Adobe Launches Photoshop Lightroom 5 Public Beta With New Healing Brush, 'Upright' Tool

[redkamel]

I'm sure I'll give Lightroom 5 a try and see what they have added to it, such as iPhoto import. So, my question to the Lightroom evangelists is "What does Lightroom do that Aperture does not? What is the killer feature that an Aperture user would upheave his exiting libraries and switch for?"

It reportedly has better noise reduction, better RAW converters, and apparently a new healing brush. It also has more users, so plugins, tips, guides, and editing actions are far easier to download and find. Aperture and Lightroom used to be neck and neck for support and plugins but now I feel like Aperture is by the wayside.

I don't think LR is as good for organizing photos as Aperture is though.

To each his/her own...but I am getting a little fed up with minimal Aperture improvements as well. I am not a pro, but I feel like Aperture has been delegated. I am already flirting with LR4, but if Aperture 4 isnt out by the end of the year, I think I am jumping ship.

Also whoever was above was saying that you can do MacPro work on imacs is misinformed. Perphaps they should spout that off in the MacPro forum...I don't think you can get 12 cores in an imac.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but this is Apple we're talkng about here. What's the threshold for these desired "status updates." Monthly? Quarterly? Yearly?

For me, I think it's an objective threshold for software: when a product lacks major features of its nearest competitor it needs an update. It doesn't matter who makes it, a company competes on it's products merits. The fact Aperture is an Apple product means zero to me. If Apple has lost interest in it they should be honest with its customers and EOL it with continuing support for new cameras for another year to let customers transition.

Aperture 3 is 3 years old and lacks many of the refinements of LR4. I still prefer Aperture 3's work flow, but it gets harder to ignore LR as Adobe keeps refining and improving.

I don't use Logic Pro, but I read complaints by it's users frequently.

 

[HenryDJP]

Yeah, because they're using ProTools and Media Composer. Apple software is not a factor for the sector you're talking about. Feature films, sound + picture are pumping through AVID software. High-end graphics are happening on HP's, Linux, Nuke and proprietary software. There's a fair amount of After Effects nowadays. Still, this has nothing to do with a reliance on Apple software.

It's a little different with music production / recording. Sure, there are TONS of people using Logic. So there is a little more of a foothold here. However, these people are 'crying foul' about an updated version of Logic. Or lack thereof...

Well I'm not sure what people want here on MR? I hear either complaining that there's not enough choice when using Macs and people don't necessarily want to be tied to Apple software and now there's other 3rd parties making great Mac software people are annoyed at Apple for not putting forth the efforts.
Apple's software is top notch but I tend to prefer 3rd party software and I welcome it so I don't have to necessarily rely on Apple. As long as the hardware is there couple with OS X I welcome great 3rd party software. If Apple keeps trumping the 3rd party companies nobody will want to make native Mac software. That's the way I see it.

 

[Razeus]

Further proof that Aperture is abandonware.

 

[amundln]

Looks like a nice update. I like the idea of editing raw settings without the image file available!

 

[gnomeisland]

I'm a big fan of Lightroom.
And I'll buy this version IF it becomes available on the Danish Mac App Store.

Make my day, Adobe.

Not likely. The App Store's EULA is waaay to open for Adobe. One of the reason I still use Apple pro software despite it being 2-3 years behind the curve. It is cheap, I can install it and share it with my wife (also a freelancer) and while behind the times is still very capable. However, Aperture/Logic/Final Cut are starting to look very, very sad compared to the competition. Adobe finally has feature that would save me real time and time=$.

----------

Further proof that Aperture is abandonware.

Starting to really feel that way... ALL the Pro apps are due for a major upgrade. What gives, Apple?!

 

[mentholiptus]

So, Aperture is now two major releases behind LR - unless Apple surprise us by releasing Aperture 4 in the next couple of months, though I'm not holding my breath, but even then it'll still be one major release behind.



For me they would be noise reduction and lens (and perspective) correction.

Lens correction is the only thing That would make me consider it, but I'll wait for Aperture 4. I have a feeling the updates to Logic and Aperture (the two apps I use the most, of course) are going to be massive, otherwise they would have been out long ago. I got some inside scoop on Logic, and it's going to be ridiculous wicked. Gives me hope for Aperture.

