Ditching C1 to go back to LR - choosing a version and sync options?

I have always used Lightroom Classic, and overtime sporadically would use Capture One alongside it, never really fully adopting one instead of the other. For a year or two I have used C1 much more, especially for the Live client side functionality (which is excellent) - but the endless bugs, patchy support, slow development and recent pricing structure changes, plus sometimes lousy attitude of the company has pushed me to try and go back to LR full time.

Some of LR, notably the masking, is now light years ahead of capture one, and fast for workflow, and I am using an A7Rv and don't like the way C1 processes the raw files.

This is all personal choice of course, and there are bits of C1 I will miss - but in going back I was presented with the choice of LRC or LR (cloud). It used to be that LR was missing lots of important features of LRC, but now it seems most of those gaps have been filled, and I love the idea of having my current collections on the cloud, so for the first time I have given that a try - and in 90% of the usage, I really like it - they have stripped out a lot of the bloat I don't use in LRC, and now offer most of the functionality - though there are still a handful of annoying gaps.

It seems a bit odd that they haven't amalgamated the two into one version that would suit 'local storage' photographers, and those who want to go cloud based, especially with so much shared functionality now.

So my current, new, setup is I have about my most recent 15,000 shots on LR, synced to the cloud, plus also stored locally on my SSD.

If the few minor irritations of LR bug me too much (virtual copies, no print module, export presets, plug in support) and I decide to go back to LRC, am I not able to simply mark all my photos (with the top menu 'all photos' in the library) as one huge sync folder? I have actually created a new LRC catalog by highighting the LR local storage folder and importing the whole lot (without moving or copying them), so if I uninstalled LR and just ran with LRC and all photos synced, would it not achieve the same in terms of centralised cloud storage and access? If so, what is the point of LR cloud version? Am I missing a point somewhere?

One problem is that if you want to import new photos you'll have to do it via LR which is an extra step.

Also, if you have any third party SW that you edit from LRc you have a much more complicated workflow or you'll end up with just Smart Previews in the cloud.

For example, say, within LRc you "edit in" Topaz Photo AI and it returns a tiff to LRc, you'll then have to export that tiff and reimport it into LR and then wait till it syncs back to LR, and then delete the first tiff copy in LRc as well as its Smart Preview in LR. It can get pretty complicated.

I find the lack of history annoying and also the lack of a files structure that reflects what you have on disk. Sure you can do this using albums, but it is easy to make a mistake and your photos are suddenly without structure.

I agree that a new merged version that would support both idioms would be a great way forward.

MattPointZero said:

I have always used Lightroom Classic, and overtime sporadically would use Capture One alongside it, never really fully adopting one instead of the other. For a year or two I have used C1 much more, especially for the Live client side functionality (which is excellent) - but the endless bugs, patchy support, slow development and recent pricing structure changes, plus sometimes lousy attitude of the company has pushed me to try and go back to LR full time.

Some of LR, notably the masking, is now light years ahead of capture one, and fast for workflow, and I am using an A7Rv and don't like the way C1 processes the raw files.

This is all personal choice of course, and there are bits of C1 I will miss - but in going back I was presented with the choice of LRC or LR (cloud). It used to be that LR was missing lots of important features of LRC, but now it seems most of those gaps have been filled, and I love the idea of having my current collections on the cloud, so for the first time I have given that a try - and in 90% of the usage, I really like it - they have stripped out a lot of the bloat I don't use in LRC, and now offer most of the functionality - though there are still a handful of annoying gaps.

It seems a bit odd that they haven't amalgamated the two into one version that would suit 'local storage' photographers, and those who want to go cloud based, especially with so much shared functionality now.

Click to expand...

They may one day and I'm fine with it as long as I'm still able to use local file storage. When Adobe first went subscription that was the theme. They will kill LrC and hold you files in the cloud for ransom It's going onto 7 years now and if they do kill LrC it is too late for all waiting to say I told you so. 7 years is a long time for the fast paced ever changing world we live in. The iPhone is about 16 years old and look how that has changed the world.

