Adobe Lightroom Classic (March 2025) Review Update: Is This Still the Standard for Photographers?
It’s been a while since we last checked in on how things were going with Adobe’s Lightroom, and it’s about time that we kicked the tires on one of the most recognized photography applications in the world. In February 2025, Adobe released its latest major update to the Lightroom Classic cataloging and editing software, adding Adaptive Profiles for color/tone editing, new tethering features, Catalog Backup Management tools, and performance tweaks. Here’s what you can expect from Lightroom in 2025.What’s New in Lightroom Classic Version 14.2?The latest version of Lightroom brings some major changes to the core editing functions with a new AI-assisted tool – Adaptive Profiles, Catalog Backup Management tools, focus point selection while tethered capture, and performance tweaks. In this section, we’ll go into each of these and ultimately try to answer the question: Is Adobe’s Lightroom still the standard bearer for photographers in 2025?Catalog Backup ManagementScreenshot of Adobe Lightroom Classic interface displaying catalog settings and a photo of a plant on the left. Credit: ScreenshotLightroom is still the GOAT when it comes to catalog management. This single feature has kept me subscribed to their Creative Cloud product, even though options like Capture One have become better for editing in various ways. In Version 14.2, Lightroom now allows users to manage their backups—easily setting and opening backup locations, checking backup sizes, and even deleting old backups.For those with commitment issues, this new backup management option allows users to delete single or multiple backups without deleting the backup file. And if you ever need to go back to an old backup that you deleted from your backup history, simply open the file and it will once again appear in your backups list. In the long run, this should allow you to work more efficiently in Lightroom from backups.Tether Enhancement – Focus Point SelectionScreenshot of Adobe Lightroom’s Live View with Focus Selection. Credit: Screenshot If you’re a photographer who relies heavily on tethered capture in Lightroom, this one is a godsend. Lightroom has long supported tethered capture from Sony, Nikon, and Canon cameras, but now, Lightroom allows you to access your camera’s autofocusing features within the Live View window.Screenshot of Lightroom’s Tether Enhancement allowing access to Canon EOS R8’s AF options. Credit: ScreenshotWhile I do not typically use the tether capture feature, this update made me want to go back and try it out myself. In my testing, I found that I could quickly and intuitively access each of my test cameras’ (Canon EOS R8 and Nikon Z8) autofocusing menus without leaving my Lightroom workspace. If your workflow demands extensive use of tethered image capture, you’ll be happy that Adobe has brought over a feature that has long been available to Capture One. Just a fair bit of warning – ensure your camera is on this list of supported cameras before jumping in.Adaptive ProfilesScreenshot of Lightroom’s Adaptive Profile Drop-down Menu. Credit: Screenshot.If you’ve been using Adobe’s Camera RAW for at least a few months, you might have encountered the Adaptive Profiles feature. Adaptive Profiles use Adobe’s AI to analyze the content of an image and suggest various color profiles that automatically adjust tones and colors, creating a custom color profile for each individual photo.Sample of Adaptive Profile Applied to Photo. Credit: Alberto Lima for ThePhoblographer.comAdditionally, Adaptive Profiles will create masks for your subject and skies – but these are done in the background, and you will not be able to select them independently of applying Adaptive Profiles to an image. That said, once you add an adaptive color profile to your photo, you can take full advantage of the newly created masks for localized edits. Adaptive Profiles can be a great way to get started on quick edits for a shoot – especially if you’re using raw HDR files; Adaptive Profiles are designed for HDR workflows.Performance ChangesAs with most updates, Lightroom v.14.2 brings some performance and quality-of-life changes to some of their most used tools. Firstly, the masking tool improves its responsiveness to the brush tool. The brush tool now works faster and with less lag, making the brush strokes far more fluid. The Crop/Rotation’s angle adjustment tool also benefits from some optimization, helping to reduce stuttering when adjusting, especially on high-resolution images or images that have been heavily edited. Lastly, the white balance slider also gets improved responsiveness that allows for a smoother transition while adjusting color temperature.Final Thoughts: Adobe Lightroom in 2025Lightroom continues to excel in helping photographers efficiently catalog their images—easily importing RAW vs. JPEG files and then quickly creating sub-catalogs or batch edits. The latest round of updates highlights Adobe’s AI strategy – the company strongly believes that by providing AI-assisted enhancements to heavily used tools, photographers might warm up to the technology. To their credit, Adobe has walked back /modified previous T&C language around image rights and the use of Generative AI. This might be too little, and it is too late for many professionals who’ve since moved on. Overall, Lightroom remains a solid choice for catalog management and batch processing.
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