So who is going to upgrade to Aperture 3?

[CrackedButter]

It strikes me that this version of Aperture goes that bit further (for me in any case) so that I don't have to dip into photoshop. I just basing this solely off the new preview function. As a journalist photographer, there isn't a lot in Photoshop I care for. Now I seem to be caring even less for it.

The slideshow functions are amazing, I don't need to dip into iMovie now either! Woo!

 

[jbg232]

If your sig reflects the computer you're using Aperture on, I'll be surprised if going 64-bit makes a significant difference - the speed issues are probably due to the 9400M graphics (which are a huge step up over the Intel integrated graphics, but still...).

I've used Aperture 2 on a MacBook Pro and on a MacBook Air, both driving the same external display. Things that were speedy on the MBP are a trifle sluggish on the Air. It's still very usable, but the difference is noticable. Note that the MBP and the Air both had the same amount of RAM, and the processor speeds weren't that different.

I am using the 9400M but from using aperture on a friend's current nehalem mac pro with an nvidia gt-120 and 4gb of memory there still was quite a bit of lag when not in preview mode. Aperture seems to put about 20 picutres in cache but once going beyond that and scrollling raw photos it is noticeably slow. I feel that scrolling though raw photos should not take as long as it does in aperture with a top of the line system. Just my 2 cents.... but I still love the program in general.

 

[Ecoh]

I am using the A3 trial on a new i7 iMac with 8 gb RAM and it runs smooth and quick. Imported my A2 library of over 35,000 images and I can't believe how responsive and zippy A3 is behaving. Brushes are very responsive, even when zoomed in 100 %. I just ordered the upgrade.

 

[pprior]

I'm sad to say I'm sticking with LR.

I actually bought my very first mac (a 2007 mac pro) specifically and ONLY to run aperture. It was the killer app that brought my to apple after 20+ years of PC use.

However I found it increasingly unstable and with 30,000+ raw files in my library I had too many problems so I switched to LR about 10 months or so ago.

I don't see anything in aperture 3 that draws me back. The focus on stupid stuff like faces shows me that aperture is not aimed at the pro market any more. I think LR has a better shot long term for those of us serious about photography.

Again, I say that with sadness.

 

[Phrasikleia]

I'm sad to say I'm sticking with LR.

I actually bought my very first mac (a 2007 mac pro) specifically and ONLY to run aperture. It was the killer app that brought my to apple after 20+ years of PC use.

However I found it increasingly unstable and with 30,000+ raw files in my library I had too many problems so I switched to LR about 10 months or so ago.

I don't see anything in aperture 3 that draws me back. The focus on stupid stuff like faces shows me that aperture is not aimed at the pro market any more. I think LR has a better shot long term for those of us serious about photography.

Again, I say that with sadness.

How has LR been performing for you? Is it stable? Any complaints?

 

[maflynn]

I'm weighing the prospects of upgrading. I switched over to LR for two basic reasons.

First as apple's perceived inattention to aperture due to the lack of updates. This is still a concern, their track record is do a major upgrade and then infrequent updates. RAW support is similar.

Second issue was the localized non destructive editing.

One thing I missed when I switched over to LR was Aperture's tight integration with apple's other stuff. I could easily keep pictures on my iPhone, import them into iWeb even into RapidWeaver which isn't even an apple product.

I do like how LR displays the grid of images in the library module. I can see the image name, date, index # and the rating. With aperture I need to switch over to the metadata tab and then I only see the info on one image.

Overall however I like aperture's clean interface much better and how it organizes the images over LRs.

I'm about 85 - 90% sure I'll switch back and given the low price of the upgrade, it makes the decision easier. I mistakenly purchased an OEM copy of LR2 while legal, I cannot upgrade that, so I'll be on the hook for the full price - another reason why switching makes more sense.

 

[SayCheese]

I went into the Apple Store, Regent Street, London today as I was up there and passing the door. Asked the guy if I could buy a copy of the new Aperture 3 and he said no. He then explained that they were supposed to have had a delivery this morning but that it hadn't arrived. Therefore there were no Aperture copies in the store to buy.

I was really hoping to get a copy today so that I could upgrade soonest.