And hey, it won't be two behind if they name it Aperture X! Adobe will be 5 versions behind Apple! ;¬P

 

[ellsworth]

Well there are a lot of "professionals" or people who call themselves that.... that still get everything they need to get from Apple. Music and movie studios don't seem to be crying foul with Apple nor do large corporations of the arts that use Macs and Adobe certainly feels their professional software is still worth coding on Mac rather than making crap ports. I'm finding that more "Apple enthusiasts" tend to have this annoyance. Not make excuses here but to be honest about it you don't really need a Mac Pro to do any heavy work. The top iMac can handle Maya, AutoCAD and the like extremely well. I've been on Mac for well over 15 years and I know system software well enough.

This is true if you're a professional working at home and was true earlier last year even with big studios but when clients started asking for work in 4K and 5K formats, and stereoscopic 3D, we started noticing the limitations of the MacPros once our IT department maxed out all expandable slots.

You're correct though, the current iMacs and even the 2.5 year old MacPros can still handle the grunt work with current software.
Most "professionals" don't need all that power until a project arises for them to need it.

Getting back on topic. I just got on Lightroom 4 and I'm enjoying it's new enhancements. A lot of what Adobe has been including in their updates are actions and abilities that I find easier to control in Photoshop. I don't think I'll ever "DO-IT-ALL" in Lightroom alone.

 

[cgc]

If Apple would pull all the OSX programmers to work on iOS, what makes you think they care about Aperture, iWork, FCP, or anything else considered "niche"?

I too bought Aperture 3 and it's fantastic, but it looks like Light Room 5 is going to CRUSH Aperture. Hopefully, Adobe makes it easy to import Aperture libraries.

 

[jadot]

Tough choices ahead

It's bitter sweet reading news like this. It starts looking like Apple's radio silence on any Aperture update is actually more likely that updates aren't coming.
As a determined and faithful Aperture user it's now hard to ignore this offering from Adobe. If Apple gave some sort of road map for Aperture - even if they said 2014 then it would be a no-brainer for me: Aperture has always had the better workflow and library management, but my clients couldn't give a crap about that. IQ rules, and Aperture's not pulling it's weight.
As much as I can't be bothered to learn the ins and outs of Lightroom, especially at this time of the year, I might just have to force myself to do just that. I simply can't afford to wait another year while my competitors take advantage of better software, better image quality, and frankly better support. Not to mention some killer advanced features such as the perspective correction, and defintely the offline previews. I can only imagine the overhead savings on RAM as Aperture crawls along stuck in the mud.

Apple? All it takes is four words : "we're working on it" and I'll stick, but as it stands right now all I can hear from professional users is "twist"

 

[sarge]

3 Years on Aperture 3! I waited and waited, and moved to Lightroom a few months ago. Now the disparity is really becoming clear.

I've been on LightRoom3 for 3 years LOL. If I take more crooked pictures of fences I might upgrade but so far nothing has made me straighten up and take notice of LR5.

 

[Razeus]

It's bitter sweet reading news like this. It starts looking like Apple's radio silence on any Aperture update is actually more likely that updates aren't coming.
As a determined and faithful Aperture user it's now hard to ignore this offering from Adobe. If Apple gave some sort of road map for Aperture - even if they said 2014 then it would be a no-brainer for me: Aperture has always had the better workflow and library management, but my clients couldn't give a crap about that. IQ rules, and Aperture's not pulling it's weight.
As much as I can't be bothered to learn the ins and outs of Lightroom, especially at this time of the year, I might just have to force myself to do just that. I simply can't afford to wait another year while my competitors take advantage of better software, better image quality, and frankly better support. Not to mention some killer advanced features such as the perspective correction, and defintely the offline previews. I can only imagine the overhead savings on RAM as Aperture crawls along stuck in the mud.

Apple? All it takes is four words : "we're working on it" and I'll stick, but as it stands right now all I can hear from professional users is "twist"

I think you're going to need to make the switch. Apple is all about getting iOS7 out the door right now and that's their top priority I'm sure. Then they'll move their engineers back to OS X to finish Cougar. Then, maybe, MAYBE, Aperture will get the scraps of downtime. Apple simple is spread too thin, where as Adobe, Lightroom/Photoshop is their bread and butter.

