Anyone have any thoughts about how well After Shot Pro 2 might fare as an Aperture replacement? I took a quick spin around and I like the simplicity of it... haven't really tried to use it yet though.
I'm going to have to decide if I'm hopping on the Lightroom bandwagon in the coming months or if I'm going to hitch my wagon onto something that isn't subscription based.
Looking at the features list, it doesn't seem to have the Aperture features which Photos is missing (brush-masked edits, etc, although I think they are likely there in the layers support, just not listed in the marketing materials), nor obviously the seamless import from an existing Aperture library. Finally, it is cross-platform, and Corel is Windows-first so the Mac experience is going to have some rough edges (not unique in this aspect if you are considering Lightroom, but compared to moving to Photos when that comes out I think you'll hit a lot of fit-and-finish anachronisms).
There are reviews out there. This one is for the previous version (retailing at $99.99 in 2012) comparing it to Lightroom and Aperture 3:
http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=4945 - that is where I learned about After Shot's layers support (as well as its over-reliance on it for healing etc, at least in the first version).
On the down side, the reviews in the Mac App Store are minimal (only 2) and both abysmal. So, really, you want to try this one out with the trial download from Corel before forking over the cash.
IMHO, it is likely worth a download to try, and if you like what you see at all, this bundle is a good place to get it (and some other apps) at a nice discount. That said, it is not a Mac App Store app from this bundle (as with any bundle), so you forgo the convenience of the Mac App Store forever with it. Also, if you buy it from Corel you get licenses for WinZip (obviously only useful if you also have a Windows box) and some slideshow app along with AfterShot Pro 2 for $60 - think of that as an alternate bundle if for some reason those apps appeal to you more than the ones here and the extra $20 makes sense to you.
Finally, if you have more than one machine, the non-Mac App Store purchase only allows you to activate the software on ONE machine. So, if you want this for two or more machines you will need two or more licenses and will need a new license every time you upgrade your machine (according to Corel's support pages). Corel is still an old-school software company in this regard, it seems. It is almost enough for me to say you are crazy buying it outside the Mac App Store!
