Two years and counting

[BobShaw]

Well I am still happily using Aperture.
Any news on compatibility with High Sierra?
The only problem so far is new cameras but being supported due to the change in the way the raw conversion is done.

[ppmax2]

Works fine for me!

Still using Aperture...but now also using C1Pro and RawTherapee for images that require some additional mojo.

Still the best library management available

[Robert Roaldi]

Also still using Aperture but still on Yosemite. I have older MACs here that cannot upgrade OS so I've been postponing updating this on. I considered Lightroom but given the recent changes by Adobe probably won't. I did buy After Shot Pro to investigate, figured it could work for me but am not going to change over until I have to. I also have Pixelmator but rarely use it. I don't want to spend my time testing software. I feel no need to upgrade cameras so don't have that pressure. When I have to give up the features of Aperture, I will not be happy.

Off-topic, is anyone aware of any issues updating from Yosemite to whatever the newest version, as I think I've skipped one OS step.

[BobShaw]

Off-topic, is anyone aware of any issues updating from Yosemite to whatever the newest version, as I think I've skipped one OS step.

El Capitan, works excellent. Faster than Yosemite. Recommended if you can get an instal.
Sierra, works with some bugs but won't read the new raw files from Canon M5 etc. Old raws OK. Apple in it's wisdom has changed the way raw is stored.
High Sierra, apparently works also. Not tested by me yet.

[HywelPhillips]

Still using Aperture as well, slowly transitioning to C1 for some stuff (and still using Phocus for one-light colour correction of Hasselblad files too).

I tried a test install of Sierra on one MacBook and Aperture wouldn't open my A7RII RAW files. No idea why, I didn't pursue it at the time. Might do a clean install of Sierra and try again. Wary of High Sierra for other reasons.

So I'm still on Yosemite and Aperture, and dreading when a new camera purchase makes Aperture non-viable. No other software has the combination of features and swift work-flow I rely upon (little stuff like universal keyboard shortcuts and general hatred of Adobe UI ruling out Lightroom). C1 Pro is a bit cumbersome on retouching by comparison with Aperture, doesn't support my favourite skin smoothing plug-in, and has no skin smoothing tool natively. And is annoying crippled to not process Hasselblad files.

Picktorial looks OK for my needs but crashes too much; I ought to to follow up why or try on a clean installled OS, because otherwise it has the tools I need and not too many unnecessary mouse clicks per photo.
DXO's out of the box results are a bit cartoonish and retouch is lacking.
Affinity photo is OK for single image work but not processing sets (which is essentially 100% of my work)
Luminar is fun to play with, but not for serious production runs.
Alien Skin Exposure is a toy too, but very pretty for playing with individual shots. 

Many of these are great for playing with single images, but cranking out 20+ sets of 100+ images per week the workflow limitations really start to show.

Anyone got any other suggestions?

If only C1 Pro would bury the damn hatchet with Hasselblad, I'd move over to it for everything and figure out skin smoothing somehow.

  Cheers, Hywel

[BobShaw]

1. I tried a test install of Sierra on one MacBook and Aperture wouldn't open my A7RII RAW files.

2. Many of these are great for playing with single images, but cranking out 20+ sets of 100+ images per week the workflow limitations really start to show.  If only C1 Pro would bury the damn hatchet with Hasselblad, I'd move over to it for everything and figure out skin smoothing somehow.

1. See previous post
2. Ditto. I want Aperture for it's Asset Management more than its editing. Export is fabulous. There are plenty of editing programmes. C1 is also out because I use Hasselblad but I have concerns about C1 asset management. It does not look solid.

[drralph]

I have a new camera which is not supported on Aperture.  So I have been using LR for that camera only.  Coming from an Aperture background, I am not happy with the DAM capabilities of LR.  I am fine with the editing capabilities.

I am curious about the combination of C1 plus Media Pro SE.  It sounds like PhaseOne has not shown a commitment to properly develop Media Pro.  People also seem unhappy about paying an upgrade fee for what was essentially a maintenance release.

The other option of interest is the upcoming Luminar 2018.  It sounds like the DAM portion will be more along the lines of Photos than Aperture.  Wondering if it will have the horsepower and organizational ability to handle a very large library like mine.  Also, how do the editing capabilities of Luminar compare to Aperture?

I dread the day when some OS update breaks Aperture in perpetuity.  I keep hoping a satisfying replacement will emerge.  The last thing I want is to make a commitment to a new system, and then be forced to change yet again in the future.  That seems to be a strong suit for Adobe and LR: they aren't going away anytime soon.

[tonywong]

drralph,

I have newer unsupported camera formats as well.

I used Adobe DNG convertor, free here, to batch convert to DNG 7.1 and Aperture then reads the files without problem, although I did recall I had to downgrade to DNG6.6 because of some vague issue for a time.

Adds another step but it keeps my Aperture limping along because nothing else comes close to the way Aperture functions.

