Lightroom or PS4 upgrade?

[NigelC]

Some time in the next year I'm going to replace my Windows XP laptop with a MacBook Pro (I have an external Apple 23" display). partly becuase I don't like Vista, oartly can't find a Win laptop with a digital external monitor outlet like my present Acer.

Since I will have to get an upgrade from PS2 to get a platform change 1st, (hence logic of waiting for PS4), question arises should I do that or get Lightroom instead for about the same price. People seem to like LR but I've got used to Bridge/PS. I'm sure I can find 95% of what I need in LR and some new tools like the Gradient filter are maybe better that PS. How does it compare to PS for B&W conversions, can I do infra red simulations and I u/s newer versions of PS have a very good stitching tool which presumably LR hasn't got (does Elements7?). How do sharpening, noise reduction and upressing tools compare? Does LR have selections, red eye removal, perspective correction etc. My instinct is LR is quicker and slicker, but if you only budget for one, PS is more versatile.

[dchew]

First I would suggest downloading LR and experimenting with the 30 day trial.  See what you think.  I use LR 90% of the time but still need both PS and LR, although my utility for LR vs PS is not in line with the pricing.

B&W:  Not as many choices, but very good conversion UI. In PS there are 20 ways (200?) to do B&W conversions; in LR maybe 5.

Infrared:  Sort of.  You can increase the luminance of various colors to approach an infrared look, but I wouldn't call it very functional.

Stitching:  Nope

Sharpening:  Not as many choices, but almost as functional, if not better in some situations.

Noise reduction:  Not as many choices.  I've never directly compared the results.

Upressing:  I don't know...

Selections:  No, but it has a pretty nifty auto mask capability, and you can locally apply several adjustments.

Red eye:  Yes.

Perspective control:  Nope.

LR is quicker:  Well, not exactly.  This depends on what you are doing.  I believe the overall workflow is much faster.  However, you are always in a database when LR is open.  In PS you can work with just one image file open, so processing-wise there are some things that PS can probably do faster, and vice versa.

Dave Chew