William Royer Loc: Kansas

I’ve been using Photoshop/ACR for many years — purchasing updates along the way. Now have PS CS6. Should soon be receiving new Nikon D850. As I understand, my alternatives are to go to the subscription basis for PS CC (which I absolutely do NOT want to do); to convert all the RAW files to DNG and continue to use CS6 (although it’s not clear to me whether ACR will work the same on those files); or, to change to a whole new PP system. So, my questions are:
1). Are any of you going through (or, have gone through) a similar decision process — either for the D850 or for another ‘new’ camera’. And, what did you do?
2). If any are doing the conversion process to DNG, how onerous is that? Does ACR work the same on DNG as it did directly in the RAW files? Seems to me that it’s a bit of a stop gap measure.
3) Lastly, if you changed to a new processing system, which one did you choose? My PP needs are currently met 70% by ACR. Do not do a lot of advanced layering, etc. However, I do use some plug ins like Nik. Plus, minor tools like erase, sizing, etc. I do not do sessions involving hundreds of images (like weddings) so cataloging and sorting is not a major item; Bridge has worked ok for me. As alternatives to PS, am thinking of Capture One. Any thoughts on that.
I really appreciate any feedback. This situation created by Adobe moving to subscription basis irritates me beyond words.
Thanks,
Bill

Wellhiem Loc: Sunny England.

I just downloaded a trial version of Corel PaintShop Pro 2018 earlier today, well yesterday now as it's 5am. So far I really like it. Here's a thread where I asked if anyone else is using it:
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-495140-1.html

roadsideron Loc: Apache Junction, AZ

I'm using it to process hdr bracketed pictures and NIK as a plugin to tweak them. I have some pictures on the site here. The ones from Antelope Canyon are the ones done with PSP X8. I keep getting a popup message everytime I close PSP to buy 2018 for 24 dollars. I might.

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

I think you are in the same position as I am William.
I have Photoshop CS6, which I paid a lot of money for.
It is now no longer supported by Adobe Labs and therefore not a save
software any more. I to do not want to subscribe and are looking for
replacement software. So far I have looked at DxO, On1, Affinity
and Paint-shop Pro. Undecided so far.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I have PS6 and LR6, and I 'll continue to use them. There are so many good alternatives costing less than $100 that I won't hesitate to jump ship when the time comes. Affinity and ON1 are good alternatives, for a start.

ejrmaine Loc: South Carolina

I'd suggest you give Luminar a look, it's much easier to learn and has several tutorials to guide you through your post processing. The new version will be available of Windows an dMac on November 16th.

https://macphun.com/luminar/video-tutorials

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Same issue with Lightroom and crrently running a free trial of Capture One (for Sony) but seriously considering Luminar for $59.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

The only program that does justice to raw files from the D850 other than LRClassic or PSCC/ACR is DXO. I'm sure others will catch up. DXO PhotoLab does an outstanding job even in its beta state. Sometimes our egos get in our way.

whwiden

I am a legacy user of LR 5.7. I did not upgrade to LR 6. However, I purchased a Nikon D7200, and later a Nikon B700, neither of which are supported in LR 5.7. For awhile I used the Adobe DNG converter which seemed to work fine but I found I was just getting more files, and I tired of the extra step. For small adjustments, I found myself using the free Nikon software Capture NX-D. I found it suitable for this purpose, but not for more significant work.

A few months ago I started to experiment with the free Linux program--Darktable. The more I use it, the more I like it. In many ways, I like it more than LR. I do not see myself going back to LR.

There is a learning curve, but my sense is that it does not derive from anything hard about Darktable. Rather, I was just very used to LR.

My two main cameras are a D750 and a D7200. I would expect profiles to be developed for the D850. Darktable works with the D810.

A side benefit to Darktable is that you can run it pretty well on a less powerful "Windows" machine if you run Linux, which I do. I have a small and inexpensive 11 inch computer for this purpose which cost $350. I worry less about using the internet, etc., when using the Linux operating system.

I would be happy to answer any more detailed questions if you might consider this route. BTW: Darktable runs on Linux and Apple, with a development port underway for Windows.

Linckinn Loc: Okatie, SC and Edgartown, MA

I researched many a year ago, and the clear favorite (for my needs) was Capture One, which I bought despite the extra expense. I am very pleased with the results.

Silver506 Loc: Colorado

I faced the same dilemma. I tried nearly all of the alternatives and found my learning curve going vertical again which I did not like. I ended up joining the Adobe CC club. I didn't like doing it and procrastinated for a long while but
now that I've done it, I'm comfortable again. It is like I'm home. The others were uniquely different each in their own way. The CC versions are just comfortable for me. My frustration level dropped significantly not having to face the "How the ^$&#^ do you do this in XYZ software now?" My input is to consider these other factors carefully and if you still decide to change, I wish you well.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

William Royer - You are not alone going thru this thought process. I am using On1 Photo Raw which today opens any Fuji Raw (.Raf) images (from my “special camera”). I can edit them in On1 and save as a .Jpeg or delay editing until I save the newly opened image as a .Dng and reopen it in Lightroom v5.7. I tend to shoot ~5-12 images at a time so the ‘step’ processing is not a problem. On1 does not include a cataloging system, it is just a ‘pass thru’ but you can specify where the images are saved and it uses that ‘address’ for future saved images until you tell it to use a different one. Since I like Lightroom, I may decide, for my purposes, to go the subscription route tho I probably will never need or use Photoshop’s graphic design tools.

Bill_de Loc: US

Of the other software I have used I think Corel Paint Shop Pro is as good as Adobe. I quit updating PhotoShop at CS5 and started using the DNG converter. It is easy to use and will handle the files just as if it was an NEF.

My belief is that when you are working in ACR it converts the files anyway. Otherwise they would have to have different algorithms for every process for every file type. Much easier to convert all the files to the same standard and then output to the preferred format. Just a guess.

I am using Paint Shop Pro more and more. Although if I'm only going to post the image, Photoshop Elements has become my go to. I don't spend much time on pictures that will only be use for a fleeting minute.

--

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

I use Luminar and am very pleased with it. I never went down the Light Room path since I had an aversion to Adobe products from my years in the business world and the subscription model had no appeal to me. Adobe products were notoriously buggy and just mind numbing so when I retired I left the PC world and went to the Apple ecosystem and haven't regretted it one bit.

Pgphoto Loc: Brooklyn, NY

A very good alternative to photoshop is Affinity Photo. I have been using it since it came out and its rather inexpensive at 59 dollars.