I've never really warmed up to the cloud but I don't have clients. I could see a real benefit there. As for LrC bloating I see none these days. Adobe has put a lot of work into fixing memory leaks and improving performance. I'm travelling with my lowly 2020 MacBook Air, M1 chip with 16GB memory and a 250GB SSD drive. I fly threw dozen of masks and edits. Sometimes over to 75 adjustments and not even burp. Not bad for a parametric developer.

I may one day give the cloud a shot but currently have no desire to. In fact by travelling and not having access to my old files is forcing me to got out and shoot.

The only think Adobe is missing now is AI NR. I know it is coming. I've been patient. Every year I do think twice at renewal time but they keep adding all of these other great features. I'll looking forward to not needing 3rd party NR some day.

Member said:

So my current, new, setup is I have about my most recent 15,000 shots on LR, synced to the cloud, plus also stored locally on my SSD.

If the few minor irritations of LR bug me too much (virtual copies, no print module, export presets, plug in support) and I decide to go back to LRC, am I not able to simply mark all my photos (with the top menu 'all photos' in the library) as one huge sync folder? I have actually created a new LRC catalog by highighting the LR local storage folder and importing the whole lot (without moving or copying them), so if I uninstalled LR and just ran with LRC and all photos synced, would it not achieve the same in terms of centralised cloud storage and access? If so, what is the point of LR cloud version? Am I missing a point somewhere?

Click to expand...

Corius said:

One problem is that if you want to import new photos you'll have to do it via LR which is an extra step.

Also, if you have any third party SW that you edit from LRc you have a much more complicated workflow or you'll end up with just Smart Previews in the cloud.

For example, say, within LRc you "edit in" Topaz Photo AI and it returns a tiff to LRc, you'll then have to export that tiff and reimport it into LR and then wait till it syncs back to LR, and then delete the first tiff copy in LRc as well as its Smart Preview in LR. It can get pretty complicated.

I find the lack of history annoying and also the lack of a files structure that reflects what you have on disk. Sure you can do this using albums, but it is easy to make a mistake and your photos are suddenly without structure.

I agree that a new merged version that would support both idioms would be a great way forward.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this, it's helped me understand the issue - I am looking for a mirrored folder (all photos) in LRC that will just upload any round-trip Tifs or anything I do in LRC, but the setup is around the import through LR and that does indeed make it over complicated.

OK, so I will need to make a firm decision - shame, I miss some parts of LRC, but like other aspects of LR.

Thanks for the response

Zeee said:

MattPointZero said:

I have always used Lightroom Classic, and overtime sporadically would use Capture One alongside it, never really fully adopting one instead of the other. For a year or two I have used C1 much more, especially for the Live client side functionality (which is excellent) - but the endless bugs, patchy support, slow development and recent pricing structure changes, plus sometimes lousy attitude of the company has pushed me to try and go back to LR full time.

Some of LR, notably the masking, is now light years ahead of capture one, and fast for workflow, and I am using an A7Rv and don't like the way C1 processes the raw files.

This is all personal choice of course, and there are bits of C1 I will miss - but in going back I was presented with the choice of LRC or LR (cloud). It used to be that LR was missing lots of important features of LRC, but now it seems most of those gaps have been filled, and I love the idea of having my current collections on the cloud, so for the first time I have given that a try - and in 90% of the usage, I really like it - they have stripped out a lot of the bloat I don't use in LRC, and now offer most of the functionality - though there are still a handful of annoying gaps.

It seems a bit odd that they haven't amalgamated the two into one version that would suit 'local storage' photographers, and those who want to go cloud based, especially with so much shared functionality now.

Click to expand...

They may one day and I'm fine with it as long as I'm still able to use local file storage. When Adobe first went subscription that was the theme. They will kill LrC and hold you files in the cloud for ransom It's going onto 7 years now and if they do kill LrC it is too late for all waiting to say I told you so. 7 years is a long time for the fast paced ever changing world we live in. The iPhone is about 16 years old and look how that has changed the world.

