlife photography primarily).
At home, it's all Photoshop.
If there could be only one, for me, it'd be Photoshop all the way.
(Oh, I should mention that the LR capability to make a very quick pdf slide show is just completely useful--that's almost worth the price of admission to me)
