LR technical questions

Richard

I'm starting to think about getting a new camera in the fall. It's a bit of a pain, because there are some software issues if I get a 50D or 5D Mk II. I will need a new RAW converter for sure, as I am running CS3 (not interested in the DNG route). I may have database issues as well if EXIFutils can't read the RAW files those cameras produce--it does fine with 20D .CR2s but I don't know about the others. So once again, I am thinking about solving both of my issues by getting LR and using it for both RAW conversion and a database.

When I looked at LR 18 months ago, I could see no way to import data from my existing database. Is this still the case? My current database has around 12000 pics and about half of those only have some of the metadata in the database itself, so just importing the pic files won't cut it. What about exporting the data to a different database if I decide I don't like it anymore? Is the schema public?

Although I have never used it, PS has a fairly complete scripting API. Does LR have one as well? Is it published anywhere? While I would not relish the thought, I was thinking that perhaps I could write a conversion program to do the data import. Or export, if it came to that.

One final question: Can LR now filter on all EXIF and IPTC fields? For example, using only data captured by the camera or entered in IPTC location would I be able to search for all pics shot in Venice at f/11 or smaller using the Canon 17-40 f/4L?

TIA for any information you can share.

Thunder Rabbit

Howdy.

Hi, Richard. Lr2 will run scripts. Google Lightroom 2 Scripts, and see what I mean. I don't know a whole lot about scripts, but there is a lot of information there.

I'm not sure about "all" fields, but it could very easily filter for the fields in your example. I'm very impressed with the filter functions in Lr2. It's very intuitive, very flexible, and very fast.

Hope this helps.

Richard

Thunder Rabbit wrote:

Howdy.

Hi, Richard. Lr2 will run scripts. Google Lightroom 2 Scripts, and see what I mean. I don't know a whole lot about scripts, but there is a lot of information there.

I'm not sure about "all" fields, but it could very easily filter for the fields in your example. I'm very impressed with the filter functions in Lr2. It's very intuitive, very flexible, and very fast.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Lee. I found some pretty good information on scripting on Adobe's site...basically it is geared to development of plugins and would require learning a new (to me) programming language, Lua. In the meantime, I tried importing RAW files into my database from each of the cameras I'm considering (thanks, Nik ) and they all worked just fine. So it looks like I won't be needing the LR database at all this time around. :whew

cmason

Richard: you can filter basically on any searchable field in LR2. You can search on the metadata:




and you can search on any text field:






Oh, and these same searches can now become 'Smart Collections' meaning that they update dynamically as you add and change images, allowing you to manage via collections vs files/folders.

Richard

Thanks, cmason. That's looks pretty good.