Ok, I am not too far off (within the month) of getting a Mac Book Pro, and I am trying to figure out if I should get Aperture 2 in addition to iLife, which comes with iPhoto. I was hoping to get some opinions from those of you who are already using one or both of these programs. Thanks for the help and info.
You can do a lot more with A2 over iPhoto. iPhoto is great for JPGs only where you're not making lots of adjustments. When you start going into adjustments, that is where A2 shines. Shooting RAW there is no question you'll prefer A2. Between dedicated controls for specific adjustments to each image, with batch processing and management of your pictures.....very powerful. When you get your MB Pro, when you are ready (and have time), download the trial and give A2 a try. It won't cost you anything.
Well, another thing I would do would be to view the tutorials that are available on Aperture's website. A2 can seem intimidating at first and the tutorials helped me. Apple did a good job of putting those together.
You won't regret getting Aperture. I use a Jpeg workflow and it's wonderful. I am getting to the point with it now that I will start using the ability to copy settings from one photo to a set of photos to speed up my processing. I think in the next upgrade to A2, you'll see something easier when it comes to this process. But for going through hundreds of photos and selecting the keepers, non-keepers and exceptional photos (of which we all have many of, right?), it's very fast once you learn the short cut keys. Roger is right, the tutorials Apple has are great. Also, I would use the getting started book when you are ready to get a feel for all the commands. It's a good introduction and takes a couple of hours to do. Set aside the time and you'll be amazed at how this A2 can work. I'm still using a Powerbook G4 so, on a MBP, it's going to be faster and better. A word about iPhoto, it does some things A2 can't do. Like mix music with a slideshow or do a calender. This is where Apple was thinking. Why build that into A2 when every Mac comes with iLife. You just pull over the photos you want into iPhoto already processed and build your photo projects there. Works great.
Noise Ninja plugin now available for A2 http://www.picturecode.com/nn_aperture.htm So that's the good news. The bad news is that you'll need a pro bundle license in order to use it non-watermarked; which costs $79.95 in full, $20 if you already have a pro bundle, or $35 if you're like me and got the home standalone license just to unlock the full NN built into Bibble.