I've never really warmed up to the cloud but I don't have clients. I could see a real benefit there. As for LrC bloating I see none these days. Adobe has put a lot of work into fixing memory leaks and improving performance. I'm travelling with my lowly 2020 MacBook Air, M1 chip with 16GB memory and a 250GB SSD drive. I fly threw dozen of masks and edits. Sometimes over to 75 adjustments and not even burp. Not bad for a parametric developer.

I may one day give the cloud a shot but currently have no desire to. In fact by travelling and not having access to my old files is forcing me to got out and shoot.

The only think Adobe is missing now is AI NR. I know it is coming. I've been patient. Every year I do think twice at renewal time but they keep adding all of these other great features. I'll looking forward to not needing 3rd party NR some day.

Zeee said:

So my current, new, setup is I have about my most recent 15,000 shots on LR, synced to the cloud, plus also stored locally on my SSD.

If the few minor irritations of LR bug me too much (virtual copies, no print module, export presets, plug in support) and I decide to go back to LRC, am I not able to simply mark all my photos (with the top menu 'all photos' in the library) as one huge sync folder? I have actually created a new LRC catalog by highighting the LR local storage folder and importing the whole lot (without moving or copying them), so if I uninstalled LR and just ran with LRC and all photos synced, would it not achieve the same in terms of centralised cloud storage and access? If so, what is the point of LR cloud version? Am I missing a point somewhere?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

You are right actually, bloat is the wrong word - I just mean the bits my workflow doesn't use. I agree that the performance of LR is very good now - fast and reliable, especially when compared to C1 which, despite my admiration for some of the features, just remains buggy as hell in comparison.

MattPointZero said:

You are right actually, bloat is the wrong word - I just mean the bits my workflow doesn't use. I agree that the performance of LR is very good now - fast and reliable, especially when compared to C1 which, despite my admiration for some of the features, just remains buggy as hell in comparison.

Click to expand...

I use C1. I keep an eye on Lr. I did open LrC the other day, I created a sky mask, and immediately, kerSPLAT, LrC crashed.

C1 is rock stable for me. Sometimes I have to wait a bit while it thinks about things, always in relation with the catalog, but not all that often. And I'm using a 2013-spec computer.

My eventual shift to C1 was due to the 3-4 month debacle from Oct 2020 of the terminally buggy LrC v10 release, which Adobe initially tried to ignore.

Mileage is always variable

David Mantripp said:

MattPointZero said:

You are right actually, bloat is the wrong word - I just mean the bits my workflow doesn't use. I agree that the performance of LR is very good now - fast and reliable, especially when compared to C1 which, despite my admiration for some of the features, just remains buggy as hell in comparison.

Click to expand...

I use C1. I keep an eye on Lr. I did open LrC the other day, I created a sky mask, and immediately, kerSPLAT, LrC crashed.

C1 is rock stable for me. Sometimes I have to wait a bit while it thinks about things, always in relation with the catalog, but not all that often. And I'm using a 2013-spec computer.

My eventual shift to C1 was due to the 3-4 month debacle from Oct 2020 of the terminally buggy LrC v10 release, which Adobe initially tried to ignore.

Mileage is always variable

Click to expand...

Agreed.

The latest C1 release seems to be one of those nightmare releases with huge numbers of issues being reported - but I also remember the times when LR was similar.

C1 is frustrating as hell - because so much of it is SO good, but then can be a let down in other areas.

I really lost faith in the company prior to all this recent pricing nonsense because I had a bug that they couldn't fix, and eventually went quiet on. I heard nothing for months until the new version was out, when they told me I should pay to upgrade and it MIGHT solve my problem. At that point, when there was more cash to milk from the cow, I started getting emails again. I have had helpful individual people from there, but I think that kind of attitude sucks, and it makes it hard to feel positive about them.

The big leap at the moment s the amazing LR masking - if C1 matched that I'd be back with a decision on my hands - but as it stands I would rather not spend any more money with C1, at least until I see what the future genuinely looks like.(and what it costs)