I have been an Adobe Lightroom fan since the early days and having dabbled in it a bit I could tell the power this piece of software had over others in the market — Capture One, iPhoto, iView MediaPro and so on. Still remember buying the first version before I headed to Perth for a holiday last year and then came version 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 all with progressive changes until beta 2 landed on the threshold with some very promising additions. Since using beta 2 of the program I have found it IMPOSSIBLE to go back to Lighroom version 1.x so I literally stuck with it right until yesterday when Lightroom version 2 was released! I was quick to buy the upgrade after a quick look at Matt and Scott’s review and my own experience of working through Lightroom beta 2.
A note about the video streaming at Lightroom 2 Learning Centre
For some reason the videos on the Lightroom 2 Learning Centre take a huge amount of time to play! Which is a shame because I do love to watch the videos Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski make. It turns people off to wait this long to download a 10 minute video on a T1 connection!! Also an alternative to download the video to watch offline would be very handy.
In short: This is a must have product if you are a Photo junkie like me! Here are some links that will get you right up to speed and if photography is your thing:
- Overview of Lightroom 2 new features — nice quick and clean recap
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Book for Digital Photographers — must have if you are serious about Lightroom
- Scott Kelby’s Post on what feature requests were accomplished in Lightroom 2 — good post if you know what the previous versions offered
- Lightroom 2 Worldwide Photo Walk
- Lightroom Community Help
Dollar Conversion Annoyance
AU$ 1.00 = US$ 0.94, therefore the American price for Lightroom Upgrade of US$ 99.00 should translate to roughly AU$ 106.00. Adobe is forcing Australian Lightroom 1.x customers to fork out AU$165.00 for the same upgrade. An extra AU$59.00 for no good reason!
More here: Unfair Lightroom 2.0 upgrade pricing outside USA
I’d request you to leave a message in at least one of these blog which are read by a lot of Adobe Lightroom enthusiasts. Pricing inside and outside USA MUST BE THE SAME. This is insane. Adobe is simply cheating their customers and its not a nice feeling!
John Nacks Blog
Lightroom Killer Tips
Adobe, I love Lightroom but your price discrepancy stinks!!
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Just leaving a message at your request. I also agree that the inflated price for international customers leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially as you are just downloading the software. Don’t really know much about licensing and how it affects the price of a product in different countries, but is it a bit unfair being charged an extra $60 for living outside the US.
I have been a user of LR since v1 & find it great but also hate the arrogance shown by Adobe in treating international users with such contempt. Why should US customers be treated differently to Australians (& others) This has left a bad taste for me too.
Its funny but there is a link on their website to report software piracy. Who are the pirates this time?
Excited about the product of choice for photographers! The new version shows amazing promise and it has received glowing reviews!
However, first time buyers of Lightroom in Australia are expected to pay a 42% premium over their USA counterparts – how can Adobe possible justify this? The word “contempt” has been used a number of times to describe Adobe’s attitude to non-US customers, which from my perspective is an accurate description!
I would appreciate a responce from Adobe to these customer concerns!
I’m another who finds that the price discrepancy leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
I’ve written to the Trade Minister and Consumer Affairs minister about this. The more who do this, the more weight this will carry. The Trade Minister’s email address is on this page:
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/member.asp?id=DT4
Other parliamentarians can be found easily from that link. Perhaps newspapers should also be informed.
Hello,
the price difference in germany is about 50% – VAT already taken in consideration.
If it weren’t for the price, I would have upgraded by now; now I’m considering a switch to Bibble or Aperture.
Hi All,
I was about to buy LR2. And guess what… when I saw the price difference between US and EU I changed my mind.
In the US this product roughly costs 200Euros, and I would have to pay 300 ?? No thanks. It’s simply unfair. I have seen many discussions in forums about it, many share the same opinion, other try to explain why it is normal.
It’s not normal. I have ordered stuff in the US before, I have paid the normal price in USD (and at the time the USD was stronger than my local currency) + sometimes the local VAT (when requested by customs).
With Adobe, this is not possible, why?