Aperture Software

Lake Films

Lake Films

Veteran
Has anyone tried/bought Apple's "Aperture" yet? I downloaded the trial version, it's pretty cool. They want $199 for the program. Thoughts?
 
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I don't own a mac, but I've used it on a friends. I love it. Even more than what I'm currently using which is Lightroom. I just like the layout better. They also just had v2 of Aperture released this week. If I had a mac I'd be using it hands down.
 
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I am a fan of Aperture for certain applications. If I am wanting to edit just a couple of images and I am in no hurry, the Aperture is my program of choice at this point.

For me it sort of breaks down like:

For printed images or portfolio pieces I work in Nikon Capture NX. It is slow but I feel it gives me the best results.

For processing a large number of images I use Light Room. Adobe is fast and just runs smoothly. Plus, I like the Photoshop integration.

For just a couple of images and working quickly I turn to Aperture, it works nicely but I need to be willing to invest time.

If I have HIGH ISO shots then they go to Bibble because I like how Noise Ninja gives results out of there.

Trials are great because you can play around with it and figure out whether it is going to be the best possible software for you.

Hope this helps
 
I use Lightroom but might be switching the Aperture 2.0. All the reviews say it's waaaaaay faster than the 1.0 or 1.5 versions. I'm going to download the trial of it and compare.

My only reserve with Aperture is (from what I've heard) you have to go through a bit more work to use it with Photoshop. Lightroom is seamless.
 
Lightroom is $100 more, correct? Do you have the capability to edit your photo's (Color correction, etc) with Lightroom?
 
For sure! Lightroom and Aperture are almost the same product, but like Jeremy pointed out....you really have to try them both and set your own work flow to decide what you are going to like better.
 
I have Aperture. Good program. I was going to get the upgrade but my 2 1/2 year old Powerbook G4 won't run the new upgrade if I read it right. But everything is starting to require the new intel macs!!

So Ive been looking at the new MacBook Pros.


When I get one I will gladly pay the $99 for the aperture upgrade.
 
I have been messing with both programs all week. It's a hard decision, they are both great. I like Light Room's ability to add 'pre-set' looks. Aperture seems a little easier to use. Ah, a couple of more 'free' weeks to make the decision...
 
I used Aperture, but switched over to LR. I'm not switching back without a really good reason at this point. LR is a fine product, and Apple is just now catching up with it. I do like Aperture's vault, but otherwise I dont see anything unique just a different workflow. Apple has serious issues communicating its customers and Aperture was long overdue for an overhaul- leaving D300 users in the lurch for months without a whisper. Oh and if I'm not mistaken you HAVE to upgrade to get D300 RAW decoding. The didn't enable this in 1.5 even though the OS handles the decoding and iPhoto can do it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.
 
I use Aperture for basic corrections but send it out to Photoshop for anything complicated. I like the way Aperture keeps versions when dealing with PS so I still have a clean master image.
 
I wanted to burn through using this software for a good amount of time before writing a reply here.

To sum it up, it has the ease of use of iPhoto & the power of Lightroom.
I am still figuring out how to perfect the sweet spots of the healing tool. But other than that, the speed is amazing. I recommend at least 2 gigs of RAM though. My current iMac has 4gigs and my Tower has 8. But I find the 4 gigs enough.

The tethered shooting is not 100% perfect on some cameras. Software and camera act kind of weird with a Fuji S5. However, works flawlessly with my D200, D2x, and my Canon Rebel.

My favorite feature so far:
I can shoot tethered, lets say 12 consecutive shots. While they are importing, if there are shots I don't like, I can delete them while the rest are importing. Also, nice to be able to change white balance and settings on the fly while it tethers to Aperture.

Saving out you own custom settings is really nifty too. As far as file management goes, I've never had an easier time stacking and indexing.

I've used it on 5 fashion shoots so far, and out of the 4000+ shots I've taken, I've only had sent 10 to photoshop for final. (dodging burning the eyes & using some custom action scripts for final finishing and adding some grain) The rest I have been pretty damn happy with the results.

Since I have to deliver 1000+ shots a night, I found that with the tethered feature and new features, the software has definitely helped my workflow.
 
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