nancytompkins

I have a new Sony A7rII camera and am shooting raw files. I'm finding Lightroom (2015-3 release) on my older iMac computer to be very sluggish with these large files. Would shooting raw + jpeg solve my problem? Could I download my photo files from camera to computer and import into Lightroom only the smaller jpeg files? Then if there is a particularly good one, I could open the raw file for editing and delete the others. I would appreciate suggestions on the best workflow to solve this problem.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I don't have Lightroom or imac but I did something similar for the same reason on my previous computer: speed in viewing.

Upon download, I separated the raw files to a different folder (very simple when you sort by name, one click at top of list in Windows folder), then viewed the jpgs in Picasa. Found one I wanted to edit, went to PS Elements and opened the raw file.

Bill_de Loc: US

I also download jpg and raw files into separate folders. I view the JPGs in Irfanview, deleting what I don't like as I go. I then open both folders in list view, side by side, and delete the corresponding raw files. It takes a little time up front (not much) but saves a lot in the long run.

I also use the JPGs for most of what I post, unless something needs a lot of correcting. While viewing in Irfanview, I just click 'open in external' which I have set to PhotoShop. Once done sorting I have my first picks already open to edit.

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dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Linda, try sorting first by type then by name and you will have separation in one file. Less to keep up with.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Actually, that's what I meant :oops: OY, sorry for any confusion!

View in folder as "details," click on column labeled type: all cr2's (Canon raw) go together at top, jpg's below.

Thank you, D, for mentioning!

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

Hello Nancy. There are two issues here.

1st, because of the size of your raw files, older processors WILL be slower with images from the A7RII.

2nd, the advantage of shooting RAW+JPEG is it will be faster post processing the JPEG files... but there is less flexibility.

Even with the latest copy of standalone lightroom (5.7) and a NEW computer the file size of each image takes noticeably longer to do everything than those from my previous lower resolution cameras, ESPECIALLY after the firmware update and using lossless RAW compression. But the results are worth the wait. ;)

nancytompkins

Thanks for the helpful answers to my question.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

Well.....

You have the option of shooting RAW and waiting. Shooting RAW+JPEG and having a shorter wait for the JPEGS to load but less PP flexibility. OR, you could buy a new computer with a faster processor.

One other thing you can do... and this worked for me... is to increase the amount of memory on your computer. When I upgraded from 4 to 16GB the speed of processing increased DRAMATICALLY.

Adding memory is a LOT cheaper than buying a new computer too. ;)

GOOD LUCK!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The tail is wagging the dog. Don't let it.

There are several solid solutions to LR's known and barely accepted performance in viewing/previewing images.

Raw+Jpeg may help, but if you are careful to extract all the possible data out of a scene, the exposures for jpeg may and often do vary from what you would want if just taking a raw file. Send me a PM and I will explain.

The good news is that you can install a free application, FastStone Image Viewer, to quickly review your raw image previews, either while they are still on the card or after you have copied them to your hard drive.

A better solution is PhotoMechanic, which does LR-compliant tagging.

Along the same lines, you can get On1 Photo 10 - which has LR compliant tagging, rating, collections, smart collections, etc etc etc and almost instant zooming. It is also a full-fledged image editor with all sorts of presets and filters, and makes an excellent companion to LR.

The scenario would be familiar with any of the three above - you can copy to your hard drive, review, delete the losers, then import into LR using the Add option. This is pretty much what I do, and others that do events and come back with 100s of images, often from several cameras and multiple shooters. No need to do jpeg. Besides, while a jpeg my seem to have blown highlights, the corresponding raw will likely not.

Dale40203 Loc: Louisville, KY

I use Bridge as a first step in the workflow. It's faster than Lightroom and allows culling, renaming, keywording, ACR adjustments. You're generating smaller previews which speeds things up.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Sounds like a good idea.

Waxhouse Loc: Tampa Via Philadelphia

Are you importing all of your files to your computer or an external drive?

nancytompkins

Importing to my computer.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Absolutely true. Another option is to add a solid state drive. Put the OS and the cache on it. Modern software picks up pieces of program as needed and then changes when done with that function. It does something similar with the cache. SSD is very fast compared to hard drives.

Newsbob Loc: SF Bay Area

Actually, the latest standalone version is 6.3.