Overall, it's a great product. 8/10 Some of these features have been talked about elsewhere, but I've been playing with my new copy for a few days and have the following comments:
Strengths:
1. Faster loads, even for "older" machines. Aperture still likes high end hardware but it is now accessible (not just on paper) to any Intel Mac.
1.5. The "processing previews" spinny thing spins a lot faster. That makes us think that Aperture is working harder, although it isn't.
2. The navigation is marginally better. Meta data and adjustments were cluttered together before, and the tabs work really well for segmenting the tasks.
3. Organizational hierarchy is still very clean, and much better than Lightroom. Albums, Projects, etc. can be seen by your iPhone/iPod so you can take your good stuff on the go.
4. Multi-monitor support is still awesome and a big plus over Lightroom's single display setup.
5. Highlights and shadows have marked improvement (and added specificity) in the Levels adjustment pane.
6. Vignette Control works surprisingly well. Small refinements from good lenses work well, big refinements from so-so lenses doesn't quite hold up as well.
7. All-Projects and the accompanying preview (with all images virtual scroll-through) is not all that interesting at first, but will prove very useful as a reference when you want to quickly scroll through hundreds of images in a project without viewing the full images (more slowly.) "Key Photo" is helpful in that regard too.
8. For crop cameras, Meta data shows focal length AND 35mm equiv focal length; handy for sorting images with multiple cameras.
9. Rule-of-thirds grid when cropping -- Genius!!
Weaknesses:
1. Web gallery exports: crippled to 5 pathetic options, unless you have .Mac and iLife '08 -- that's where the cool stuff lies. Lightroom kicks the pants of of Aperture in this category.
2. Still no network vault backup via FTP etc. Maybe Time Capsule (only) will proprietarily integrate into vaults.
3. Not enough control over batch change and lift/stamp options.
4. Still prefers lots of RAM and shiny new hardware.
Overall, it is a solid update. Since 1.5 was free, I guess we had to pay eventually. The original was $299, so $199 is welcomed. But is it worth it? If you are buying it for the first time, or choosing between Ap and LightRoom, definitely. $199 is a good value for this professional tool. (Don't get me wrong, I would love it for $149 but it really does value between $200-300.) If you have 1.5 and are pondering the update...it is worth $99 in my view.
Bottom line: 2.0 is zippier. It is better organized and easier to navigate. There is better control over shadows/highlights. BUT, the web gallery exports are embarrassing (hence the 8/10 rating). If you want to publish to .Mac (and have iPhoto 08) - this is less of a concern. Integration with other iApps (including iPhones) is great. Play with it in an Apple Store, download the demo, or just pull the trigger; you'll like it.
Strengths:
1. Faster loads, even for "older" machines. Aperture still likes high end hardware but it is now accessible (not just on paper) to any Intel Mac.
1.5. The "processing previews" spinny thing spins a lot faster. That makes us think that Aperture is working harder, although it isn't.
2. The navigation is marginally better. Meta data and adjustments were cluttered together before, and the tabs work really well for segmenting the tasks.
3. Organizational hierarchy is still very clean, and much better than Lightroom. Albums, Projects, etc. can be seen by your iPhone/iPod so you can take your good stuff on the go.
4. Multi-monitor support is still awesome and a big plus over Lightroom's single display setup.
5. Highlights and shadows have marked improvement (and added specificity) in the Levels adjustment pane.
6. Vignette Control works surprisingly well. Small refinements from good lenses work well, big refinements from so-so lenses doesn't quite hold up as well.
7. All-Projects and the accompanying preview (with all images virtual scroll-through) is not all that interesting at first, but will prove very useful as a reference when you want to quickly scroll through hundreds of images in a project without viewing the full images (more slowly.) "Key Photo" is helpful in that regard too.
8. For crop cameras, Meta data shows focal length AND 35mm equiv focal length; handy for sorting images with multiple cameras.
9. Rule-of-thirds grid when cropping -- Genius!!
Weaknesses:
1. Web gallery exports: crippled to 5 pathetic options, unless you have .Mac and iLife '08 -- that's where the cool stuff lies. Lightroom kicks the pants of of Aperture in this category.
2. Still no network vault backup via FTP etc. Maybe Time Capsule (only) will proprietarily integrate into vaults.
3. Not enough control over batch change and lift/stamp options.
4. Still prefers lots of RAM and shiny new hardware.
Overall, it is a solid update. Since 1.5 was free, I guess we had to pay eventually. The original was $299, so $199 is welcomed. But is it worth it? If you are buying it for the first time, or choosing between Ap and LightRoom, definitely. $199 is a good value for this professional tool. (Don't get me wrong, I would love it for $149 but it really does value between $200-300.) If you have 1.5 and are pondering the update...it is worth $99 in my view.
Bottom line: 2.0 is zippier. It is better organized and easier to navigate. There is better control over shadows/highlights. BUT, the web gallery exports are embarrassing (hence the 8/10 rating). If you want to publish to .Mac (and have iPhoto 08) - this is less of a concern. Integration with other iApps (including iPhones) is great. Play with it in an Apple Store, download the demo, or just pull the trigger; you'll like it.
