[Winder]

Just got a K3ii and was considering using the Silkypix CD included, or should I not bother and use Lightroom ?
I don't have Lightroom yet and previously just used Picasa....so is Silkypix worth the effort ?
Only shot a few in RAW and as yet not sure what to best do with my efforts.

Cheers.

They version that come with the camera is capable of really good results, but it is not very user friendly. SilkyPix Studio Pro 7 is very powerful but more expensive than LR and has a steeper learning curve. Lightroom is probably your best bet because it is easy to learn, well supported by other parties, and pretty cheap.

[Oakland Rob]

Sorry to be thick about it, but when 'buying' Lightroom outright what are the overall costs full the 'package' ?
Others have suggested getting it per month but sure that would be more pricey....

Cheers.

Lr currently comes in two versions, essentially two licenses (you NEVER own software unless you wrote it; you get a license to use it on a certain number of machine, for a certain time, under certain conditions, etc etc).

The perpetual license version is Lr 6.5 and costs $149US. It gets bug updates, RAW updates, but not completely new features. Dehaze is an example of what you do NOT get. OTOH you can use it as long as you want on two computers, on Mac and/or PC (as long as its compatible, etc). Version updates (like from 5 to 6) generally have cost $79. Those updates come roughly at 18 mo intervals, but hard to predict.

The other version is Lr CC 2015.5.1, and is part of Adobe's Photography Plan, which is a one year subscription. You have to validate the license online at least once every 90 days. It also includes Photoshop, and synching via Lr Mobile, and some other stuff. You get the same updates, and also new features as they roll out. It costs $120/yr, payable either all at once or at $10 per month. Occasionally you'll see it on sale at places like B&H for $8/mo.

When your subscription runs out you can continue to use Lr to access files and do all sorts of other stuff. You can't do developing, by and large, but you can find your images, export, etc. Lightroom *never* fully expires - The DAM Book

If you want to use Ps, it's a no brainer: Lr and Ps have never been cheaper than in the CC package. Even if you trundled along on an ancient computer running CS5 for years without needing to update you probably still paid more for Ps alone than the subscription costs now, unless you had an academic site license or something.

If you only use Lr, it's a tougher question. If you keep up with version updates, it's still probably cheaper over the years to get the perpetual license. But of course we have no idea when the updates will arrive, whether the cost will change, etc. With the subscription you're locked in for at least a year, but then again they could raise the cost. But I haven't seen a rise in cost at Adobe in like forever. OTOH their subscriptions have been hugely successful, so there is a chance the perpetual licenses will no longer be sold. I'd think better than even, but we don't know.

I think getting Ps and Lr Mobile synching is well worth it; even if you don't use Ps regularly there are occasions where you might; say you wanna try focus stacking, or maybe something that can only be done with layers. It's the best graphics program bar none.

[boriscleto]

Sorry to be thick about it, but when 'buying' Lightroom outright what are the overall costs full the 'package' ?
Others have suggested getting it per month but sure that would be more pricey....

Cheers.

The retail price of Lightroom 6 on DVD is $142. The CC subscription is $120/year. The CC subscription also includes Photoshop. If you are only going to use Lightroom, and you are going to use one version for more than a year, the DVD is a better deal. But you don't get updates like you do with the subscription. New features will only be added to the stand alone on new full versions. The subscription gets updated several times a year and gets new features, like the Dehaze tool.

[Class A]

But I haven't seen a rise in cost at Adobe in like forever.

Adobe increases Australian Creative Cloud prices

[PDL]

If you stop paying the "fee" for using Lightroom via subscription, Adobe disables the maps and develop modules. In my opinion, the standalone version is the better deal as long as Adobe continues to provide ACR updates and add cameras to its capabilities.

[BenCPentax]

Thanks very much, I see how the costs work now. :-)

One of the previous comments mentioned not tweaking photos at all, but saving RAW files.
That's pretty much what I've done in the past since I've never printed anything digital.
So, Lr will have to be the way ahead it seems.

[PDL]

Just to be pedantic, you do not need Lightroom to save RAW images. Lightroom is a RAW image processor and DAM (Digital Asset Management) processor. If you shoot RAW, which you should do in my opinion, Lightroom is a relatively cost effective program and it does work. Personally I prefer Capture One Pro. But to each their own, I have used Lightroom since version 1, I was using RAWShooter the precursor of Lightroom, however with the trend for Adobe to go subscription only, Lightroom v6 just might be my last. (LR is broken on my main box and I can not get it to reload)

[BenCPentax]

Thanks PDL, just reading about Capture One now, seems to be great but pricey and good for tethered stuff which doesn't interest me at the moment.
Lr will likely be far more than I'll need at present.

[BenCPentax]

Downloaded free Lr then imported 300 photos from new card, removed card, formatted card...
Then Lr tells me the import didn't work....
Not good.

[boriscleto]

Downloaded free Lr then imported 300 photos from new card, removed card, formatted card...
Then Lr tells me the import didn't work....
Not good.

What mode were you using in the Import dialog? There are 4, Copy as DNG, Copy, Move and Add. If you use Add it simply references the location of the file.

Adobe tried to change the Import dialog to something a newbie would understand. They had to change it back because the user base threatened to revolt.

[BenCPentax]

Not sure what I did wrong tbh, Lr shows the 300 photos but when I click Develop it says it can't find them,
they are listed as 'missing photos'.
Steep learning curve for me it seems !

Thanks for the heads up anyway.

[boriscleto]

Not sure what I did wrong tbh, Lr shows the 300 photos but when I click Develop it says it can't find the photos.
Steep learning curve for me it seems.

Thanks for the heads up anyway.

I did that on one of my first imports. I didn't format the card, I only erased it. So I was able to use PhotoRec to recover the files. PhotoRec claims to be able to recover files from a formatted card as well.

PhotoRec - Digital Picture and File Recovery

[BenCPentax]

Thanks Boris, downloaded PhotoRec but Macmini wouldn't open it coz not from Apple.
Did manage to import some photos to Lr and trying it out now. :-)
The standalone version would be less hassle I spose.

[boriscleto]

Thanks Boris, downloaded PhotoRec but Macmini wouldn't open it coz not from Apple.
Did manage to import some photos to Lr and trying it out now. :-)
The standalone version would be less hassle I spose.

After you get the warning message, open System Settings and click the Security and Privacy prefPane. You can then click a button to allow it to open.

But it is a command line app anyway. It has to be run from a Terminal window.

The step by step instructions are here.

PhotoRec Step By Step - CGSecurity

[Oakland Rob]

Thanks Boris, downloaded PhotoRec but Macmini wouldn't open it coz not from Apple.
Did manage to import some photos to Lr and trying it out now. :-)
The standalone version would be less hassle I spose.

The perpetual license version of Lr is basically the same for importing I'm afraid. And organizing (the CC version has some adjusting tools the perpetual doesn't have).

I've used CardRaider by Ecamm to recover photos from SD cards successfully. But not after a reformat; that might take some heavy lifting. But they have a demo that might at least tell you if it's possible, and it's a got a GUI if you don't wanna use Terminal.