Adobe Lightroom 3 review

[Cobalt720]

A couple of days ago, I got the Adobe Lightroom 3 software.  So far, I love it, and I am going to give you guys three reasons why Adobe Lightroom 3 is worth either upgrading or buying (or torrenting  ).

So, the first great feature about Adobe Lightroom 3 is the amazing noise reduction.  You can really change the noise and grain levels in low light pictures and make them look great. I love this because usually noise reduction softens the picture, but this one is great because it doesn't.

Second, the lens correction program is great because it automatically fixes any distortion made by the lens, which actually automatically finds the lens you used in the metadata.

And lastly, the new Slideshow mode is great because I can insert music and time the music how I like it.   But best of all, I love how I can export the slideshow when I am done to 1080p!!

I love this Lightroom 3 way better than Aperture 3 because it not only has these new features, but Lightroom is also folder based, which means that all of your pictures are kept in an actual folder in you computer.  So no more 2 gb Aperture Library application plus 2 gb photo folders!  Adobe Lightroom 3 is a must for all skill level photographers and for those with the littlest to the largest photo libraries.

Thanks, and let me (Zach) know if you guys want more reviews!

Here are some extra features: (Thanks Imagehunters)

- saving post production work
- Good selection tool
- Works great with PS
- auto export to several things
- spot removal ( fast and good )
- Multiple monitor support
- Tethering

[imagehunters]

Add some things:

- saving post production work
- Good selection tool
- Works great with PS
- auto export to several things
- spot removal ( fast and good )
- Multiple monitor support
- Tethering

[Cobalt720]

I completely agree with you on on those features... but I just wanted to get to my top 3 favorite features.  I will add them however!

[Eric Bowers]

Thanks for the info on the low light noise reduction ability. It's a great product but my only complaint is the import function is extremely confusing (at least I thought so) after one gets used to the one in Lightroom 2.

Aperture long ago left a bad taste in my mouth so, feeling like a bug-ridden resource hog. That was the first version though but I'd moved to Lightroom not long after.

[Cobalt720]

Thanks for the info on the low light noise reduction ability. It's a great product but my only complaint is the import function is extremely confusing (at least I thought so) after one gets used to the one in Lightroom 2.

Aperture long ago left a bad taste in my mouth so, feeling like a bug-ridden resource hog. That was the first version though but I'd moved to Lightroom not long after.

Yes, I agree with you on fact that the import did take a little while to get used to, but trust me, it is MUCH easier to have a real folder with all of your photos instead of having a single 2 gig Aperture Library avatar. 

[duccao]

I'm curious as to how LR3 stacks up to LR2 in terms of memory management. I often find my computer slowing to a crawl when using LR2 for more than an hour or so with anywhere from 100-1000 pictures in the active library. Do you have performance issues with LR3? How much RAM does your system have?

[scalesusa]

I'm curious as to how LR3 stacks up to LR2 in terms of memory management. I often find my computer slowing to a crawl when using LR2 for more than an hour or so with anywhere from 100-1000 pictures in the active library. Do you have performance issues with LR3? How much RAM does your system have?

I had no problems with lightroom 2, and well over 20,000 images in the database.  It is a memory hog, I have one pc with 8gb and the other with 12 gb.  It works with a 32 bit (3gb) pc, but will be slower. The video card needs to be reasonably fast.  It doesn't need a gamer card, but a reasonably good one helps out.

LR3 seems to take a bit longer, be sure to optimize yourLR3 database occasionally, that speeds things up.

[studio1972]

Thanks for the info on the low light noise reduction ability. It's a great product but my only complaint is the import function is extremely confusing (at least I thought so) after one gets used to the one in Lightroom 2.

Aperture long ago left a bad taste in my mouth so, feeling like a bug-ridden resource hog. That was the first version though but I'd moved to Lightroom not long after.

Yes, I agree with you on fact that the import did take a little while to get used to, but trust me, it is MUCH easier to have a real folder with all of your photos instead of having a single 2 gig Aperture Library avatar.

That's a strange reason to not like Aperture. The Aperture library is just a special type of folder (called a package) that you right click and select 'show package contents' to open. It isn't a single huge file.