 

[steve-p]

I went into the Apple Store, Regent Street, London today as I was up there and passing the door. Asked the guy if I could buy a copy of the new Aperture 3 and he said no. He then explained that they were supposed to have had a delivery this morning but that it hadn't arrived. Therefore there were no Aperture copies in the store to buy.

I was really hoping to get a copy today so that I could upgrade soonest.

Ordered mine online Tuesday as soon as the UK Apple store came back up, and it shipped the same day, should be here tomorrow with a bit of luck. Looks like maybe online was quickest for a change

 

[cosmokanga2]

Ordered mine online Tuesday as soon as the UK Apple store came back up, and it shipped the same day, should be here tomorrow with a bit of luck. Looks like maybe online was quickest for a change

If you download the trial and then activate it, you can purchase a key immediately through Aperture. You don't get a box or anything, but you don't really need it anyway. The manual is online to.

 

[jbg232]

If you download the trial and then activate it, you can purchase a key immediately through Aperture. You don't get a box or anything, but you don't really need it anyway. The manual is online to.

I called all the Manhattan stores and none of them have them in yet. They told me they were expecting them "by the end of the week." When I called the apple store the person on the line told me that they started shipping Monday and that people who buy online were getting them shipped now.

If you want to upgrade you cannot upgrade through the free download because that requires a full version product key to activate.

 

[Jaro65]

I have both Aperture and Lightroom and I'm not completely certain which way I'll go, but I'm leaning more towards Lightroom. I really like the way it automatically uses multiple monitors. Let's see though what Lightroom 3 is going to do as far as video goes.

 

[neutrino23]

solid upgrade

This looks like a very solid upgrade. The new 13x10 book looks very cool. Aperture 2 has worked well for me so I'm happy about upgrading. I've already put my order in.

To the person who complained about scrolling through RAW files in Aperture, it seems that at some point you are limited by the speed of your hard drive. My 40D only shoots 10MP RAW resulting in about 13 - 17MB files. If your camera has more resolution then the files could easily be much larger. Hard drives only feed data at about 20 - 30MB/s so it is hard to see how the software could be expected to run through RAW files much more than about 1 per second. That's why there is preview, to run through lots of images quickly.

 

[CrackedButter]

I went into the Apple Store, Regent Street, London today as I was up there and passing the door. Asked the guy if I could buy a copy of the new Aperture 3 and he said no. He then explained that they were supposed to have had a delivery this morning but that it hadn't arrived. Therefore there were no Aperture copies in the store to buy.

I was really hoping to get a copy today so that I could upgrade soonest.

Ditto for going in, but i was spun a different line as to why there were no copies in store.

 

[peskaa]

I'll upgrade my copy of A2 in the next few weeks to A3, mainly for the speed increase I'll get due to 64bit and other tweaks. I've been happy with Aperture, and to be honest I rarely ever feel the need to use dodge/burn/etc so the new features in that regard may go a bit unused.

 

[SayCheese]

Ditto for going in, but i was spun a different line as to why there were no copies in store.

Hmm, Interesting. Why were you told no copies in store?

Also on a side note. When I get the software to upgrade, what is the best way to go about it?
I have an original full version of Aperture 1.5 (the first version I purchased). I then brought the upgrade to A2 pack.

Should I uninstall everything, then reinstall the A1.5 (full version) before installing the A3, or just install the A3 upgrade on top of the A2 that's already there?
Will it make any difference to the amount of space used on the disk or the speed at which it runs?

Also I have been thinking for a while about buying an extra 1Gb of RAM. I currently have 2GB on my 2.33Ghz Core2Duo MBP (late 2007). Do you think i'll see a difference in Aperture if I do upgrade?

 

[smiddlehurst]

Aperture 3 has come along at just about the perfect time for me as I'm about to switch from a D40 to D90, start shooting RAW for the first time and also have a new MBP on the way. As I've got to do a mass migration of data off the old MBP anyway, it makes a lot of sense to shift up to Aperture from iPhoto, especially as the education pricing brings it in under £60.

Main things I'm excited about, other than just the giddy thrill of having new shiny software to play with obviously *cough*, are the ability to easily manage libraries so I can offshore a backup to an external drive, brushes and just the increased flexibility in terms of image manipulation. I've given Aperture 2 a quick whirl but as my old laptop only has a 160Gb drive I can't really run both Aperture and iPhoto properly at the moment (although once everything's transfered over to the new machine the old MBP is getting a clean install of Snow Leopard and Aperture rather than iLife).

