For people who think that rushing in to Capture 1 would be a better solution, if you like their payment conditions better that's fine; and technically no question it's a fine application, but before making that decision I would suggest a careful read of Martin Evening's recent comparative analysis; it's very insightful: Martin Evening LR vs C1; perhaps now that newer versions of both are available an update would be very interesting.
I think Martin’s article is well worth the read. I also agree with his comment towards the end of the article:
“Capture One’s philosophy is to produce a more optimized look that doesn’t necessarily require further editing. This may have led to the perception that Capture One is sharper and punchier, but in reality, neither program is inherently better than the other when it comes to actually working on your images and adjusting the settings to suit individual tastes.”He outlines an 8 step process which will allow LR to achieve similar results to C1. However, I have found that fact that C1 enables me, in martin’s words “to produce a more optimized look that doesn’t necessarily require further editing.”, is very beneficial as it saves time.
I used LR since V1 and periodically used to look at other software. The reality was I opened the new software, went "ugh!, what the hell" when confronted by a strange looking UI, pushed a few sliders and spent time trying to work as if I was in LR and then closed the program and went meh! I have been Adobe or nothing for more years then I care to remember
It was only when I seriously looked at alternative software, motivated by Adobe's move to rental that I recognised that there were in fact better ways of doing things. It is also not all about raw conversion quality, UI is important. I used to spend my life scrolling up and down the LR UI interface, or working in solo mode and clicking tabs, and constantly switching between Library and Develop and think nothing about it - that is just how it is.
However, once you experience and use software with a customisable UI it is hard to go back.
For example, with C1 you have a unified workspace with Develop and Library combined, not having to switch between develop and library actually took some getting used to and I even set the short key to give me a grid view in C1, then eventually asked myself why?? Who wouldn't want to be able to choose which tools they see in develop or the order they are in, or design their own workspace for when they are concentrating on key wording / rating?
Having a choice between importing the files into catalogues or simply working on the files in Session mode - staggering concept when you have only used Adobe software. So you work in sessions but you don't have the advantages of a catalogue? Not with C1. Ok finished with the session you have culled, rated, key worded, developed your keepers, exported your selects to your selects folder etc. OK, just import the session in a few clicks into your master catalogue.
The point is that when you look at alternative software you have no idea of its potential outside of what your existing software does and how it does it. You have no idea of how much of a workflow advantage a customisable UI, choose your own key board shortcuts, etc. can give unless you gain "real" experience with the new software. That takes effort and is the reason Adobe puts so much effort into gaining initial market share.