Hey all,
Started using Aperture in early 2006 and made it work for about three years before jumping over to Lightroom 2 & 3. Now I'm back again… and I tell ya, it just feels right. First off, I do realize what I'm giving up by coming back: Losing the post-crop vignette from Lightroom; lens correction; selective *exposure* adjustments; kick-butt noise reduction… I know there are some work-arounds and different ways of getting things accomplished in Aperture. But then there are definite gains as well: Aperture's quick & harmonious interface; mac-wide integration; better video & audio support; built-in books… Also, I don't know why more people don't acknowledge this, but moving around Aperture's interface and scrolling through images is much much faster than Lightroom. Lightroom was always re-building previews, stuttering when scrolling, and it got very slow when applying more than a few adjustments. Keyboard shortcuts changed from module to module in Lightroom, the interface was claustrophobic… I could never really get to the point where I liked working in the program. Lightroom is the better editor - yes. But Aperture is just plain nicer. Just a better experience. I know most pros are using Lightroom but Aperture has that intangible something that just feels right.
So I just wanted to pop in and say hi. And that the grass isn't necessarily greener over on the other side.
Did you use LR3?
Well that’s encouraging, I’ve thought of flirting with LR occasionally but always stuck with Aperture. Now I’m even more glad of it.
I agree with the great integration with other Apple apps.
Taking Pics in Tassie
Yep, I’ve used all the Lightroom and Aperture releases. It’s really a dilemma … as I said, in my opinion, Lightroom is the better editor. But I found myself not wanting to spend much time in the application… while Aperture seems to really support one’s creativity. Really gotta give kudos to the interface designers (Joseph?). It’s almost like having fewer/simpler tools but a more pleasant shop… where one can be inspired to be their most creative. I think the Aperture guys did it right. Sure hope the program can stick around for a while.
Both Aperture and Lightroom can slow down with heavy editing. But Aperture wins hands-down when it comes to simply moving around the interface, scrolling through your photos. Like I said, I can’t believe more people haven’t mentioned this. I’ve got a 2.93GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro; 8GB RAM; 7200RMB HD. My photo library is a little over 30,000 images.