DavidThompson Loc: Asheville, NC

With Lightroom Classic, I hate the responsibility of backing up and making copies and keeping them stored in use, on site and offsite. I know my computer is going to fail or get hacked and that a virus could even be in a backup - I just want to do photography and not IT work. In a recent family wedding where I did some pictures in places the professional photographer was not at, I just used (u r going to criticize me) Google Photos and was pleasantly surprised by the results. Also, I feel that downloading in Classic is cumbersome and not intuitive.

I am considering getting a subscription to Lightroom (cloud) just to simplify. I have been hesitating because the cloud version was new and did not have as many features but understand that gap is narrowing. Yes, it is more expensive, but I have hard drives, backup software and “wasted” time and some worry.

Can anyone tell me what the Cloud version cannot do vs Classic that you would view as a big disadvantage? Currently I do not use Photoshop.

Thank you for your help!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Adobe cloud storage is ridiculously expensive. You've be better served shopping and purchasing a dedicated cloud-backup service that monitors your local computer harddrive (HD) and backs-up all new and changed files to an offsite storage.

The Adobe 'cloud' is still intended for this workflow:

1. You have a dedicated and primary desktop installation with image files stored locally and LR Classic and PS installed.
2. You can work from mobile devices with a different version of the LR software installed and images from your main (desktop) library shared to a cloud-side, or new images captured in the field shared to this cloud location.
3. When you get home to your primary desktop, you ingest all the images updated / added to the cloud storage into your primary LR catalog and local storage.

The LR cloud software is not as fully-function as the LR classic. It's close, maybe close enough you'll never know the difference, but the mobile software is not 1:1 the same as the classic software.

For the really young / hip / care-free crowd, Adobe sells the LR mobile with cloud storage, with no PS. Look at the pricing and amount of storage, you pay more than you should to be young / hip / care-free.

DL Loc: St. Petersburg, Fl and Island Park, Idaho

CHG_Canon knows his stuff and I always read his post and listen to his advice - However - I was in the same thought process you are in a while back. At the time the cloud LR was lagging a long way behind Classic. Times have changed. Now in the cloud based version key words are easy and can be applied to a group of pics at the same time. Other adjustments, for me anyways, are just as good and just as easy as the classic version. I switched to the cloud based version a couple months ago and will never go back. I have a home in Idaho for the summer and Florida for the winter. I also use tablets and my phone so I have the mobile app. It is great to have the exact same photoshop and all the same pics no matter where I am. I do pay for an additional terabyte of cloud storage at 9.99 per month. I have about 21,000 pics stored and have used about 25 percent of the terabyte so I have a long way to go before I have to get more storage and I could always cull a few photos also. I don't have to worry about messing up my computer LR files or my computer going bad or a hard drive quitting. I am not rich or even close to it but I retired last year and my hobbies are fishing and photography. I spend what I want on my hobbies and I will "cheap out " on other areas of my life but not my hobbies. The mobile app is where I can look at my photos but I do not use it for adjustments as it is not a full blown version. It is handy to have so you can show others your photos that have been adjusted on your computer. 9.99 a month for the cloud is acceptable for the hassle it saves me.

JUST MY OPINION ! Listen to others but in the end do what is right for you, Life is short so enjoy it.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

My images are approaching the capacity of my 4TB external drive. I grow about 0.4 TB per year, on average. In 2022, definitely by 2023, I'll have to revisit where I store my images. My local 1 TB drive is 85% full inside the desktop with all sorts of stuff so connected storage is a must. Everyone is in a different position, but cloud storage is not the best choice for my situation. When I travel, I just bring along 1 of the two 4TBs, usually the back-up copy and leave the primary connected at home. Then, just sync / re-sync everything when I get home.

DL Loc: St. Petersburg, Fl and Island Park, Idaho

I doubt if I will ever have that many saved photos. I can certainly see your point. I thought about it when I switched and figured I would be willing to pay for up to 2 terabytes if I ever needed to but that would be it. I am quite sure I could go into my photos and delete about 30 percent with no problem. I actually would not delete them but take them off the cloud and store them in folders on a hard drive. I am just a hobbyist and most my shots are more like "snap shots " than good artistic photographs. Sometimes I do go out and spend time but most are spur of the moment grandkids snap shots. I certainly do not know near as much about LR as CHG_Canon and that is why I go for the ease of the cloud LR.

DavidThompson Loc: Asheville, NC

Your thoughts to simplify are what I have been feeling for years! I believe I will give it a try.
There is something to being happy and less stressed. I am tired of carrying around hard drives and coddling them and shouldering the responsibility.
Thanks for your help.

rodbarr Loc: Maryland

When I watch tutorials using Lightroom for PP, I see a lot of features, such as defog, that are not available in my Lightroom 6 Classic (from a CD). As far as I can find, Adobe has not provided any updates or feature enhancements to 6 Classic, probably to make people decide use the Cloud version. As another example, I cannot download RAW files from a recently acquired Fuji XT-2, only JPEGS.

neillaubenthal

If you’re on a Mac…or a Windows machine with a Thunderbolt port…an OWC ThunderBay mini is about a grand, quiet, cool, fast, and has 12TB. That and BackBlaze for backup online and a couple of the 4TB USBs for local backup works fine.

DL Loc: St. Petersburg, Fl and Island Park, Idaho

I don’t think you will ever see an update to any “purchased” LR products. Subscription based is the future. They make a lot more money that way. I am hoping the price of cloud storage comes down with all the competition but I doubt it will.

lindmike

Hi Paul,
Do you utilize an app to sync your external HD’s

Thanks

Lindmike

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

No. I keep my images in a simple YYYY / YYYYMMDD-Topic folder hierarchy. It's easy to identify new additions and to use the folder modify date to identify changes to historical folders.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Yep that’s the nature of boxed software. You have to wait for the manufacturer to update it. Since it costs more to manufacture and release new CD versions those will be more infrequent.

And is Adobe even still maintaining the boxed versions?

Reefdiver Loc: NY

Classic and Cloud are different but I don’t see Classic being better, just more familiar. I use Cloud when traveling but Classic at home. I think Adobe has done a great job with both and the price is a bargain compared to other software I use. As far as storage costs, if you are a pro generating multi terabytes per year, you need a RAID or other serious solution. Most amateurs find the cloud storage adequate and simple to use.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I feel similarly I use both but I use the cloud version differently. I use the LR Classic for cataloging and light retouching, Photoshop for heavy lifting and LR Mobile (Cloud) for sharing or for culling. I can have images available for review on all my mobile devices and I can review and rate them and those ratings sync back to my main library on LR Classic. So what is on the cloud is presently limited to what I sync from LR Classic. And I sync JPEGs. Doing it that way I have 0 worries about the 20 GB of limited storage.

I don't see LR Cloud as being yet ready for full time. However the LR photography plan with 1TB is still very tempting. And were I to shrink my library a bit, I could store my entire library there. But that work of shrinking is not a pleasant thought .... :((

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I do my work in LrC (Lightroom Classic). I have no need to spend money on Adobe's cloud storage when there are much less costly options.