Aperture

[147798]

eXan is right. Automatic mode (in camera or in iPhoto) is for "good enough," while Aperture (and Lightroom) are for better than "good enough."

You can, however, save a set of adjustments in Ap and LR as pre-sets, and apply them to other pictures. So, if you take 25 pictures in the same location, you could save a pre-sets group, and apply them to all 25.

 

[maccanuk]

Same boat as you...

I am in the same boat in that I am trying to decide on my photo editing suite. I am anxiously awaiting elements 6 for the mac. (had it on the pc and liked it...Elements 6 has an organizer package that looks to be just as flexible and usable as aperture 2). I am currently test driving a bunch of 30 day demos and have so far come to the following preliminary conclusions:
Aperture2 is more intuitive than Adobe Lightroom.
Photoshop cs3 is waay more complex than Elements.

So, my dilemma now stands as follows: Do I get aperture2 and elements 6 or do I start out with elements6 and, if I don't find the mac version of the Organizer up to snuff, shell out the extra $200 for Aperture. Given that the release for Elements is around the end of March, I think I will wait and ride out the balance of my demo time on Aperture.

Minimum expenditure possible...Elements 6 for $89
Maximum expenditure possibel Elements 6 + Aperture2 = $289