Canon Digital Photo Pro or Aperture?

[mac1civ]

Would love some support with a decision I need to make.

I switched to the mac platform earlier this year and my experience so far has been fantastic. I am now looking to upgrade from iPhoto to a software solution that gives me a bit more control of post processing using RAW.

The Canon software (Digital Photo Professional) has a good reputation I am told and therefore I am considering this, although I have found the interface a bit of a let down and the user manual / support is woeful.

I am also attracted to the idea of Aperture and I have played around with the trial version, I did like the UI and 'feel' of the program but I am worried that it is less capable than the Canon software at dealing with the RAW files from my 5D.

Money isn't really an issue, I just want to get the workflow right. I would rather not go with Lightroom although I see from the forum that this is a well regarded program.

Any comments / suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[OreoCookie]

Aperture.
Apple's single best program since iTunes. It really revolutionizes the way you deal with a lot of pictures. (I switched from iView Media Pro.)

 

[BigJohno]

Would love some support with a decision I need to make.

I switched to the mac platform earlier this year and my experience so far has been fantastic. I am now looking to upgrade from iPhoto to a software solution that gives me a bit more control of post processing using RAW.

The Canon software (Digital Photo Professional) has a good reputation I am told and therefore I am considering this, although I have found the interface a bit of a let down and the user manual / support is woeful.

I am also attracted to the idea of Aperture and I have played around with the trial version, I did like the UI and 'feel' of the program but I am worried that it is less capable than the Canon software at dealing with the RAW files from my 5D.

Money isn't really an issue, I just want to get the workflow right. I would rather not go with Lightroom although I see from the forum that this is a well regarded program.

Any comments / suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I don't know to much about the canon software so. But I use aperture and iphoto. They work very well together. I store all my photos in iPhoto then in Aperture I reference the good ones. Aperture's workflow is really nice and simple. I would say go for Aperture but thats just me.

 

[Grimace]

The only reason I would use the Canon software is to check the shutter actuations. Other than that, use Aperture.

 

[cube]

If you buy DxO 4.5 now, you get a free upgrade to DxO 5 (Mac version available by the end of the year).

DxO 5 is integrated with Adobe Lightroom.

 

[OreoCookie]

The only reason I would use the Canon software is to check the shutter actuations. Other than that, use Aperture.

You can check the number of actuations in any EXIF viewer (there are free EXIF Viewers). I don't think that this is an enticing argument for one software or the other …*

 

[Lovesong]

I'm assuming the hardware (computer) you're using is the MBP in your sig.

I run Aperture on a MBP 2.33 with 2 gigs of RAM, and the 256 ATI 1600. RAWs from my 5D run very smooth, with little or no slowdown. I would say that either Aperture or LR are head and shoulders above the Canon software. About the only thing I use it for is when I want to do tethered shooting.

 

[Grimace]

You can check the number of actuations in any EXIF viewer (there are free EXIF Viewers). I don't think that this is an enticing argument for one software or the other …*

Can you name some that work for Canon bodies? Nikon makes it easy, but I haven't seen anything that shows Canon actuations.

 

[cube]

It seems this is still going on:

http://phaseone.com/Global/Campaigns/SanDisk%20info.aspx

When I got it last year not all the boxes had the voucher.

 

[OreoCookie]

Can you name some that work for Canon bodies? Nikon makes it easy, but I haven't seen anything that shows Canon actuations.

There is a free app that's actually called EXIF Viewer. Since I'm a Nikon guy, I just assumed Canon would embed the number of actuations in their EXIF data as well. As long as it is embedded, EXIF Viewer should display it.

Edit: according to the net, Canon does embed it into its EXIF data.

 

[Grimace]

There is a free app that's actually called EXIF Viewer. Since I'm a Nikon guy, I just assumed Canon would embed the number of actuations in their EXIF data as well. As long as it is embedded, EXIF Viewer should display it.

Edit: according to the net, Canon does embed it into its EXIF data.

Sorry to bug again, but could you show us your "net" source? There is no way that I have seen of seeing actuations in EXIF data. There are debunked theories of it being in a hex code in the EXIF data - but that's all I've seen.

 

[OreoCookie]

Sorry to bug again, but could you show us your "net" source? There is no way that I have seen of seeing actuations in EXIF data. There are debunked theories of it being in a hex code in the EXIF data - but that's all I've seen.

Ok, so first of all, you can get EXIF Viewer here. It's free and does what it claims and nothing more.
I've attached a screen shot from one of my later pics (about 500~750 actuations ago): you can easily find the Camera Actuations entry. There is no fiddling, no mucking around with hex code or stuff, it is just there. I hope that helps.

By the way, my previous dslr, my deceased Olympus E-20 did not embed the number of actuations in the pictures' EXIF data. As long as Canon embeds it properly (which is the crucial point), EXIF Viewer should be able to read it. The developer prefers Canon gear anyway, so I guess he's inclined to have this working properly.

 

[Cave Man]

Is there something special to do with generating the file? I don't see actuations on any of my images, and the Preferences menu item is dimmed.

TIA

 

[seany916]

I like the combo of Bridge/Aperture/PS.

Works very well for me.

 

[mac1civ]

Thanks for the Feedback

Thanks for all the useful feedback.

I've decided to go with Aperture, I've had more of a play around with the trial version and it seems to do everything I need it to do. It also links up nicely with the other iLife programs which is important to me.

My plan is to store my images on an external Hard drive and have Aperture link to these 'referenced' files, this should keep the space required for photos on my MBP to a minimum.

The learning curve looks to be pretty steep using the program. Other than the obvious advice of trying it and learning from experience, are there any other nuggets of advice anyone has for becoming competent in this program?

 

[Grimace]

Ok, so first of all, you can get EXIF Viewer here. It's free and does what it claims and nothing more.
I've attached a screen shot from one of my later pics (about 500~750 actuations ago): you can easily find the Camera Actuations entry. There is no fiddling, no mucking around with hex code or stuff, it is just there. I hope that helps.

By the way, my previous dslr, my deceased Olympus E-20 did not embed the number of actuations in the pictures' EXIF data. As long as Canon embeds it properly (which is the crucial point), EXIF Viewer should be able to read it. The developer prefers Canon gear anyway, so I guess he's inclined to have this working properly.

Thanks so much for this!!! I downloaded it and it won't read Canon RAW files (it only does JPGs) but more importantly, it does not display any EXIF data on RAWs converted to JPG.

Maybe it has to be taken IN the camera as a JPG -- I don't know. Can anyone else get this to work with a Canon camera? I am still under the impression that Canon doesn't want users to know about actuations without a Canon dealer person using a special machine (ie. it's not in the EXIF)

 

[OreoCookie]

Thanks so much for this!!! I downloaded it and it won't read Canon RAW files (it only does JPGs) but more importantly, it does not display any EXIF data on RAWs converted to JPG.

You have to take the files straight from the camera. When I export files with Aperture, a lot of the EXIF data is forgotten (including Camera Actuations). I also had to dig through my Aperture Library and get an original jpg itself.

Maybe it has to be taken IN the camera as a JPG -- I don't know. Can anyone else get this to work with a Canon camera? I am still under the impression that Canon doesn't want users to know about actuations without a Canon dealer person using a special machine (ie. it's not in the EXIF)

If Canon deliberately makes it hard for the user to get the number of actuations, then that's the way it is, unfortunately. (Although, as mentioned before, Olympus did the same thing and Nikon encrypts its RAW files, it seems that each and every manufacturers has some characteristic stupidities of their own.)