[drralph]

DNG is an interesting option that I had not considered.  I believe the file sizes are considerably larger, but that should not really matter.  Thanks for that suggestion!

[Rory]

DNG is an interesting option that I had not considered.  I believe the file sizes are considerably larger

If you embed the native raw file then the DNG is much larger - otherwise not so much.

[Gigi]

Using Aperture, LR and C1.

 Love C1 for individual edits, and for all larger format serious work. It’s layer system is easy, control of tonality sophisticated, and its perspective correction the best. Each shooting is its own session, no use of DAM.

LR is good for a general use catalog (lesser shots, but easy keywording) and has a very good print engine. Easy for most stuff, thousands of images placed there. Good for general use, although very detailed retouching is still best done in PS.

Aperture has the best DAM, and I use it totally for storing massive archive files on a particular subject. Nothing comes close to its features for cataloging , organizing, exporting, etc. as to what to do when it stops? I guess export to L, and drink a few glasses, and cry.

The reality of using 3-4 software packages to manage photos is... a bit frustrating, but seems to work.

[adam tracksler]

I miss aperture dearly, but havent opened it for a while. Just redownloaded it on my MBP running 10.13.3 and it runs. 

Too bad it doesn't recognize m A7 riii files... 

Aperture was the only program that really "got me". Ive been using LR for a while, but am not a huge fan - but it is included in my CC subscription..... I'm figuring out if I like C1 better.

[HywelPhillips]

Still using Aperture as an integral part of my processing chain. I've not found an alternative which can do the skin smoothing and retouching job anything like as efficiently, using the Imagenomic Portraiture plugin. LR would do it, but I don't get on with Adobe's interface. (As in I hate it so much it causes me physical pain every time I try use an Adobe product). 

C1 is getting there; the retouching step is not as efficient (important when selling 2000+ retouched photos per month) but at least it works as a fallback. Still need Phocus because Phase decline to process Hasselblad images (which is their commercial right but which remains a pain in the arse for customers).

I just updated my "spare" old MacBookPro to 10.13.3 and all seemed well; just updated my "production" MacBookPro and edited a set through it, seems to work. I haven't encountered any of the minor niggles others have reported. I might be brave enough to update my production desktop machines in a week or two.

However, what definitely doesn't work is processing newer camera images. Downloaded an A7Riii RAW file. OSX can see it fine, as can C1, but Aperture gives the dreaded triangle of death, image file not recognised. Fudging the EXIF information via Exiftools to make it think the images are A7Rii works, but clearly this puts Aperture on borrowed time as a RAW processor     

So long as it continues to work on TIFFs, I might keep using it as a one-purpose tool: do the RAW conversion in C1 or Phocus, import the TIFFs to Aperture, Skin Soften with Portraiture, retouch and add a few little polishes (e.g. I much prefer Aperture's Gamma vignette to most other vignette implementations, and its vibrancy control is really nice and subtle). Then final export to the JPEG sale versions from Aperture.

It's not ideal compared with doing everything in one program, but I've been doing TIFFs in Phocus -> Aperture for years and have got a decent workflow going.

But damn, I wish Phase would look at reducing the number of mouse clicks needed to brush heal and brush in skin softening. At this rate Hasselblad might even get there first - Phocus gets notably better with each release.

Hywel

[HywelPhillips]

Update to my previous post. Having spent a week away trying to edit on MacBook with 10.13.3, Aperture is subtly broken.

It all works, but not stably.

I experienced a lot more crashes, to the point that some operations, notably batch processing large number of shots with Imagenomic Portraiture plugin, became non-feasible. It seems to run OK with smaller batches, and it is OK for interactive work where a crash is an annoyance. But for large import/export/processing jobs, it's no longer reliable enough for full-scale production for me: I can't go away for an hour, and come back to find the job crashed.

Main Macs are going to have to stay on Yosemite for now I guess

I might have to re-admit the ghastly Lightroom into my processing chain at this rate, unless someone knows of a good replacement for Portraiture that runs in a different host app?

Cheers, Hywel

[BobShaw]

Update to my previous post. Having spent a week away trying to edit on MacBook with 10.13.3, Aperture is subtly broken.
Main Macs are going to have to stay on Yosemite for now I guess

The good news for you is that Aperture runs better and faster on El Capitan than Yosemite. Sierra seems fine also.
I am also experiencing more crashes, but not on importing. That seems to works fine.
Lifting and stamping seems to give it problems.

[Autodigit]

I'm running Aperture just fine with no problems on a new iMac running 10.13.4. I have a couple of unsupported new cameras where RAW is not supported, I can convert those RAW's into DNG's using the free Adobe utility. Then import the DNG into Aperture.  I have been trying hard to like LR6 but it is a struggle, despite the fact it has some nice editing tools.  I swore I would never buy another Apple product as they treat their customers like crap.  But I failed, again.