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Is Aperture worth it if you don't have a DSLR?

C

Caitlyn

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I think the title is self-explanitory. Is Aperture worth having if you do not own a DSLR and shoot in RAW? Any thoughts please?
Thanks! 🙂
 
Well, I know it works with JPEGs, I just mean can it do as nice of things with JPEGs as it does with RAW files?
 
While Aperture and Lightroom can certainly handle JPEGs just fine, I don't think they are as compelling in this case. A fair bit of what makes them useful is targeted specifically at RAW files (e.g. adjusting white balance).

My suggestion is to stick with iPhoto, and purchase the next Photoshop Elements when it comes out.
 
If you're just working with jpegs, then you don't need Aperture. It would be like using a cement mixer to make dough for a handful of scones.
 
Bern said:
If you're just working with jpegs, then you don't need Aperture. It would be like using a cement mixer to make dough for a handful of scones.
Click to expand...

Not true.

Aperture is a wonderful organizational and cataloguing tool.

It is a decent photo editor that keeps getting better with each release.

It's sure a lot cheaper then Photoshop, but certainly not a replacement.

Good software for the money.
 
iGary said:
Aperture is a wonderful organizational and cataloguing tool.

It is a decent photo editor that keeps getting better with each release.
Click to expand...

I think this speaks to the bigger question... I don't think the question of whether to use Aperture has anything to do with RAW or JPEG really... what it has to do with is, how many photographs do you take? With what purpose? And what do you want to get out of them through Aperture? It's very good at these things, but if you're not going to use it as a light table... and you're not going to be digging through a lot of photos, but you're just managing your snapshots, I think PSE + iPhoto is a much better and cheaper solution.

But if you're using P&S cameras for organized purposes that involve lots of photos, processing, and evaluation, I think then the fact that you use P&S, although it may be a separate issue to consider, shouldn't prevent you from going to Aperture.

Is the competing Adobe product still in free beta? If so you might also try that out....
 
When I bought Aperture (right after its initial release) I was still shooting in .jpg and found the program to be very satisfactory. When eventually I finally got into shooting RAW I was even more pleased with it. I use Aperture now for my primary post-processing, only turn to CS2 for situations where I need more "polish" and maybe want to fool around with layers and fliters, etc. Aperture is an excellent and sophisticated program which can satisfy users at many levels.
 
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