Apple Aperture: Do not buy!
by bogiesan
on
Dec 6, 2005 at 3:25:37 am
(crossposted to the Apple OS10 forum)
Some of you video guys and gals probably shoot stills professionally and have been wondering if Aperture is a product you need. If you are thinking of purchasing Aperture, try to talk yourself into waiting a few more weeks, or even months. Wait for v2.0, if aperture survives the onslaught of terrible press being heaped upon Apple.
I've had my copies of Aperture for a few days now; we're warming up to it, learning the new workflow paradigm and trying to figure out what Aperture is. It's fun, I can tell you that much, but I've also been devouring the reviews, rants and raves from every photography forum I can find. Aperture is coming up short on just about every claim Apple made and the product is full of weird bugs.
The gathering storm of outrage supports the opinion that this interesting, possibly groundbreaking, product was shipped way before it was ready. It doesn't even come with a manual or help system, just a Getting Started booklet and PDF of same. (There is a "training DVD" but it's mostly all about unfulfilled promises.)
Conspiracy theorists are floating the idea that Steve Jobs knew the sheep would buy the thing and give his year-end financials a huge boost. Shoot, he was right.
bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: "For crying out loud, read the freakin' manual."
Says it all - and no, I couldn't use the eyedropper to get a good white balance in Aperture.... A gives me a warm 4039K +13, whereas ACR gives a neutral 3520K +12.
Was done with Aperture for the web gallery. That was quite nice, but all the images are ACR -> Photoshop!
Basically, the cataloguing, pixking selects, capture, etc. in Aperture seems fine, with one or two little bugs, but the RAW conversion is poor, produces posterisation on even small adjustments etc. And the white balance is wrong.
So, Apple, who tested this for you then???
Graeme
- www.nattress.com - Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
Re: Apple Aperture: Do not buy! by Blub on Dec 6, 2005 at 7:50:48 pm
Nice nature pix, I guess I am some kind of accidental purist, I like to see pix only pre-Photoshop. Some of the pix had a nice touch with that tool. I liked the wheel in the attic and the nature path, I guess I must admit Photoshop works in the right hands.
Re: Apple Aperture: Do not buy! by Graeme Nattress on Dec 6, 2005 at 7:56:59 pm
I used to do a lot of manipulation in photoshop, but these days, it's mostly basic enhancement - LAB curves for saturation, and a bit of selective sharpening, and sometimes my own way of dodging and burning to control contrast. Both the wheel in the attic and forest path have a lot of dodging / burning to deal with their contrast!!
Graeme
- www.nattress.com - Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
Re: Apple Aperture: Do not buy! by John Calhoun on Dec 8, 2005 at 12:09:16 am
Great! I'm getting the same camera with the 17-85mm and a couple primes. Looking to get back into b&w photography after 20 years. Photoshop takes much less time than wet process. As an editor (as we all know) I have very little spare time. I can achieve the same results in about 15-20 minutes in PS that would normally take a couple days in the darkroom! I finally realized this year that, after years of using PS for video, I could use it for photography! (duh.) After seeing some spectacular digital photos, I got my first Nikon point and shoot. One more convert from film to digital (although i still love film).
I was intrigued by Aperture, but I guess I'll wait until the dust settles.
