Transitioning from Lightroom 5 to Lightroom 6

[Remodelman]

Lightroom Version Number

Lightroom 5.7.1

Operating System

1. Windows 8

Hi. Thanks in advance for any help that you may provide.
I've been using Lightroom 5 for a few years, and have purchased Lightroom 6. I have held off from transitioning so that I can clean up my Lightroom 5 catalog, and properly back things up.
My biggest question is this:
I have noticed on this site that catalogs ARE NOT backwards compatible.
So, should I:
Create a new catalog for Lightroom 6 thereby preserving anything previous to this transition?
Should anything happen in Lightroom 6, can I still use photos imported to a Lightroom 6 catalog in Lightroom 5?
Are any adjustments made in Lightroom 6 detectable in Lightroom 5?
What do you think about importing into the Lightroom 5 catalog, then using that catalog with Lightroom 6? Is that possible or advised?
Am I being too overly cautious? (I always like to have a Plan B) Are there any potholes/pitfalls to avoid with a transition? Any tips/suggestions/advice are GREATLY appreciated. Please include any horror stories that may be applicable and lessons learned.
Thank you all!

 

[Hal P Anderson]

Am I being too overly cautious?

Yes.
When you first start LR 6, it will convert your LR 5 catalog into a new format that is only usable in LR 6. Note that this is a copy of your old catalogue--the old one is still there, where it always was, and you can still open that catalogue in LR 5. There aren't any horror stories--everything from your LR 5 installation carries over to LR 6. It is always a good idea to have a current backup before you start, and it would also be a good idea to upgrade your LR 6.0 to LR 6.14 before actually doing any work.

 

[PhilBurton]

Yes.
When you first start LR 6, it will convert your LR 5 catalog into a new format that is only usable in LR 6. Note that this is a copy of your old catalogue--the old one is still there, where it always was, and you can still open that catalogue in LR 5. There aren't any horror stories--everything from your LR 5 installation carries over to LR 6. It is always a good idea to have a current backup before you start, and it would also be a good idea to upgrade your LR 6.0 to LR 6.14 before actually doing any work.

In addition to what Hal said, once you start to do any work with your LR 6 catalog, your LR 5 catalog will be out of date. That said, the upgrade catalog conversions do work quite well, Personally I went from LR 4 to LR 6 to LR 7 and now onto LR 8.

As for backups, you should ALWAYS run a backup when you quit Lightroom. There are any number of sad stories about catalog corruption, without a (recent) backup. It's cheap insurance.

Phil Burton