 

[CrackedButter]

Hmm, Interesting. Why were you told no copies in store?

Also on a side note. When I get the software to upgrade, what is the best way to go about it?
I have an original full version of Aperture 1.5 (the first version I purchased). I then brought the upgrade to A2 pack.

Should I uninstall everything, then reinstall the A1.5 (full version) before installing the A3, or just install the A3 upgrade on top of the A2 that's already there?
Will it make any difference to the amount of space used on the disk or the speed at which it runs?

Also I have been thinking for a while about buying an extra 1Gb of RAM. I currently have 2GB on my 2.33Ghz Core2Duo MBP (late 2007). Do you think i'll see a difference in Aperture if I do upgrade?

I would get the full 4GB of RAM personally then it will fly faster.

The chap I spoke to in the store just said they haven't had any deliveries and won't do for a few more days yet. Something about online order taking a few days and they won't necessarily get them earlier this time.

 

[maflynn]

I have both Aperture and Lightroom and I'm not completely certain which way I'll go, but I'm leaning more towards Lightroom. I really like the way it automatically uses multiple monitors. Let's see though what Lightroom 3 is going to do as far as video goes.

Aperture very easily uses multiple monitors as well. In fact I had less trouble setting up multiple monitors in A3 then LR

 

[Grimace]

Aperture very easily uses multiple monitors as well. In fact I had less trouble setting up multiple monitors in A3 then LR

Agreed. Even Aperture v.1 had multi-monitor support in a variety of helpful configurations when LR had only single monitor support (aside from manual spanning that you can do with any program).

 

[NoNameBrand]

I expect my copy tomorrow or Monday.

However I found it increasingly unstable and with 30,000+ raw files in my library I had too many problems so I switched to LR about 10 months or so ago.

FWIW (not much) I've got a similar number of RAWs and haven't had the same problems.

I don't see anything in aperture 3 that draws me back. The focus on stupid stuff like faces shows me that aperture is not aimed at the pro market any more.

I think most of the new features are aimed at Pros. I think Apple sees a great market in iPhoto users who are or might be looking for more, which is why the PR seems to be touting Faces so much. I welcome the addition of Faces and Places for my personal photographs which I keep in Aperture. That Aperture's Faces can be limited in scope to specific projects means that it will see a lot of use with event photographers.

 

[OreoCookie]

I only really use Aperture for organization/cataloging, but I'm thinking it's time to download the LR3 beta and give it a run.

I was underwhelmed by Lightroom's supposed performance advantage. It lagged in different places, e. g. when applying certain brushes or zooming in.

 

[pprior]

How has LR been performing for you? Is it stable? Any complaints?

I never really had performance complaints about aperture, it was more stability issues.

I don't want to cloud this thread with LR comments, but basically it has design and interface issues, IMO but for my work flow it was still preferable to Aperture.

 

[pilotkid]

I didn't want to start a new thread on this so I'll ask on this ongoing one. I have Aperture 2 is there any advantage to buying the full Aperture 3 or is the upgrade fine?

 

[compuwar]

I was underwhelmed by Lightroom's supposed performance advantage. It lagged in different places, e. g. when applying certain brushes or zooming in.

I do most of my adjustments in a raw converter and the rest in Photoshop- LR or Aperture for me is an image management application. Once I get back to evaluating them, I'll probably benchmark the parts that interest me. So far, I have to say that LR3 is significantly faster at importing than A2 ever was.

Paul

 

[Stevo B]

I've downloaded the trial and played with Aperture 3 for a few days now. I'm having tons of graphics issues on my MBP where it shows splotchy blocks over any adjusted area of a photo. This is an issue I've never had with Aperture 2 (which I own but don't use as primary). Further research shows that this has been a problem for many people in Aperture 2 since it came out, and has never been resolved. To me, I like the new features Aperture promises, but it is a major system hog and is being extremely glitchy for me. I will not be switching to Aperture from Lightroom. I will be upgrading to LR3 when it is released. The LR3 beta has me impressed. I don't know what people are talking about LR being clunky. To me, its nothing but smooth sailing. I love the interface.