Review of the [Beta] new Photos...

[Username Here]

Found this review by the Verge for those of you awaiting its arrival...

http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/5/7982517/apple-photos-mac-iphoto-replacement-explainer-faq

 

[pickaxe]

Yeah... before reading that, might want to know that The Verge is heavily pro-Apple and probably has close to zero knowledge about the prosumer market or photography in general.

 

[robgendreau]

Yeah... before reading that, might want to know that The Verge is heavily pro-Apple and probably has close to zero knowledge about the prosumer market or photography in general.

If you are an Aperture user seeking to find out about features that probably matter, it isn't especially helpful as a preview. None of the previews I've seen have been very helpful unless you are an iPhoto user. Better to check around this forum; some beta testers have been posting info.

 

[MCAsan]

Now, if you were one of the people who loved Aperture because you like adjusting every possible little setting, and having things like a loupe for pixel-peeping, adjustment brushes for fixing dust spots or blown highlights, and plug-ins to add extra features, here’s some bad news: none of these things are present in Photos.

That was all I needed to know. What a HUGE step down from Aperture!

 

[maflynn]

That was all I needed to know. What a HUGE step down from Aperture!

Agreed, the lack of editing tools, categorization options, i.e., flagging, keywords, rating etc.

For light iPhoto users, its great, for aperture users who want to manage their image library, not so much

 

[VirtualRain]

That was all I needed to know. What a HUGE step down from Aperture!

Yeah, I think everyone here who's been waiting to see what this might have in store is disappointed... I know I am. However, no point crying... Just move on and find something else... You're on LR aren't you?

So far, Capture One Pro seems most similar to Aperture for me, and has a number of enhancements that make it an upgrade.

 

[MCAsan]

I have been on LR for years back from the PC/Windows days. But I was experimenting with Aperture and liked that UI much better. If Apple had continued with Aperture, I might have switched to it from LR.

But is all now history. I removed Aperture and will look forward to LR 6 and hope Adobe does not try to drag all the LR users into the subscription cloud. If that happens, I guess I would consider Capture 1.

BY the way, with LR you can now invoke DxOptics and use their raw converter, lens corrections..etc. When you are finished the result is a DNG file that is sent back to LR. So LR users do have an option for a raw converter.

 

[maflynn]

BY the way, with LR you can now invoke DxOptics and use their raw converter, lens corrections..etc. When you are finished the result is a DNG file that is sent back to LR. So LR users do have an option for a raw converter.

I'm going to check them out again. That sounds interesting.

 

[CausticPuppy]

Photos looks awesome for iPhone photos, and for the JPG's exported out of Lightroom or your other favorite tool for sharing. There's nothing in the way of support for an actual workflow though.

If you used iPhoto primarily, you'll love Photos.

 

[colorspace]

Interesting! So does that mean there is a a duplication of data if you start with a RAW file (NEF, CRW, etc)? If you initially convert RAW files to DNGs on import, something I have not been keen to do, does the DXO "modify" the DNG without duplicating it?

BY the way, with LR you can now invoke DxOptics and use their raw converter, lens corrections..etc. When you are finished the result is a DNG file that is sent back to LR. So LR users do have an option for a raw converter.

 

[jms969]

BY the way, with LR you can now invoke DxOptics and use their raw converter, lens corrections..etc. When you are finished the result is a DNG file that is sent back to LR. So LR users do have an option for a raw converter.

Do you have to convert to DNG first or does it take the raw file, do its magic, and then return a DNG to LR?

 

[rebby]

Do you have to convert to DNG first or does it take the raw file, do its magic, and then return a DNG to LR?

It takes the RAW file and works off of that. Once you're finished in DxO, you can return a DNG or TIFF.

 

[rwbarna]

video question -- sort of

I use Aperture for preparing my stills for inclusion in videos via Final Cut. The Aperture albums are right there when I open the photos window in FCP.
Does anyone know if LR, Capture 1, (or even Photos) coordinates so well with FCP?

 

[soulreaver99]

Photos app is a huge cluster fck. I'm sticking with Aperture until it is even remotely close to how good Google+ Photos webapp is. I have 28GB worth of photos over the past 15 years and it's terrible on the Photos app.

 

[Traverse]

I'm going to check them out again. That sounds interesting.

Have you been happy with LR since you switched to the subscription? I'm thinking of taking the plunge since reading these reviews on the Photos app.

What I really wanted was an updated Aperture...

 

[maflynn]

Have you been happy with LR since you switched to the subscription? I'm thinking of taking the plunge since reading these reviews on the Photos app.

What I really wanted was an updated Aperture...

10 dollars isn't much a month, but by the same token, I hate being tied into the subscription. So far, I feel Lightroom is the best tool for me, the DAM features, coupled with the powerful non destructive edits and plugins, not to mention I get the latest version of PS is quite compelling. I've not see a tool or combination of tools that brings this much power, efficiency to the table.

I really liked how C1 handled my RAW files, I absolutely hated the UI, though I think I can make some changes to that, to ease the pain. The DAM features and plugin support are both wanting.

I'm sticking with LR, because why buy, say C1 and sacrifice a lot of functionality that I'm now getting just to avoid the subscription. I also realize with LR, I can buy the boxed edition. I lose out on PS at that point however.

 

[MCAsan]

I lose out on PS at that point however.

