I've been using CS2 for some time, along with the Canon DPP software. Have been looking into buying Lightroom, but am wondering if I should also upgrade to CS4 while I'm at it?
I do fine art and portrait photography (Canon 5D, Yashica 124, Mamiya 645), some printing (still learning) on an Epson PX-5500 (equivalent to the 2400 in the US). Not quite professional, not quite amateur, as I exhibit two to three times a year.
Thanks!
Well, FWIW, I started using Lightroom already at the Beta 4 (or thereabouts...) stage; now running 2.4. And, I must say, the image editing capability of Lightroom has made great leaps forward; with the recent addition of local adjustments (clone brush, adjustment brush, gradients, post-crop vignetting...), I find myself having to go to Photoshop more and more seldom (far less than once a month), and so I cannot see the economy of an upgrade (I have CS2, too; when I do need it, it does what I want it to).
Besides, I got LightZone for a VERY advantageous cost some time ago, and in many ways I actually prefer it to Photoshop for my specific needs. Tonal adjustments are actually easier and more logical than using the tools in PS (I´m an old Zone System freak, so that may be the explanation.... I sincerely regret that S:t Ansel passed away before he could experience it; he would have felt he was in Zone heaven if he had seen it.... ).
So, my recommendation: do get Lightroom, learn to use it fully (working through Michael´s and Jeff´s videos is a great way; so is getting Martin Evening´s book), and postpone the Photoshop upgrade. You may well find you don´t need it...