 

[Lazy]

Seals the deal

Ok then. I've happily been using iPhoto for years. I recently upgraded from a point-and-shoot to a Samsung NX system camera. It was then I discovered that Apple hasn't added raw support for the current NX cameras introduced a year ago. WTF?!? Meanwhile Adobe seems to be all over every last obscure model. Been contemplating whether it's worth waiting for Apple to support these cameras, but that was before learning in this thread that it's been 3 years since a major Aperture release. And really, after a year a very reasonable conclusion is that they're not going to ever add support.

I would have preferred to evaluate both Aperture and LR, with a strong bias toward Aperture due to its iPhoto library compatibility, lower price, and general Appleness. Now it's definitely going to be LR. This was Apple's to lose and they lost it.

Lazy

 

[flux73]

If LR5 gets released and a new Aperture isn't announced within 2 months of its release, I'd say it's a safe bet that Aperture will be dead.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Lightroom seems nice. I'm currently using Aperture, and I still love Faces and Places. I played a bit with the Lightroom 4 demo and didn't see anything similar (though to be fair I may have missed it). Anyone know if there are equivalents in 5? I can live without Faces, but 100% of my photos get geotagged now, so going without a Places equivalent is really not an option for me at this point.

 

[Razeus]

Lightroom seems nice. I'm currently using Aperture, and I still love Faces and Places. I played a bit with the Lightroom 4 demo and didn't see anything similar (though to be fair I may have missed it). Anyone know if there are equivalents in 5? I can live without Faces, but 100% of my photos get geotagged now, so going without a Places equivalent is really not an option for me at this point.

You geo tag in Lightroom via the Maps module. Faces is just a gimmick and a fancy tag. I use "faces" in LR by simply adding keywords for the people in the photo.

 

[spazzcat]

With the lack of updates to Aperture, it maybe time to try switching.

 

[69650]

Has Apple simply given up on its software products and forgotten to tell anyone? I honestly can't remember the last big software release. All we get is minor updates every so often. What the hell is going on?

 

[Gizmotoy]

You geo tag in Lightroom via the Maps module. Faces is just a gimmick and a fancy tag. I use "faces" in LR by simply adding keywords for the people in the photo.

I'll have to give it another look, then.

So you're manually tagging people in photos that Aperture tags for me automatically with zero effort, and that's a gimmick? Sounds like a huge time savings to me, unless you rarely take photos of people. Then it might not be a big deal, I suppose.

I can see the rationale for it being a gimmick if you don't care about tagging people at all, but for someone doing it manually?

I also like Aperture's two-way photo keyword/geotag synchronization. I'll have to look into that as well.

 

[malnar]

Further proof that Aperture is abandonware.

Even if it's not and Apple does update Aperture, I wouldn't feel comfortable settling down with Aperture knowing it could be ANOTHER THREE YEARS before it was updated again. This is the big problem here even if Apple updates. There really is no telling that they'll continue to support it in the future. You know you're safe with Adobe.

 

[numbersyx]

If LR5 gets released and a new Aperture isn't announced within 2 months of its release, I'd say it's a safe bet that Aperture will be dead.

Aperture has already joined iWork in the Apple graveyard.

 

[e-coli]

Hopefully they drastically improved the performance. That's the only thing keeping me within Aperture. Although I mostly use it for organization lately.

Aperture is getting kind of embarrassing as a pro offering. They should junk iPhoto and replace it with Aperture, then release an actual pro app.

Caveat: I absolutely hate the interface and workflow in Lightroom.

 

[HarryPot]

Caveat: I absolutely hate the interface and workflow in Lightroom.

This is the only think keeping me from ditching Aperture. I simply love the way you can organise your files in Aperture. Doing a similar thing in LR seemed impossible.

 

[e-coli]

Also whoever was above was saying that you can do MacPro work on imacs is misinformed. Perphaps they should spout that off in the MacPro forum...I don't think you can get 12 cores in an imac.

Check the benchmarks. Even the new MacBook Pros are faster than the Mac Pro. The Xenon architecture is old, and its executable distribution between the processors is inefficient.

 

[needles27]

Check the benchmarks. Even the new MacBook Pros are faster than the Mac Pro. The Xenon architecture is old, and its executable distribution between the processors is inefficient.

I know this is veering off of LR, but how do I put am AJA card in my MBP to get NTSC SDI video out to my Grade 1 monitor when editing in Premiere? How do I get it to render 24 frames at the same time in After Effects, utilizing each core and hyper threading? Just a few examples of how I use a Mac Pro.

I agree that the Mac Pro is old! So does everyone else clamoring for an update.