Posting rules: It shouldn't need saying, but... play nice. Please keep your discussions civil. You can disagree, just don't be disagreeable. And, of course, all of the usual stuff like no spamming. Tex adds: I'll be rigorously enforcing this as we go along. We're probably going to be a small community in a little lifeboat, so we can't have members at each others' throats. This is for the sake of the project as a whole. So when you post, pretend you're speaking in person with your very wealthy auntie who has always treated you wonderfully and currently lists you prominently in her will. I won't be tossing anyone out of the forums because we are all in this together, but I'll delete suspect posts right away.
Wed, 02/15/2012 - 16:23
#1
Adobe Lightroom 3 close-out sales
As Adobe gets ready to release Lightroom 4, retailers are dumping Lightroom 3. On February 15, B&H advertised it at $69.95 (USD) with free shipping in the US, but back-ordered. Other sites have been offering short-term sales; Adorama had it for $79.95 for a day or so.
Of course, one of the fun things about Lightroom is that Raw-file support for new camera models is only available by updating to a new release. Since version 4 is about to come out, it's pretty safe to say that the cameras supported in the current version 3.6 are the only ones that'll be supported in LR3.
Like LR or not, these prices---around $100usd or less---are really good for a lot of program.
So, my question is: why? PSE was always Adobe's "throwaway" software, often coming bundled, or an sale, or just basically cheap. What gives with these LR reductions (which have been happening at least for the last quarter)? The imminence of LR4 doesn't explain it to me. It's not like Adobe is known to be particularly generous....
Lightroom 4 is out - prices have been cut significantly - $149 first license and $79 for upgrade from LR3. I tried the beta of 4, liked it, bought LR3 at the reduced price and upgraded to LR 4 today.
For better or worse, it has replaced Lightzone in my Mac and I don''t miss it. It is an excellent application for post-processing.
After Shot Pro and now LR 4.0, at their current prices, are definitely big news. I too will upgrade my LR 3.x, and I have recently purchased ASP. Yet I will continue to use LZ---I still find it the most uncluttered of all the raw developers and editors. both of these other programs are admirable (we'll see about ASP's bugs and raw support---but I'm more hopeful than before for reasons I won't go into here...), yet for me there's something a little unlovable about them. And for those reasons I'll continue on with this project, hopefully Doug will too, and both of us dream of it finally becoming open source so that it can be improved.
But these new prices are really a big deal. Corel's prices have always been good, but not so much Adobe's---although in fairness LR has always been at least within reason. Now LR is actually a bargain for what it is, especially considering it's DAM, printing/publishing capabilities, and the new book module. Actually, it's kind of a steal.
So, the $64K question is: why have they priced it like this?
Good question tex.
As I recall V1 LR was reasonably priced and then the price crept upwards. The new pricing policy seems to bring is back to the start point.
My guess is that Adobe now see the product as somewhat mature and therefore may feel it needs less future development. What else can they add that would not detract from sales of other products in their range?
They may also see an opporrunity to kill off a few competitors. Some well known names have been in almost perpetual high discount sales mode for some months. And of course some others have been pricing low in recent times. Plus the market may be changing anyway as people adopt tablets and on-line technology as their 'easy to use' alternatives to personal computers. For most of the on-line photo display demands anything more than the market place that LC's Aurora attempted to offer is probably overkill.
That means that a free or low cost app running on a tablet using smallish files stored in the cloud will dilute the market for more 'serious' applications unless the pricing is somewhat competitive.
It's interesting to see how a number of products have adopted the 'local adjustments' concepts that LZ has offered for some time. Layers by another name of course but in my view so much easier to use than 'regular' layers.
Presumably Adobe's strategy will become clearer in the next few months. Right now I suspect they are primarily, seeking a push for further market share with one eye on knocking a few competitors out of the game.
My thoughts, for what little they are worth.
Grant Perkins
Phase One has announced reduced prices on Capture One: $99 US (€69) for C1 Express, and $299 US (€229) for C1 Pro. Previous pricing was $129/€99 and $399/€299.
They've also extended the trial period to 60 days.
Are we in a "race to the bottom," or just in a pricing correction?
If you've got Lightroom...
For Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 4: a package of 150 or so presets from a company called DSLR Guru. Normally £19.99, introductory price £9.99 (one buyer reports that came out to about $16 USD) through the rest of March.
It appears that these are simply presets, no magical code included. They include presets for about a dozen film types. Quality unknown at this point.
Here's the announcement on DPReview: http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/03/15/DSLR-Guru-ProFX-Pack
OnOne is giving away their Perfect Layers 2 package for free. This is a Lightroom/Aperture plugin that gives layers. The package also includes the Free Edition of Perfect Effects 3 (and vice versa).
http://www.ononesoftware.com/products/suite/perfect-layers/