Just ordered a 5d4

[ScottyP]

The two big camera houses were in a pre-black-Friday price war and I finally couldn't resist. In 5-7 business days I will have the camera, a battery grip, an extra Canon battery, a Pixima printer, a couple reams of photo paper, a 64gig SD card. 

Now of course this forces me into a distasteful dilemma. I have Lightroom 5, and never upgraded to version 5.7.  I don't want to fiddle around with a separate RAW converter or TIFF files or anything. I either need to buy the soon-to-be-discontinued LR 6 stand-alone or else I need the stupid Adobe everything subscription just to rent Lightroom, since I don't use a single one of the other programs in their bundle. 

[TCampbell]

Congrats on the new camera.  I think you’re going to love it.

As for Adobe... they have two bundles.  The “everything” bundle is (if I recall) $50/month.  But the “photography” bundle is $10/month (minimum 1 year terms) and includes Lightroom and Photoshop on your computers as well as Lightroom mobile for phone/iPad, etc.   Although they’ve had a bit of a name change so now the good version of Lightroom is called “Lightroom Classic CC” and the program they used to call “Lightroom Mobile” for tablets is now called “Lightroom CC” and they have a desktop version of it as well.  

Honestly I looked at what they now call “Lightroom CC” and I think Apple’s “Photos” app is serious competition (and Apple “Photos” is free).  This isn’t to say how great I think Photos is... it’s to say how limited I think Lightroom CC is.  I cannot imagine any serious photographer using it.  “Lightroom Classic CC” is what everyone is using.

A company called Serif makes a Photoshop alternative called Affinity Photo ($50 one-time ... not a subscription) and it’s really good.  I first saw it demo’d In one of Apple’s product launches for the iPad (oh yeah... it runs on Windows, Mac, and iPad) and it knows how to read and write .PSD files.

Now if only they’d come out with digital asset management software so I wouldn’t need to use Lightroom.

One deliberate choice I made (after reading an article about it) was to NOT let Lightroom convert my RAW files into .DNG files.   The photographer who wrote the article did that and regretted it... said it basically trapped him in the Adobe world because while .DNG is available to anyone, it’s also a roach-motel (it’s a one-way conversion... you go “in”.... you never get them back “out”).   This means if an Adobe alternative comes along and you’d like to jump ship... you can’t really bring your .DNG files with you.  So I configured Lightroom to leave my .CR2 files as .CR2 files and that means I can import them into anything that supports my cameras.

[shadowsports]

Scotty,

Congrats!  Good move.  You're like me, not afraid to buy Sigma or Tamron lenses.  I like Canon in the majority of cases, but there are some great lenses out there.

Try Canon DPP.  Its free.  I'm learning to work with it because I don't want to "rent" software either like Robert always says.

 

[jrhoffman75]

Luminar 2018 is looking like a good option to Lightroom. Its releasing a DAM system in 2018.

[ScottyP]

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@TCampbell wrote:

Congrats on the new camera.  I think you’re going to love it.

One deliberate choice I made (after reading an article about it) was to NOT let Lightroom convert my RAW files into .DNG files.   The photographer who wrote the article did that and regretted it... said it basically trapped him in the Adobe world because while .DNG is available to anyone, it’s also a roach-motel (it’s a one-way conversion... you go “in”.... you never get them back “out”).   This means if an Adobe alternative comes along and you’d like to jump ship... you can’t really bring your .DNG files with you.  So I configured Lightroom to leave my .CR2 files as .CR2 files and that means I can import them into anything that supports my cameras.

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Huh. I didn't know that. Has Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 5 been doing that dng conversion to me or is that a new nefarious Adobe atrocity in their subscription/cloud model?

[ScottyP]

Maybe I need to look at DPP again. Part of the reason I got into Canon was the fact Consumer Reports said Canon's processing program (DPP) was a lot better than whatever you get with Nikon, etc. But then I opened the program about twice and never used it for anything. 

I know now it won't help organize my images but would it process photos as well as Lightroom?  

[TCampbell]

When you're looking at the "import" panel, there are options at the top to "Copy as DNG" vs. "Copy" (there's also "Move" and "Add")  I do "Copy" but not "Copy as DNG" (which converts your RAW files into Adobe .DNG files).  

[diverhank]

Check into Luminar 2018.  From what I heard it's a replacement for both PS and LR.  There's a black Friday going on right now ($69)...I haven't used it (I'm sticking with Photoshop) but heard all good things about...you will get to keep of the Photoshop plugins you have (compatible with Luminar)

[Waddizzle]

Be forewarned, the Pixma Pro-100 is big and heavy.  It weighs in at over 40 pounds, and you need to allow for over an extra foot of space on the front side for the printed output.

I use it as a temporary desk.  Seriously, it is a great printer.

[ebiggs1]

Well Scotty you have just turned me green with envy.   If I were to buy a new camera today it would be the 5D Mk IV.  What's not to love?

Software?  I hope you d/l the DxO Optics 11 for free?  Another solution is to get a copy of Photoshop CS6.  The last stand alone from Adobe.  It works seamlessly with either DxO Optics or DPP4.  CS6 (PS) has Bridge included for free.  Bridge does most all the file control, ratings, etc, that LR does.  Of course you can try to find a stand alone version of LR6. It has 5D4 support, but I am not sure it supports dual pixel.

Now one big reason to have CS6 is you also got the Pixma Pro 100 printer?  One fantastic printer.  I have had 6 Pixma large format printers. I am currently down to just one Pro 100.  The Pro 100 is one of the reasons I suggested you check into CS6.  Photoshop has more printer control, easier to get to than any of the other programs.  It makes printing and life much less frustrating. With the Pro 100 you will need to learn ICC profiles which work seamlessly with PS.  Mandatory you learn ICC profiles.

BTW, one more tip, have printing sessions in favore of a print here and a print there.  Each time you print, turn the machine off and back on, the Pro 100 mixes the ink and cleans the nozzles.  If you do a lot of single printing you will use a lot more ink. 

One more, the Pro 100 is not a general office printer.   Don't try to make it one.  It is a photo printer.