Pixelmator is $29. No need PS.

 

[Traverse]

I've not see a tool or combination of tools that brings this much power, efficiency to the table.

Thank you for the feedback. When i tried the 30-day trial of LR I felt the same way, but it was far better than any other photo editing tools I've used. The UI and organization structure was very different than iPhoto (the program I've used for 2 years), but after an hour or two it's easy to get the hang of.

---

Photos for OS X turned out to be a disappointment so far, but that's what I had anticipated.

 

[jms969]

Pixelmator is $29. No need PS.

Pixelmator is definitely good, but it sure ain't Photoshop

 

[jms969]

10 dollars isn't much a month, but by the same token, I hate being tied into the subscription. So far, I feel Lightroom is the best tool for me, the DAM features, coupled with the powerful non destructive edits and plugins, not to mention I get the latest version of PS is quite compelling. I've not see a tool or combination of tools that brings this much power, efficiency to the table.

I really liked how C1 handled my RAW files, I absolutely hated the UI, though I think I can make some changes to that, to ease the pain. The DAM features and plugin support are both wanting.

I'm sticking with LR, because why buy, say C1 and sacrifice a lot of functionality that I'm now getting just to avoid the subscription. I also realize with LR, I can buy the boxed edition. I lose out on PS at that point however.

Exactly where I am with LR and PS. Is LR the very best raw converter? Probably not. But it is supported, inexpensive, and very effective. Those are the very reasons why I am transitioning back to Windows as well...

 

[MCAsan]

Pixelmator is definitely good, but it sure ain't Photoshop

Yes, thank goodness.

 

[VirtualRain]

Exactly where I am with LR and PS. Is LR the very best raw converter? Probably not. But it is supported, inexpensive, and very effective. Those are the very reasons why I am transitioning back to Windows as well...

Going back to Windows?!... Crazy. I would argue OS X is supported - especially around here ... free... and way more effective.

How long til we see you back here

----------

10 dollars isn't much a month, but by the same token, I hate being tied into the subscription. So far, I feel Lightroom is the best tool for me, the DAM features, coupled with the powerful non destructive edits and plugins, not to mention I get the latest version of PS is quite compelling. I've not see a tool or combination of tools that brings this much power, efficiency to the table.

I really liked how C1 handled my RAW files, I absolutely hated the UI, though I think I can make some changes to that, to ease the pain. The DAM features and plugin support are both wanting.

I'm sticking with LR, because why buy, say C1 and sacrifice a lot of functionality that I'm now getting just to avoid the subscription. I also realize with LR, I can buy the boxed edition. I lose out on PS at that point however.

This goes without saying, but don't choose on price if at all possible... Get the tool(s) that works best for you. Efficiency and lack of frustration are likely worth whatever they're asking IMHO.

I will be looking at LR6 when it lands, but even though I have a CS subscription through work and can use LR at no cost to me, I may still gladly pay Phase One $10/month or $300 for their tool because I enjoy working with it a lot. We'll see... I'm not making any commitments just yet.

 

[jms969]

Going back to Windows?!... Crazy. I would argue OS X is supported - especially around here ... free... and way more effective.

How long til we see you back here

----------



This goes without saying, but don't choose on price if at all possible... Get the tool(s) that works best for you. Efficiency and lack of frustration are likely worth whatever they're asking IMHO.

I will be looking at LR6 when it lands, but even though I have a CS subscription through work and can use LR at no cost to me, I may still gladly pay Phase One $10/month or $300 for their tool because I enjoy working with it a lot. We'll see... I'm not making any commitments just yet.

All of our machines are gone except this one, I sold my MBA a few weeks ago and relpaced it with another notebook. I am previewing windows 10 on that machine and all I can say is OSX feels light years behind win 10

I have to do what is right for me and my business. My iMac will be gone soon...

Ps. But I am much happier with the iMac since I rolled OSX back to mavericks

 

[maflynn]

All of our machines are gone except this one, I sold my MBA a few weeks ago and relpaced it with another notebook. I am previewing windows 10 on that machine and all I can say is OSX feels light years behind win 10

I have to do what is right for me and my business. My iMac will be gone soon...

Ps. But I am much happier with the iMac since I rolled OSX back to mavericks

I have a mixed environment, I have an SP3, which is now my main machine, a 15" rMBP (2012 model), a 13" cMBP (2010 model) and a mac mini. My kids use the Mac Mini and/or the laptops. I use the SP3 for work and other things, though I do still use the rMBP.

Windows 8.1 has been good and stable for me, and I'm happy with it. I don't seem to have the niggling problems that Yosemite introduced though for the most part Yosemite has been stable for me.

 

[VirtualRain]

All of our machines are gone except this one, I sold my MBA a few weeks ago and relpaced it with another notebook. I am previewing windows 10 on that machine and all I can say is OSX feels light years behind win 10

I have to do what is right for me and my business. My iMac will be gone soon...

Ps. But I am much happier with the iMac since I rolled OSX back to mavericks

Our company is going the other way. I rid myself of Windows a long time ago at home and back when our company was a staunch Microsoft shop, I rolled my own MacBook at work as a rebel. Now thanks to a senior management team that loves Apple products, Macs are everywhere in the company and growing.

Yosemite has been super stable for me... I've been using it since the early beta without issue.