Apple has finally released an update to its image processing software application. Aperture 3 arrived on the scene several days ago. With this release we photographer humans once again raise the question “Is it time to switch?”
Since you are reading this on a site called Lightroom Secrets you must know how this will turn out. Right? But the answer may not be as black and white (no pun intended) as it may seem. There are many factors that go into a decision about which application to choose. Either will be a major investment in time, learning, personal/professional workflow, and so on. So let’s start with a little background.
I was a long-time Windows user and switched to Mac about two years ago. I still use both platforms but do prefer Mac. Obviously, as a Abode Certified Expert in Lightroom and one of the Adobe Community Professionals for Lightroom, I am a Lightroom user. I am not, however, an Adobe employee.
I’m also comparing Aperture 3 to Lightroom 3 Beta. In the past Adobe has always included more features in the final release than they exposed in their public betas so there may be things coming that we’re unaware of right now. So there you have it. What follows is editorial in nature and, to the best of my abilities, objective. Let’s get started…
I was in a recent DALPUG user group meeting and the topic of Lightroom vs. Aperture came up. Specifically, someone mentioned that they were a bit tired of how slowly Aperture released updates to support the RAW files of new DSLRs from Canon, Nikon, etc.
I’ve always generally been okay with how fast Ligthroom supported new cameras, but the discussion got me thinking about how fast both these tools support new cameras.
The following are the results of my research. You can scroll to the bottom of the post for a bit more information on how I collected the data. As you can see, it isn’t exhaustive, but it is composed of over 30 models, primarily from Canon, Nikon and Sony.
While this may not guarantee how fast Lightroom and Aperture will support the RAW files from your new camera in the future, it is interesting to see how fast they’ve done so in the past.
Anita’s name may not be familiar to you but I bet that she’s helped you more than once! Whether you are new to Lightroom or have been using it for some time chances are you’ve seen Anita’s handiwork! Every time you invoke the Help feature in Lightroom — there’s Anita!
Anita is one of the driving forces behind Lightroom’s Community Help. She is always gathering input from the community, tweaking articles to make them clearer, updating links, clearing out old help items, and on and on and on.
I asked Anita to tell us a little about herself and here’s what she had to say…
It’s a big place out there on the web. We certainly appreciate you stopping by Lightroom Secrets for some Lightroom goodness! But, if you still want more there are several excellent resources.
Monthly (or so) we feature a Lightroom related site. Check the Featured Site section in the sidebar. There is also a list of Interesting Sites for you to explore. Give them a look. Perhaps you will find another site to add to your list.
Another excellent source is Alltop. Alltop aggregates sites in a wide range of topics. Here’s how Alltop describes what it does:
Lightroom Secrets is pleased to welcome a new contributor, Brian Reyman! You can’t have enough Lightroom tips, tricks, tutorials, or news! Brian will stop by from time to time with his insights into Lightroom.
Brian lives and breathes Adobe products and loves using pretty much all of them. He was recently named an Adobe Community Professional for Lightroom! As an Adobe Certified Expert in Lightroom and User Group Manager for the Denver Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop User Group, Lightroom is at the top of the list!
When not shooting and using Lightroom (or other Adobe products), Brian is an IT professional living in Denver, Colorado. You can find Brian enjoying time with his great wife & kids or out playing sports or shooting (pictures of course) in the Rocky Mountains.
I was again honored and humbled to learn that I have been named an Adobe Community Professional for 2010. Thank you, Adobe!
Several of my digital cohorts have also been named as Adobe Community Professionals. Congratulations to Sean McCormack (Lightroom), Geoff Walker (Lightroom), A.J. Wood (InDesign), Chris Tarantino (Photoshop), and J Schuh (After Effects)! Well deserved my friends!!!
Lightroom has many many features but there are still things it cannot do out of the box. Luckily, Adobe anticipated this and provided an SDK (Software Developer Kit) to allow third party developers to create plugins that can enhance Lightroom’s feature set. If you’ve ever come across the need for a third party plugin then changes are you already know Jeffrey Friedl.
Jeffrey is on a very very short list of people whose names come to mind when you say Lightroom Plugin. He is one of the most prolific plugin developers for Lightroom. An excellent photographer in his own right, Jeffrey develops Lightroom plugins as a hobby! And the Lightroom community is certainly grateful for it!
Ever wonder if your workflow is sound and efficient? Are you following best practices in dealing with your valuable images? Nervous about keeping those files safe and backed up? Well, as Douglas Adams once told us, Don’t Panic! The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) with funding from the Library of Congress has launched dpBestFlow.org.
The best way to introduce you to this site is with their video tour. Take a look.
This is one rich and still growing repository of knowledge! You can spend hours here learning everything you need to know about how to handle your digital images.
Each week Brandon Oelling and the X=blog staff offer up oodles of information to help you streamline your digital image workflow, strengthen your business, tackle technology, and turn great images into memorable ones.
Apple has finally released an update to its image processing software application. Aperture 3 arrived on the scene several days ago. With this release we photographer humans once again raise the question “Is it time to switch?”
It’s a big place out there on the web. We certainly appreciate you stopping by Lightroom Secrets for some Lightroom goodness! But, if you still want more there are several excellent resources.
