Apple photos software

[Aperture 2]

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Past user of Aperture until it was discontinued, shifted to Lightroom until subscription shift, after that wished to work on the most stable and simple solution and I work with Apple Photos. I’m not a professional so my needs are probably limited but I feel that with RAW plug-in and the Apple software capabilities all is covered...I’m missing something ? Would Capture One for example make better pictures development from the RAW files ? Sorry for the basic question.

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[jaapv]

The only software that works well is the software that works well... for you. All postprogramming programs have a learning curve, and I doubt whether it would be worth your while to switch programs as long as your present one fulfils your needs.

[Bobitybob]

Although Aperture was discontinued some years ago, if you have a copy it still works on newer versions of MacOS although you get the nag dialogue about it will no longer be supported in future versions.  It even works on Catalina if you use this fix https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/10/28/free-retroactive-tool-brings-aperture-itunes-back-to-life-in-macos-catalina to overcome the 32bit code.  I’ve tried it and it seems to work ok although I haven’t given it an extensive test, so can’t vouch for it being perfect.  As you know how it works and don’t want a ‘professional’ solution may be worth a try.

[budjames]

We use Apple Photos for all of our personal photos which is mostly images capture with our iPhones and my wife's Sony RX100MV.

For my photography, I used to use Aperture and then I switched to Lightroom. I used Lightroom since it's earliest release. About 5 years ago, I switched from Canon pro DSLRs to Fuji X to reduce the size and weight of my kit. I was very unhappy with how LR processed Fuji RAF files. About 3 years ago, I tried Capture One Pro, then at version 9, and was hooked by the immediate image quality improvement and it's customizability. Two years ago I sold my Fuji gear and switched to Leica M and now the M and SL2. I couldn't be happier with achieving a 40 year bucket list item of shooting with Leica cameras.

Since the beginning, my process is to convert my best picks from our vacations, family portraits, etc. in my pro RAW processing app (currently Capture One Pro 20) to JPEGs which I then import into Apple Photos. From within Apple Photos, my wife creates books of our travels and major family events using our combined image collect. This has worked out very well, as my wife doesn't have to mess with the steep learning curve of the LR and now Capture One Pro and the possibility of disturbing my catalogs of nested folder reference images.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

[iRandom]

I agree, use what works best for you and don't get hung up on the hype or the views of others. If you think you occasionally need more you can consider using Photos extensions like Pixelmator Pro, Luminar 4 and RAW Power. I occasionally use Pixelmator for object removal, layer related stuff (face replacement) and adding text. I occasionally use Luminar for portrait retouching, for one of the more unique filters or if I can't get what I want from Photos. RAW Power is nice, but I never found a lasting use case for it since I'm OK with what Photos offers in this regard.  

Previously I used a system similar to what @budjames described that worked well for many years. I did all my processing in LR and then imported to iPhoto/Photos for viewing, sharing and such. It worked very well for me until I started using my iPhone as more than just a backup camera. At which point I faced a situation where I was doing iPhone related stuff in Photos and the rest in LR. I found this to be frustrating since I got used to having my iPhone photos available everywhere immediately, whereas, my other photos where only available once I finished processing them through LR which was something I tended not to do in a timely manner. 

Edited January 4, 2020 by iRandom

[Aperture 2]

Thank you all for you answers, I see that there is no issue mentioned with Apple photos RAW capabilities and I also prefer the simplicity of one single library available everywhere so I will continue with the Apple software with some plug-ins when "needed". Best regards