Aperture's shipping, your thoughts?

Noel: Yes, it sure can batch export JPEGs - that's first-hand knowledge. I love how easy it is to use, and how fast is is even on my 1.67 PowerBook (768MB RAM - yes, you can hack Aperture to run on less than 1GB ;-) ) Sadly, what you see on screen in RAW isn't necessarily translated correctly into JPEGs in my limited experience, not too good. And there are quirks; eg: I exported a file twice, with the same name, and it didn't overwrite or ask to replace, it created a new file with a name which slotted in between the next in the series. (It was DSC_1148, the next available in the save directory was DSC_1152 so the new file took that name instead of overwriting the old file. NOT COOL! )

And finally it has shipped in the UK too! My copy arrived this afternoon. :-) I've put up a quick first-impressions here: http://woss.name/2005/12/02/aperture-first-impressions/ and intend to blog about it in more depth at some point over the weekend...

Photoretouch anyone? I wonder whether someone is professionally using Photoretouch around here () They seem to be very process-oriented too, and at the same time they have strikingly efficient tools (e. g. right-click while dragging a tool will continuously change its size without ever returning to the tool setup...) (and yes, it's plugin-compatible with photoshop) I find photoretouch an interesting product but with a miniature niche for now... Herv

Of course I understand Apple needs to make the $$$ but on the Aperture tech page on the Apple site, they have a demo from Richard Burbridge, who is a very well known and respected fashion photographer, and it show quite clearly that he is shooting with a high end digital back (Leaf Veleo) , I don't see that this system is supported by the software, so whats going on, they "are" trying to appeal to the high end, but obviously havn't thought it all the way through!!

Grey, you make a very good point. That being said, Apple MUST make an even stronger appeal to those not necessarily considered professional photographers. It makes a lot more sense for them to especially cater to the middle to lower end than high end... Doesn't make the most sense for those they claim to be marketing to... but again, it does make $en$e...

I haven't ordered Aperture yet, because I'm still waiting to see if it will be usable. The thing that really puts me off is the indication that, like iPhoto, it insists upon keeping your images in its own little database world. That would be a total show-stopper, I'm afraid, and if it is indeed true that it must work that way, I won't be buying it. I don't have much hope for it as a RAW converter (ala Adobe Camera Raw) because iPhoto's RAW conversions are abysmally bad, but one hopes they've improved a bit. Camera Raw is so good for that, I can't see a 1.0 of Aperture replacing it for that task. So, I'm just not seeing it as something I have any use for, though I'm going to see what the write-ups say once the thing is in the wild.

I am a professional Fashion photographer and have been shooting digital for the past year. I have looked at Aperture, but a few things puzzle me, why Apple is not offering a Demo or Trial to see if in fact the programe would actually for the application intended (even a 5 day demo) , and the support for digital cameras seems to cover alot of amature cameras and is missing support of high end professional digital backs, like the Phase One P series. After all isn't this programe meant to appeal to photographers like me?? I am shooting for alot of cateloges and shoot on average 40 gigs a day, so I am really looking for a great editing solution that will speed up things for me...... come on apple if you are going to write a whole new programe for professional photographers, then at least support the high end that will actually use it !!!!

Aperture is not going to replace my Photoshop in anyway. I've only seen the preview of the software, so I can't give my full report on it, but for me personally it will be more like a replacement for Nikon Capture software, which I've tried out when working with Nikon RAW files. I found it to be sluggish, and the interface not very user friendly, plus I think it is much too overpriced for a software that should come free with a $1500 CDN digital camera. So while Photoshop stays and does its own thing, Aperture will definitely replace Nikon Capture as the straight out of the camera RAW conversion and organization software.

I provide a service to wedding photographers where I process their RAW images and post web galleries for the bride & groom's family to view and order images from the event. I totally agree with every post so far. It CANNOT replace Photoshop. It could replace iView and Bridge/ACR for me, but there's one issue that I can't get past: I can't find any mention of Aperture's ability to export a batch of JPEGs. My clients always order 4x6 proofs from a pro digital photo lab that will only accept JPEGs (as do most photo labs.) If Aperture can't produce JPEGs, it won't do me much good. -N btw- Becker: as in "The Becker?" Love your work!

i am a wedding photographer as well and i am really looking forward to Aperture. mine copy, as well as my Quad, should arrive today. from what i have seen on Apple's website, i think i plan on using Aperture for editing, organizing, Raw conversions, color corrections, album design, web galleries, slideshows, and basically DAM (digital asset management) and i love the fact that Aperrture will automatically launch a shot into Photoshop and then bring it right back into Aperture as a version once it's been tweeked with actions and other enhancements. i think they will be a great 1 2 punch.