Lightroom vs Aperture

[ahklein]

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I have been using Apple's Aperture to organize and edit my photos. As a new M240 owner, I received the free Lightroom. Do I need this? What are others using? What about the new Adobe Creative Cloud?

 

Thank you

[swamiji]

Need, no. Want, maybe. Are you happy with aperture? CC is rented software. Use what works for you!

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[kdriceman]

It's free and there is a lot of experience with the M240 and LR on this forum. Why not download it and try it out? A basic ACC subscription will include LR but also Photoshop and will cost you a monthly fee. I use LR extensively for file organization and most editing, but I also have a copy of Photoshop for the heavy duty editing.

[Exodies]

Does the default Aperture raw conversion look more like the Capture 1 than the Lightroom? Does anyone know how to make the Lightroom conversion look like Aperture?

 

You will probably want Photoshop so will subscribe to the Adobe photographers package - Lightroom and Photoshop - for a monthly fee. That makes it hard to justify buying Aperture.

 

The Adobe subscription also includes an iGadget app for post processing although the images need to be put in the cloud from a Mac first (ie no camera to Lightroom-for-iPad route yet).

 

Aperture updates seem to be on the same schedule as firmware updates...

(I just can't resist teasing the software team)

[menos I M6]

Don't use your serial number just yet!

 

Last time I checked, Adobe offered a full Lightroom Demo download, worth 30 days of testing the software before committing (using up your license).

 

Aperture vs Lightroom always has been exclusively a question of personal preferences.

Both are similarly capable, while both have here and there a few features going for it.

Lightroom tends to be updated more frequently I feel while Apple seems to be slow with software updates in terms of niche products (use any odd digital cameras with strange raw files?) and makes one or the other irrational decision in redesign or entirely cancelling support for a software which you might end up relying on.

 

I especially like about Lightroom that each and every revision has pushed the boundary further in terms of what image quality I can juice out of old camera's raw files.

 

Operating both next to each other is theoretically possible but it is very, very easy to end up with a miserable mess, better not touched.

It is therefore best to commit to one as the main platform to manage digital image files and processing and use the other one for occasional work.

 

Try Lightroom, if you don't get the feeling that you like it, stay with Aperture and learn it inside out is my advice (I did this just with Lightroom as my personally preferred DAM).

[Jeff S]

I especially like about Lightroom that each and every revision has pushed the boundary further in terms of what image quality I can juice out of old camera's raw files.

 

+1

 

I continually get better prints from old files as years go by. And rely less and less on Photoshop.

 

I also agree that one tends to like whatever program one takes time to know….as long as the interface isn't a total turn-off.

 

Jeff

Edited June 20, 2014 by Jeff S

[ahklein]

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All good points. I am more confused than ever. I am a newbie. I have used Aperture for two years and I regularly go to One to one sessions at the Apple store near my home. There I work with one of two pro photographers who can help me edit my photos on Aperture. They obviously can't support Lightroom. On the other hand, when I bought my M240 in April, I downloaded the free LR. I haven't used it, though. I do not own Photoshop. This new service may be a way for me to try it without a long term commitment.

[darylgo]

Lightroom 6 will be released in the near future, perhaps wait for the new version before using your license. I currently use several programs although Aperture is not one, each program brings something different and it only broadens your ability to post-process by knowing each, if only superficially. What will you do with your license if not used?

[menos I M6]

All good points. I am more confused than ever. I am a newbie. I have used Aperture for two years and I regularly go to One to one sessions at the Apple store near my home. There I work with one of two pro photographers who can help me edit my photos on Aperture. They obviously can't support Lightroom. On the other hand, when I bought my M240 in April, I downloaded the free LR. I haven't used it, though. I do not own Photoshop. This new service may be a way for me to try it without a long term commitment.

 

It sounds like you have a big advantage going for Aperture.

Believe me, having the opportunity of direct learning from other users about either software is much more worth than the small differences between the two.

 

I suggest to download the Lightroom Demo and try it for 30 days. This should be enough for you to find if it is completely against your logic or if you like it.

 

I would not use your license to waste on trying out the software, that's what Demos and trial versions are for.

 

You can keep your Lightroom license for the upcoming revision of Lightroom or for when you are sure you want to use Lightroom.

[Nordvik]

I have been using Aperture since jan. 2011 and LR since april last year. I take only 3-400 pictures each month so its not too much work for me using both. I use Aperture for its easy sharing with other Apple-products, like showing pictures on the TV using the Apple-TV box. I also use Aperture for importing.

 

I use LR for printing and exporting. I had a lot of problems with custom size printing using Aperture, that was the reason I started using LR. LR apply sharpening when exporting, Aperture does not.

 

I sometimes I like the color from Aperture when using an M8, but apart from that LR is just better. And LR is a lot easier to use if the picture was underexposed.

 

Original, LR 5, Aperture 3, Capture One 7 (all using default noise reduction), I like the C1 best:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=443580&stc=1&d=1403365404

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=443581&stc=1&d=1403365404

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=443582&stc=1&d=1403365404

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=443583&stc=1&d=1403365404

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[anupmc]

Looks like it's end of the road for Aperture...

 

Apple stops development of Aperture

[Guest]

...

 

Changed from Aperture 3 to Lightroom 5 because Aperture was never able to integrate a perspective correction.