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Adobe's latest offering for digital photographers is a competitor to Apple's Aperture, but how does it perform with RAW images? Read on after the jump for more!

After we installed it we filled the library with tons of RAW images from our Nikon D50 digital SLR camera, and it was much much speedier than Apple's Aperture software. Also at a first glance, Lightroom had much better performance over all on our Apple MacBook and a Core 2 Duo-based PC. It was also very easy to adjust white balance and exposure and compare both versions with Lightroom's comparison mode.

A nice touch was the ability to revert or undo multiple times without having to worry about the original image. Need to export a batch of files using the same settings? Lightroom includes the ability to save your frequently used settings so you can apply them fast without having to slow down tweaking settings.

Want to show off your photos to clients or family and friends? Lightroom can export your photos as a Flash or HTML-based web gallery, and it works fantastic. Now, some of these features are included in Apple's Aperture software, but to get the best performance out of that - you'll need a high end Mac. With Lightroom, you don't - and it runs on Windows too.

So if you're looking for a fast, and easy to use photo management application - look no further than Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom for $299.

Pros

• Ability to go back to the original image without loosing crucial image data.
• Web galleries built-in.
• Easy-to-use image correction controls.
• Fast performance.

Cons

• None.

Final Verdict
5 out of 5 stars.

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