Adobe today announced a whole new ecosystem surrounding Lightroom, which includes a new desktop app, called Lightroom CC, for Mac and Windows; updated iOS and Android versions (also called Lightroom CC); Creative-Cloud-based storage of your photos; and a rebranded (and updated) version of the “old” app, now called Lightroom Classic CC.
We have quite a few thoughts on this change, and will post something soon, but the best overview of the announcement out there is from our friend Jeff Carlson, over on DPReview. He summed it up best like this:
“For people who do not yet use Lightroom, or have been told by friends that they should use it but were intimidated by it, Lightroom CC should be a welcome introduction to the Adobe ecosystem. For photographers who have used Lightroom for years… it’s complicated.”
Adobe’s Tom Hogarty also has a post on the Lightroom blog, talking about the announcements, and Julianne Kost has a few videos over on her blog, detailing some of the new features, including the cool new range mask options in Lightroom Classic.
Matt Kloskowski has two posts, one about Lightroom CC and another on Lightroom Classic, which includes a nice 10-minute overview of all the new features in Classic. This is his take on Lightroom CC:
“The best I can do is give you my opinion. I think the new Lightroom CC is best suited for people that want a mobile/cloud based workflow. I’d say it’s more for people that mostly use their cell phones to take photos. And maybe some photos with another camera that they occasionally store on their laptop/desktop or hard drives. They want an easy way to share those photos across devices (and the laptop/desktop).”
Lastly, DPReview’s Richard Butler added RIP Lightroom 6 to the mix, about the anticipated demise of the only non-subscription version of Lightroom currently available. (You can still find it on Amazon, among other online vendors.) While Adobe hasn’t said it is removing the years-old product from the market, it did say that an upcoming maintenance release (with support for Nikon’s D850) will be that product’s last.