As a professional photographer and Mac software expert, I‘ve had the opportunity to try nearly every RAW image editor under the sun over the years. And while many challengers have come and gone, one program has remained my go-to for over a decade: Adobe Lightroom Classic.
First released in 2007, Lightroom Classic has evolved into the most comprehensive and polished RAW workflow solution on the market. Its extensive feature set, seamless integration with Photoshop, and slick mac-native interface make it indispensable for photographers of all levels. In this in-depth review, I‘ll share what makes Lightroom Classic such an essential tool, with a special focus on its performance and value for Mac users.
Unrivaled Photo Management and Organization
One of Lightroom Classic‘s greatest strengths is its robust photo management capabilities. At the heart of the app is the Library module, which provides an array of tools for organizing your image catalog. You can easily sort photos by capture date, camera, lens, and more. Star ratings, color labels, and pick/reject flags make it simple to quickly cull a large batch of images down to the best selects.
Lightroom also offers industry-leading keywording and metadata tools. You can apply keywords via a tag hierarchy for easy searching, and automatically sync metadata across multiple photos. Smart Collections let you instantly group images based on criteria like rating, keyword, camera settings, and location. With a well-organized catalog, finding any photo is just a search away.
In my own workflow, I lean heavily on Lightroom‘s Collections to organize my photo projects. For example, I‘ll create a Collection Set for each year, with Collections inside for specific shoots or trips. This keeps my catalog tidy and makes it easy to locate shots from different jobs or personal projects. I also love using Smart Collections to automatically gather images that need further editing or have been flagged for delivery to a client.
State-of-the-Art RAW Editing and Retouching
Of course, the other main pillar of Lightroom Classic is its editing capabilities. The Develop module is where you‘ll spend most of your time tweaking exposure, color, sharpening, and other adjustments. As a true non-destructive editor, Lightroom never alters your original RAW files, instead storing all edits as metadata instructions.
All the standard global adjustments are here, including a full-featured tone curve, HSL controls, and an excellent noise reduction algorithm. Adobe has really stepped up the AI-powered editing features in recent versions too. I‘m particularly impressed with the automated subject and sky selection masking introduced in 2021. With just a click, you can create precise masks for targeted adjustments without any manual brushing. It‘s a huge time saver.
Another favorite tool of mine is the Profiles browser, which lets you apply different starting base looks to your RAW files, like different film stocks or creative styles. It‘s a great way to give your images a unique feel before you even start editing. And of course, you can always create your own Develop Presets to instantly apply your signature look to any image.
For healing and retouching, Lightroom includes both a Spot Removal tool and a Healing Brush. While not as full-featured as Photoshop‘s retouching capabilities, they cover most common use cases, like removing sensor dust spots or small blemishes. The Adjustment Brush, Linear Gradient, and Radial Gradient tools are also extremely handy for applying local adjustments to specific areas of a photo.
Compared to other popular RAW editors on Mac, I‘ve found Lightroom‘s Develop tools to be among the most comprehensive and refined. Capture One Pro comes close in terms of sheer editing power, but its cluttered interface and quirky controls are less intuitive to me. ON1 Photo RAW has also made strides in recent versions, but still feels a bit clunky compared to Lightroom‘s sleek UI.
One area where I would like to see Adobe improve is performance with high-res files. On my 2020 MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM and a 6-core Intel i7 processor, I‘ve noticed some lag when editing 100MP+ images from the Fuji GFX 100. Generating previews and switching between modules can be sluggish with these massive files. However, for more typical 24-50MP RAW files, Lightroom zips along smoothly, even with a large catalog.
Pricing: How Much Does Lightroom Cost?
As most photographers know by now, Adobe moved Lightroom Classic to a subscription model years ago. Gone are the days of the $150 perpetual license for Lightroom 6. Now, you‘ll need a Creative Cloud subscription to use the latest version of Lightroom Classic.
The most popular option for photographers is the Creative Cloud Photography Plan, which includes Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and Photoshop for $9.99/month with 20GB of cloud storage. For many hobbyists and even some pros, 20GB is plenty of space for syncing files between mobile and desktop. However, if you need more storage, you can upgrade to the 1TB Photography Plan for $19.99/month.
