Lightroom 5 dilemma....and alternatives

[les]

I've used LR since it came on the scene and maybe it's a sort of seven year itch, but I'm wondering, given that I'm faced with paying to upgrade to version 5, is there something else? (I guess I'm also a bit uneasy at the direction both Adobe and Apple seem to be taking with this Cloud thing).

Of course I've a lot of time invested in LR and there would be a learning curve to get over, but aside from that, for the same $ cost I could switch to something else. For example there's the lean versions of Capture One, or DXO Optics, and also Photo Ninja, Iridient Developer, Rawker (which is free) and even a new version of Lightzone about to re-surface, and no doubt there are more. (

Some of those also manage your catalog(s) - (DAM as the Pro's say) while others just shine at RAW conversion - but in that case LR 4 could be left to simply manage the image library.

So whaddya think? - anyone out there found a RAW converter which particularly shines with OM-D files - or are the end results all pretty much a wash?

 

[Godfrey]

LR 5 seems to be handling whatever I throw at it very nicely. It does not require anything to do with the CC stuff. Nothing wrong with alternatives, each has its specific strengths and weaknesses just as LR does.

Because of the way I've structured my data, I could move to anything else at any time, but I see no reason to.

G