Do I need a 7200 rpm drive for lightroom photos?

[G-Slev]

I have moved my OS, apps and lightroom catalogue to an SSD, but my actual images are on a 2tb drive which is filling up. I need to upgrade my storage.

I am looking to buy to 4tb drives so I can backup my images from one to the other - and then probably a third drive which I will store off site.

If the drive is being used purely for the storage of my images, is there any point paying extra for a 7200 rpm drive over a 5400 rpm drive?

 

[stevewestern]

I'm no expert, but I'd say none whatsoever.
I have never had any problems with 5400 drives for the same purpose.

 

[neil_g]

If its purely for archival then no, 5400 is fine.

Personally I keep LR cat and working set of images on SSD then move them off onto NAS.

 

[Andy Into The Wild]

As Neil said, as long as your working set of images is on the SSD and the larger drive is purely for storage, it won't make any difference. If you are thinking of using it for backups or will be moving lots of files regularly to/from the drive, then you would benefit from a faster drive.

 

[petersmart]

As already said use SSDs for your OS and working on the images then offline HDDs can be 5400 RPM with no problem.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

IT is fine.

While the catalog will work faster on SSD if you need portability you should keep it on the same drive. Then you can plug and open on any PC anywhere in the world to work on the move and no bloody cloud is needed.

 

[neil_g]

just remember to close LR before ejecting the drive. cats ridiculously easy to corrupt.