Here‘s how Lightroom‘s pricing stacks up to some popular alternatives for Mac users in 2024:
| App | Subscription | Perpetual License |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Lightroom Classic | $9.99/month (20GB), $19.99/month (1TB) | N/A |
| Capture One Pro | $24/month, $179/year | $299 |
| ON1 Photo RAW | $7.99/month, $89.99/year | $99.99 |
| DxO PhotoLab | N/A | $219 (Elite), $149 (Essential) |
| Skylum Luminar Neo | $59/year | $99 |
As you can see, Lightroom lands in the middle of the pack price-wise. While it‘s a bit more expensive than ON1 Photo RAW, I believe it provides a superior overall experience and level of polish. And although Capture One is significantly pricier, it doesn‘t offer anything compelling enough to justify the extra cost for most users, in my opinion.
When evaluating cost, it‘s also important to consider what you get for your money. With an active Creative Cloud subscription, Adobe provides regular free updates to Lightroom Classic with new features, performance improvements, and camera/lens support. Over the past year alone, we‘ve seen the addition of AI masking, native Apple M1 support, a new Tone Curve interface, and much more. That ongoing development is valuable.
Considering a Lightroom perpetual license used to run nearly $150 and didn‘t include ongoing updates, I actually think the $9.99/month Photography Plan is quite reasonable. And having access to the latest versions of both Lightroom and Photoshop sweetens the deal. For most amateur and even many professional photographers, it‘s the best value in photo editing.
Using Lightroom Classic with Cloud Storage
For Mac users, iCloud Drive has become the de facto cloud storage solution in recent years. Its tight integration with macOS and iOS makes it an appealing option for syncing files between devices. However, using iCloud Drive with Lightroom Classic requires some special considerations.
The key thing to remember is that you never want to store your primary Lightroom catalog or RAW files in iCloud Drive. Doing so can cause all sorts of syncing and file corruption headaches. Instead, it‘s best to keep your catalog and originals on a local or external drive under your direct control.
That said, there are still ways to integrate Lightroom Classic with iCloud. One handy approach is to configure an iCloud Drive folder as an Additional Local Folder in Lightroom‘s Folders panel. This lets you seamlessly access any images stored in that iCloud folder from within Lightroom. You can import them into your catalog or just reference them as needed.
Another option is to use Lightroom‘s built-in syncing with Creative Cloud. By enabling sync for a Collection, those images will be uploaded to Creative Cloud and linked to Lightroom CC on mobile and web. They‘ll also download as smaller Smart Previews on your other desktops running Lightroom Classic. This is a great way to make a subset of your library available everywhere.
Personally, I use a hybrid approach. All my RAW files live on an external SSD connected to my primary editing machine. But I‘ll often sync Collections of my favorite processed JPEGs to Creative Cloud so I can access them from my laptop or iPad. This setup gives me the best of both worlds: the performance and control of local files plus the convenience of cloud access.
The Bottom Line: Still the Leading Choice in 2024
After 15+ years on the market, it‘s clear that Adobe Lightroom Classic remains the industry standard for a reason. Its comprehensive photo management tools, powerful yet intuitive editing capabilities, and rich ecosystem of plugins and learning resources are simply unmatched.
While the subscription model and cloud-centric Lightroom CC app have turned off some users, I believe the benefits of the Photography Plan ($9.99/mo for 20GB) far outweigh the minor ongoing cost. The regular cadence of updates and new features alone is worth the price of admission. And the tight integration with the unrivaled Photoshop makes it an unbeatable combo for serious photographers.
Of course, Lightroom Classic isn‘t perfect. Performance could still use some optimization, especially for ultra-high-res files. And while the recent additions of AI masking and enhanced metadata tools are appreciated, I‘d love to see Adobe go even further in leveraging machine learning to speed up common editing tasks.
But in the grand scheme, those are minor quibbles. The fact is, no other app offers the same level of completeness, polish, and sheer editing power that Lightroom Classic does. Both in features and interface design, it feels like a truly mac-native app that‘s built to handle any photo workflow thrown at it.
If you‘re a Mac user looking for the best all-around solution for managing and editing RAW photos in 2024, I wholeheartedly recommend giving Lightroom Classic a try. Its extensive capabilities and refined UI make it accessible to beginners and indispensable to pros. Once you‘ve experienced the power of its Library and Develop modules, you‘ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
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